Microsoft Releases Second Beta of Home Server OS
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Microsoft Corp. has released the second beta of a new server aimed at giving users a way to connect and manage Windows Vista PCs, devices and printers in their homes.
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Microsoft today released a beta for a much-anticipated technology -- its Windows Server 2008 virtualization technology Hyper-V -- ahead of schedule.
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Early version of first significant Vista update released to testers. Also, near-final "release candidate" version of Windows Server 2008 to be available within 24 hours.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Corp. has released another test version of an update to its virtualization software, which will be built into the next version of the Windows Server OS. On Thursday Microsoft released Beta 2 of Virtual Server 2005 Release 2 Service Pack 1 (R2 SP1), an update that will add new functionality to the existing version of Virtual Server 2005 once it is generally available. The software, which should be in full release by the first calendar quarter of 2007, can beÂ downloaded for free. New features included in Beta 2 of the software are support for Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s virtualization technology, as well as new integration with Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft said. The software also includes what is called a Volume Shadow Service, which improves the server backup process, according to Microsoft. Instead of scheduling downtime to back up each virtual machine individually, the software will take snapshots of physical machines. Those physical machines will in turn take snapshots of all the virtual machines on the physical host. This enables server administrators to keep virtual machines up and running even while backing them up. Beta 2 of Virtual Server R2 SP1 also includes new offline virtual hard disk (VHD) mounting, which enables customers to view and manipulate files in a VHD without having to start a virtual machine. This enables administrators to easily deploy scripts and perform virus scans across VHDs without having to start each virtual machine, Microsoft said. Microsoft introduced Virtual Server in October 2004. The product enables virtualization of Windows so multiple instances can run simultaneously on one server as if they were running on multiple servers. Microsoft has said virtualization capabilities that are available in its Virtual Server 2005 product will be built into the next version of Windows Server OS, code-named Longhorn, which is slated to be available sometime next year.
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Microsoft on Wednesday made available the latest builds of its 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise, that each features a handful of new improvements including the Luna user interface, Windows Messenger, Windows ...
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Company releases revamped version of server software for linking Windows servers to mainframes, other large computers.
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Microsoft Corp. has released a major update to its server operating system designed to make the product more stable and secure.
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SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft Corp. has started recruiting testers for the first beta of Windows Server 2003 R2, an update to Windows Server that the vendor plans to ship in October next year.
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Microsoft Thursday did something it rarely does. The company released a beta for a long-awaited technology -- in this case its Windows Server 2008 virtualization technology Hyper-V -- ahead of schedule.Hyper-V, formerly code-named &quot;Viridian,&quot; is now available for download from Microsoft&#39;s Web site and is ready to be used with the current x64 beta version of Windows Server 2008, which is also available online. The technology, called a hypervisor, is the underlying virtualization technology for the server release, which is a major update that&#39;s expected to be released on Feb. 27, 2008. A beta of Hyper-V originally was planned to be released on that date as well.Virtualization, or the ability to use virtual machine technology to run multiple OSes on a physical server, is widely seen as a disruptive technology and is becoming increasingly important as companies seek to cut costs and consolidate hardware in their data centers and IT environments. Microsoft had originally intended to release Hyper-V as part of the original release Windows Server 2008, but the technology was delayed and is now scheduled to be generally available 180 days, or about six months, after Windows Server 2008 ships. Hyper-V&#39;s released was delayed earlier this year because Microsoft opted to pull out some originally planned features.Hyper-V takes advantage of virtualization-optimized microprocessors from Intel and&#160;AMD and is meant to help Microsoft compete with virtualization leader VMware, which already has hypervisor technology on the market. Hypervisors allow for cross-platform support so servers can run multiple versions of different OSes -- such as Windows and Linux -- side by side on one piece of hardware.Bill Hilf, general manager of Windows Server at Microsoft, said customers have been asking the company for a built-in virtualization technology that works directly within the Windows Server environment so it&#39;s easy to manage and implement. By design, Hyper-V is set up as what Microsoft calls a &quot;role&quot; within Windows Server 2008, and can be turned on or off as a customer wishes, he said. Roles are a new feature of the forthcoming release of the OS that allow servers to be set up so only the role or roles a customer wants them to play in the IT environment -- such as e-mail server or application server -- will be turned on.Mike Neal, general manager of virtualization at Microsoft, said Hyper-V is meant to make the virtualization market &quot;a two-horse race&quot; between Microsoft and VMware. However, with Hyper-V not scheduled to ship until the second half of next year, the company has a lot of ground to make up to topple VMware from its leadership position. And Microsoft also faces pressure in providing built-in OS virtualization from Linux leader Red Hat, which already has integrated cross-platform virtualization into Red Hat Enterprise Linux.Windows Server 2008 eventually will be available in multiple editions and will be offered with and without Hyper-V. Microsoft also plans to release a product called Microsoft Hyper-V Server specifically as a virtualization host environment in the second half of 2008.
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Microsoft has made available the latest builds of its 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise, which each features a handful of new improvements including the Luna user interface, Windows Messenger, Windows Media ...
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This year the turkey came late Microsoft has confirmed that its recently released Windows Home Server OS can corrupt data if users are reckless enough to put it under extreme loads.â¦
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Microsoft said Tuesday that it has released a near-final test version of updates to its Windows and Windows Server operating systems.
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Blog: I recently had the opportunity to meet with two Microsoft officials to discuss Widows Home Server.  According to Microsoft officials, this new solution could solve all of your backup problems and help you immediately restore your entire system to an earli
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Microsoft&#39;s new Windows XP Media Center 2005 operating system has new features that help a PC compete with consumer electronics devices in the living room, and that turn a PC into a home server capable of feeding audio and video to multiple devices on a
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Microsoft is inching closer toward the release of Virtual Server 2005. Virtual Server leverages the Windows 2003 Server system as a platform for running multiple instances of alternative operating systems on a single system. The final version of the Server will be made available on September 13th in two varieties: Standard and Enterprise. More information on Virtual Server is available in the BetaNews archives.
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The company plans to release Power Pack 1, a collection of fixes, enhancements, and features to its software for servers in the home.
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Microsoft fully rolls out its major Service Pack 2 security update for its home and professional XP customers.