Microsoft readies Windows Server 2003 R2 beta
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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 on Wednesday released public previews of the 64-bit editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 as it changed the official names of the high-end operating systems.
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Microsoft has released the June Community Technology Preview of Windows Server 2008, which serves as an interim release between Beta 3 and Release Candidate 1. The company says Beta 3 has already been downloaded over 200,000 times in the two months since its release.
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To help ensure that Windows Server 2008 won't lack for compatible software, Microsoft released a beta version of a tool that can check whether applications will work with the upcoming OS.
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InfoWorld - Microsoft will release a public beta of new VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) server software by the end of this month.The software smoothly integrates with legacy phone networks and its Office application suite, the company said.
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Microsoft's chief operating officer says that Windows Server 2008--formerly code-named Longhorn Server--will be launched next February along with upgrades of SQL Server and Visual Studio.
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REDMOND, Wash. Oct 26, 2004 - Microsoft Corp. plans a Dec. 1 release for the latest version of its server software that aims to give companies more secure instant messaging and other corporate communications tools.
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Master the server Windows Server 2008 is due for release on February 29, and as with most Microsoft releases, the fanfare from Seattle can be heard worldwide. Will it do what you want it to? What skills do you need? Is it any good?â¦
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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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Microsoft releases a refresh of its first service pack for Vista to beta testers, indicating the final release might be near.
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Microsoft has revealed an open beta of Microsoft Data Protection Server, a continuous disk-based backup and recovery solution. The software promises rapid, reliable and efficient recovery in minutes for Windows 2003 Server System customers.
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Fat lady goes back to trailer Two months after releasing a "feature complete" third Windows Server 2008 beta, Microsoft has added new features to the planned operating system's code base.â¦
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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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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft has clarified how licensing for its current version of Windows Server works when paired with virtualization software. However, customers may face a whole new set of licensing rules once the next version, Windows Server 2008, is released later this year. In a white paper called "Licensing Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 to Run with Virtualization Technologies," Microsoft outlines clearly how to license the current version of Windows Server -- Windows Server 2003 R2 -- for specific third-party virtualization technology, including VMware ESX, VMware Vmotion and SWsoft Virtuozzo. It also explains licensing for Microsoft's own System Center Virtual Machine Manager. The document can be found on a Web page that also includes previously released virtualization calculators that help customers determine the cost of Windows Server licensing in various virtualization scenarios. Virtualization has complicated server OS pricing because it allows more than one instance of server software to run on a single server, while traditional OS pricing has been per server, assuming that only one version of an OS can run on one piece of hardware. Virtualization allows software to be emulated via a virtual machine, and so run without having to be physically installed. But even if Microsoft has done enough to clarify how its current version of Windows Server should be licensed for virtualization scenarios, customers could find themselves needing new guidelines once Windows Server 2008 is released, something Microsoft expects to do by the end of the year. Formerly code-named Longhorn, the next version of Windows Server will have virtualization technology built in, which could preclude the need for third-party virtualization software. "We believe most customers will choose to use Windows Server virtualization, which comes as a role within Windows Server 2008," said Microsoft spokesman Patrick O'Rourke. "But customers still have the option to use third-party server virtualization software on Windows Server 2008." Pricing for Windows Server 2008 has not yet been announced. According to the Microsoft white paper, current virtualization pricing for Windows Server 2003 R2 is as follows: Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition (SE) allows a customer to run only one instance of the software in either a physical or virtual way on a server. Users need to assign an SE license for each running instance of Windows Server on a system. Customers have more flexibility with the enterprise and datacenter editions of Windows Server 2003, however. They can run one physical instance of Windows Server and up to four simultaneous virtual instances with one Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition license, and can run unlimited physical or virtual versions of the software when Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition is licensed for every physical processor in a server Windows Server 2008 is currently available in a beta 3 version.
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Some good news this week for Microsoft calendar-watchers, some bad: Even as Redmond nailed down the release dates for Vista SP1 and XP SP3, it quietly admitted that Windows Server 2008 would be released to manufacturing later than previously claimed.
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Finally emerging from beta after Microsoft told an already anxious customer base in May of last year it would eventually be available early in first quarter 2007, Service Pack 1 of Virtual Server 2005 R2 has at last emerged from beta. But some customers looking for a feature that Microsoft brochures said it has may be disappointed today to learn they really should have said it's a feature that SP1 supports (big difference): Volume Shadow Services.
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Live Communications Server 2005, Microsoft&#39;s second-generation real-time communications server, is released to manufacturing and will be generally available on Dec. 1, the company said Tuesday.