Microsoft's Ward Ralston Details GUI-less Windows Server
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INTERVIEW While the fundamental changes to Windows' core architecture were first seen by the general public last January with the release of Vista, the impact those changes will make to how businesses work will be felt later this year, with the release of Windows Server 2008. BetaNews sat down with Microsoft's Ward Ralston to find out more.
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Company looks to juice its application server business with a version tuned for smaller organizations.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft released Windows Home Server (WHS) to manufacturing today, hitting the final milestone for software that will power several turnkey home servers that OEMs will put on the market in late September and early October. The move to RTM (release to manufacturing) means that Microsoft has wrapped up WHS and handed it off to its internal distribution teams and hardware partners, said Joel Sider, senior product manager. Those OEM partners grew by two today, as Iomega and Fujitsu-Siemens Computers were added to a list that already included Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, LaCie, and Medion. Details on the Fujitsu-Siemens and Iomega systems were scanty today, but the former will be a 500GB product with gigabit Ethernet, while the latter will contain up to four hot-swappable drives. "The main change from RC (release candidate) was that the domain for remote access is now homeserver.com," said Sider. "We also did some fine tuning and polishing and killed off the last few bugs." For the most part, however, the RC version was solid enough that few changes were necessary -- one of the reasons the team was able to shift the server software so quickly out of development and into distribution. "The team was very focused," said Sider, responding to a question about how WHS was able to move from public announcement to RTM in just over six months. "But simplicity was also job number one. We wanted to provide a really powerful but not endless feature set. We were being pretty conservative with what we were trying to achieve, something that I think helped us avoid 'feature creep.'" Sider declined to provide specific release dates for either the system builder version -- standalone software that will allow users to install WHS on older PCs -- or the various hardware products. But he did confirm that an evaluation edition would be available with the eval timing out after 120 days. As for existing testers -- more than 100,000 people have downloaded the beta and RC editions -- Microsoft hasn't decided whether it will offer them a discounted system builder. "We're thinking about it," Sider said. "That's been done before by Microsoft." Citing "early fall, late September and early October" as the likely ship dates for the first wave of WHS hardware -- led by HP's MediaSmart Server -- Sider said that WHS development would continue. "We'll keep moving forward," he said. "There will certainly be future versions of WHS."
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft's first server OS aimed at helping Windows users organize and share files on a home network is nearly ready for prime time. The companyÂ will releaseÂ Windows Home Server Release Candidate 1 (RC1) to early adopters this week in anticipation of the product's final release later this year. There are two ways for users to get the software. Developers can sign up for the Windows Home Server Code2Fame Challenge, a contest Microsoft has set up to encourage them to build new applications and add-on technology to the OS. Developers are eligible to win up to $50,000 worth of cash and prizes, according to Microsoft. For users who just want to experiment with the new OS, they can get RC1 by participating in a survey , after which they will be permitted to download the software. Microsoft unveiled Windows Home Server, formerly known by the code name Quattro, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. The software is aimed specifically at letting home Windows PC users share and store multimedia and other files, as well as install security to protect files on a home network. Initially Windows Home Server will be distributed through hardware vendors only, though Microsoft is mulling selling it out of the box as well. Hewlett-Packard Co. was the first hardware vendor to sign on to distribute the OS on its MediaSmart Servers, which will be available before the end of the year. The vendor was later joined by U.S. computer maker Gateway Inc., French external storage maker LaCie Group SA and German consumer electronics company Medion AG, which also will build hardware for Windows Home Server. Microsoft also will offer a version of the OS for custom system builders. Windows users said they are curious about the forthcoming OS, but are in no hurry to rush out and purchase a new home server unless it would solve a specific need they have. Windows XP user Matt Villano said he is interested in setting up a home network once he completes an upcoming move to a new residence in the San Francisco Bay area, and is considering Windows Home Server to help him do that. Villano, who works from home, said there are limitations to his current IT workflow, ones setting up a network would solve. "Right now when I print, I have to shut down, undock from my station, dock at [my wife's] and start up again," he said. "A home network would eliminate that." Villano said that Windows Home Server is only one option he is mulling to set up his network, but likes the idea of using the product to manage multimedia files as well as perform everyday tasks. However, he said he would need to read about and evaluate Windows Home Server carefully before making any final purchasing decisions.
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(InfoWorld) - MicrosoftÂ on Tuesday said it would formally unveil the next wave of its enterprise products -- including the long-awaited "Longhorn" version of Windows Server -- in February 2008 at a launch event in Los Angeles. In a keynote at the Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner revealed that Microsoft willÂ launch Windows Server 2008Â (formerlyÂ code-named Longhorn),Â Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008Â in Los Angeles on Feb. 27, 2008. As is customary when Microsoft rolls out major products, the event will be the first in a wave of launch events across the world. The timeframe may seem a bit off for customers expecting Windows Server 2008 to be available before the end of 2007, which is the current plan. According to Microsoft, there will be no change to this schedule, though the formal product launch won't come until next year. Turner called the trio of products the "big dogs" of Microsoft's enterprise product portfolio. "It's the biggest single launch we will have at Microsoft in one day [in 2008]," Turner said, adding that colleague Andy Lees, a corporate vice president in Microsoft's server and tools business, told him to call it a "feeding frenzy of opportunity" for partners. "There are hundreds of billions of dollars available to you through the monetization of these products," Turner said. While that's all well and good, one partner attending the keynote said it's sometimes a daunting task for a partner -- especially a small business -- to work with Microsoft to seize the opportunity Turner mentioned. "Figuring out how to work with this organization [is] a constant struggle," said Linda Gillis, marketing director for Squirrel Systems, a British Columbia company that provides restaurant point-of-sale software and services. She said her 175-person company has a particular challenge because while it is based in Canada, 80 percent of its sales are in the U.S., so it's hard to find the right person within Microsoft to work with on sales engagements. However, "we are making headway," Gillis said. One of her goals at the partner conference is to make even more gains in this area, she said. During his keynote, Turner reminded thousands of partners in the room that Microsoft has made a concerted effort to be more transparent about its product strategy to prepare them for releases, and reminded them of the products the company delivered in 2007. Those included Windows Vista, 40 million copies of which Turner said Microsoft delivered in the first 100 days of release, and Microsoft Office 2007. "We talked about those products for a lot of years and they came to fruition [in 2007]," Turner said. Vista and Office are especially conducive to helping partners earn revenue, the former in particular representing a "$300-billion partner opportunity," he said. Microsoft said about 10,000 partners are attending its annual partner conference in Denver this week. The conference runs through Thursday.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft will introduce a new system for fighting software piracy with its upcoming Windows Vista and Windows Longhorn Server operating systems, the company said Wednesday. Called the Microsoft Software Protection Platform, it's a collection of technologies that aims to do better at detecting pirated versions of Windows, and will also force unauthorized versions of its software into a limited-functionality mode, encouraging users to obtain a legal copy. People using unlicensed copies of Vista will be blocked from accessing certain features, including a new interface design called Windows Aero, and software for fighting pop-up advertisements called Windows Defender, Microsoft said. The company has already used a reduced functionality mode with Windows XP. Users with an unlicensed versions of Windows will also see a persistent reminder message in the corner of their screen, reading "This copy of Windows is not genuine." The new software is bound to come under scrutiny. Microsoft's previous attempt to reduce unauthorized use of its software, Windows Genuine Advantage, was partially rolled back after it wasÂ criticized as "spyware"Â for stealthily installing itself on users' PCs and reporting information back to Microsoft. Microsoft said the new technologies are necessary to fight software piracy, and said end-users can also benefit because they are less likely to be exposed to faulty or compromised software. End-users installing pirated Vista copies, or who don't register their software using a product key within 30 days, will have their OS functionality reduced. The product key is an ID number assigned to customers for each purchase of Windows. The company said it will also be able to track more easily when products are activated with product keys that have been stolen from a business. Regardless of the authenticity of their Vista copy, all users will have access to Microsoft security updates, the company said. For businesses that use volume license keys for Vista and Longhorn Server, Microsoft will introduce new, policy-based tools for activating those systems. The new tools, called Microsoft Volume Activation 2.0, won't be linked to Microsoft's software billing systems, the company said. Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn -- the code name for the next version of Microsoftâs server software -- will be the first products to ship with the antipiracy technologies, but they'll eventually be used in more of its products. Around 35 percent of all software installed worldwide in 2005 was pirated or unlicensed, Microsoft said, citing a figure from the Business Software Alliance, an industry group. More information isÂ available here.Â
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(InfoWorld) - The long march to the release of Windows Server 2008, aka Longhorn Server, continued on Monday, as Microsoft announced that it is making the first Release Candidate version of the upcoming operating system available for public download. Microsoft said that RC0, as it's being called by the software vendor, will become available on its Web site within the next 24 hours -- replacing the Beta 3 release that it has been offering to early users. RC0 is the first pre-release version to include a built-in virtualization hypervisor, which is code named Viridian. But Ward Ralston, senior technical product manager for Microsoft's Windows Server group, noted that the hypervisor component "is not yet in beta" and is thus less mature than the rest of Windows Server 2008. Microsoft declared as long ago as April that the OS itself was basically "feature-complete." In contrast, the hypervisor, which will compete with technology from server virtualization market leader VMware, will still be in Community Technology Preview form when Windows Server 2008 ships in next year's first quarter, Ralston said. A finished version of the hypervisor will be ready within six months of the operating system's release, he added. IT managers who have been testing earlier versions of Windows Server 2008 as part of Microsoft's Technology Adoption Program say they're largely impressed with the OS, though not without some reservations. Robbie Roberts, IT manager at Windrush Frozen Foods, an Oxford, England-based fine foods importer, has been using Windows Server 2008 in live applications for the past two months to run his company's rights management services and its print servers as well as a portal based on Microsoft's SharePoint Server 2007 software. With just a two-person IT team that oversees 25 Windows servers, Roberts considers automation and ease of use to be his highest priorities. Windows Server 2008 is delivering on both those counts, he said. "The worst thing they could have done is totally redesign the [operating system] so that there would be a huge learning curve," Roberts said. Instead, "the user interface is cleaner while keeping it as similar as they could." Small things, such as the ability to reduce the number of Windrush's domain controllers through the use of Windows Server 2008, also are helping to boost the performance of the company's servers, Roberts said. He added that bugs haven't been an issue with the software. "We were involved in the Windows Server 2003 rollout, and we had tons of problems," he said. "We absolutely expected tons of problems with Windows Server 2008. But -- hand on heart -- we've had none. We found running Vista more difficult than Windows Server 2008." The main problem Roberts did encounter was in getting SharePoint, in particular its Excel Services feature, to run properly with the new operating system. But that turned out to be due to a problem with SharePoint, he said. Windrush currently uses VMware's virtualization software, and that product's "features and performance are great," Roberts said. "But I'm a GUI type person, so I don't like using the command line in Linux." He plans to try testing Microsoft's Windows Server Virtualization hypervisor as soon as he can. Roberts also plans to move the rest of his Microsoft applications onto Windows Server 2008 as soon as possible, except for Office Communications Server, which he said is not yet supported by the operating system. Longhorn beta testing feedback The government of Georgia's Fulton County, where Atlanta is located, has been testing Windows Server 2008 for almost three years. Before installing the operating system, the county's biggest need was tighter security, according to Keith Dickie, its assistant director of IT. For instance, he said that the county's libraries are under constant attack from hackers via the Internet as well as the public access terminals located inside library branches. "With Windows Server 2003, it's hard to figure out what ports need to be open or closed," Dickie said. By comparison, Windows Server 2008 has made it easier for county IT staffers to lock down unused ports and manage network firewalls with domain controllers. Workers have even been able to make the domain controllers read-only, so "if somebody hacks that box, they can't take it over," Dickie said. Overall, he added, "we're able to reduce the surface area of attack." Similarly, Microsoft's NAP (Network Access Protection) technology, a new feature in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista, is enabling Fulton County to block insecure servers and client systems -- think teleworkers whose systems haven't been properly updated -- from accessing its network. "We tried to do this with Active Directory and domain policies. But now we can really enforce what used to be just a paper policy," said James Tabor, the county's network administrator. NAP also will become available in the Service Pack 3 release of Windows XP, which is due in the first quarter of next year. That will let Fulton County "buy more time" before upgrading PCs from Windows XP to Vista, Tabor said. The main detriment to Windows Server 2008 cited by Fulton County officials is a lack of support for the operating system by key third-party applications. For instance, the county's VoIP and unified messaging systems rely on Cisco's CallManager 4.1 software, which the county bought a little over six months ago. But CallManager 4.1 runs only on Windows 2000 Server, according to Jay Terrell, Fulton County's deputy director of IT. Also, the country has had to run Internet Information Services 7.0 in Windows Server 2003 compatibility mode on systems running Windows Server 2008 in order to get some Web applications to work properly. As a result, the county doesn't expect to move most of its third-party applications to Windows Server 2008 until a year from now, Terrell said. "We're not rushing to put anything into production that would hurt our users," he noted. In contrast, Quixtar, which sells health and beauty products online through a network of independent business owners, is running Windows Server 2008 in production mode with Active Directory and on Web servers that are based on IIS 7.0 -- although in the latter case, it is using the Windows Server 2003 compatibility mode like Fulton County. Matt Behrens, supervisor for IT infrastructure at Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Quixtar, said that with Active Directory, the biggest improvement has been in the time it takes to replicate the database. "What used to take five to six days now takes four to five hours," Behrens said. The operating system's password policies also have been improved, according to Behrens. He said that with Windows Server 2008, he can require that workers with administrator-level access to systems create much more difficult-to-crack passwords than lower-level users must have. As for IIS 7.0, Steve Cole, who heads Quixtar's Web operations, said that once the company got past some bugs in the Web server software in the first two beta releases of the OS, it hasn't had any further application compatibility issues. He added, though, that his staff has "had to do a fair amount of reconfiguration as it's a completely new architecture." Cole likes new administration features in IIS 7.0. "It's doing things that we'd been wishing for for years," he said. But for now, raw performance on returning requested information to end-users is only about as good as Quixtar was seeing with IIS 6.0. "Our goal is to see this get at least 15 percent better, and at least 20 percent better in terms of (processing) capacity," Cole said. "Microsoft knows that's on the top of our list." Microsoft also said that an RC0 version of its Windows Media Services 2008 software is being made available for download, as well as a Community Technology Preview release of the IIS 7.0 Media Pack.
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Although a final release of the next Windows Server, code-named "R2," won't debut until late 2005, Microsoft partners are being briefed on what's to come. R2 is slated to be a fairly minor interim release between Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Longhorn Server, which is not expected until 2007. But the upgrade will include some new functionality along with the base service pack and security updates.
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The Microsoft chairman discusses where the XO laptop fits on his radar screen (not too high), as well as other efforts to bring low-cost computing to emerging markets.
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Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Windows Server division at Microsoft, said in an interview that he thinks the ability to configure Windows system images for various types of servers will be "the heart and soul" of the Longhorn upgrade due in 2007.
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Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday that a long-standing and influential member of the Windows OS team has left, one of several recent and imminent executive departures that together represent a changing of the guard at the company.Rob Short, former corporate vice president of the Windows Core Technology group, left the company last month, according to a spokeswoman from Microsoft&#39;s public relations firm.Short had helped develop the Windows OS at Microsoft since joining the company in 1988. He was on the original Windows NT development team, which did some of the early work to optimize Windows for the PC architecture. Most recently, Short and his team were responsible for the design, development and testing of the core components of Windows.News of Short&#39;s departure follows the announcement last week that&#160;Jeff Raikes, head of Microsoft&#39;s Business Division, will leave the company in September. Raikes is one of the company&#39;s top executives, overseeing Office and all of Microsoft&#39;s business products. Microsoft has appointed Stephen Elop, a former executive at Juniper Networks, Macromedia and Adobe, to succeed him.At the same time Microsoft unveiled Raikes&#39; departure, it also said that&#160;Bruce Jaffe, corporate vice president of corporate development, will leave at the end of next month. Charles Fitzgerald, Microsoft&#8217;s general manager of platform strategy, also plans to leave the company in the next month or so, Microsoft has confirmed.When Microsoft Chairman and founder Bill Gates leaves his day-to-day activities at Microsoft midyear, he will leave behind an executive staff that looks vastly different from how it did a few years ago -- which may not be such a bad thing, considering the 33-year-old company aims to generate more revenue from newer business models and technologies.&quot;It is interesting that the company so far seems to have had some successful outside hires [when it&#39;s] had a reputation in the past of chewing them up and spitting them out,&quot; said Rob Helm, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft.However, he noted that the departing Raikes was instrumental in transitioning Office beyond a mere set of desktop applications to become a bona fide business collaboration suite. So it hasn&#39;t necessarily been the Microsoft long-timers that have prevented the company from evolving beyond its core businesses, Helm said.&quot;If Microsoft is moving too slowly in the Web-based world it&#39;s not necessarily because the old guard is holding it back,&quot; he said. &quot;It may be more a matter of the sheer size of the company and the inherent difficulty of turning a ship that big.&quot;Apart from CEO Steve Ballmer and Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft&#39;s entertainment and devices division, many of the company&#39;s other top executives have joined the company in the past three years. They include the man widely seen as Gates&#39; successor, Chief Architect Ray Ozzie, who joined Microsoft in 2005. Kevin Turner, Microsoft&#39;s chief operating officer, and Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of Microsoft&#39;s Online Services Group, also joined the company that year. And Raikes&#39; replacement, Elop, won&#39;t start at Microsoft until the end of the month.
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Despite denials from members of its own server development team on blogs last week, Microsoft announced today that it is indeed making Release Candidate 0 of Windows Server 2008 available for download tomorrow, if not sooner, as a community technology preview.
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Microsoft releases 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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With an absence of fanfare, but otherwise on schedule, Microsoft opened up its download page for Service Pack 2 of Windows Server 2003, both 32-bit and 64-bit editions. Perhaps most importantly, enterprises won't have to wait until Longhorn to be able to utilize Windows Deployment Services, the company's new image-based system for pre-composed, remote Windows installations.
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Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 could now be released in March or April of next year.
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Windows computing environments are cheaper, more secure, and lower risk than those based on Linux and open-source software, CEO Steve Ballmer asserts in an E-mail sent Wednesday to Microsoft&#39;s customers and partners.
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Microsoft 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.