Users get first look at Windows Server 2008

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The long awaited release of Microsoft's latest Windows Server 2008 version has been given its first public outing, with the announcement that release candidate one (RC1) is ready for download.

While inviting customers to download the RC1 for testing and evaluation, Microsoft also said the Server product would be part of a worldwide launch programme, alongside Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, that will do the rounds in February next year.

Andy Lees, corporate vice president of the server and tools marketing and solutions group at Microsoft, said that bringing customers and partners into the development process early has helped enable the delivery of the most tested new versions of these products. More than 1.8 million customers had so far obtained Windows Server 2008 evaluation code.

Microsoft made the initial release candidate (RC0) of Windows Server 2008, previously codenamed Longhorn, available in September.

But this latest announcement also revealed Windows Server 2008 is scheduled for release to manufacturing (RTM) in time for the kick-off event of the worldwide tour on 27 February, while the RC1 is available for download from a dedicated Microsoft microsite in the meantime.

New features highlighted in this release include enhanced group policy management with new 'Group Policy Preferences,' formerly known as PolicyMaker Standard Edition and Policy Share Manager, as well as other new management and security features.

The vendor added that as many as 300 partners had already enrolled in its Early Access Program, to support software certification and "Works with" validation - which will ultimately lead to full "Certified for Windows Server 2008" status - demonstrating its commitment to maximising the interoperability of the new Server product.

Having also released an evaluation version of its own virtualisation hypervisor, Hyper-V (formerly known as Viridian) in September, the delayed release of this final version will now take place roughly 180 days after the Server 2008 launch.

Dale Vile, managing director of analyst firm Freeform Dynamics, told IT PRO that he doubted many enterprises would rush to migrate to the new server version until the hypervisor piece is ready.

"Most are happy with the 2003 version and are looking forward to the 2008 version meeting demand around virtualisation and better support for heterogeneous environments," he said.

"Without the Hyper-V piece, Windows Server 2008 becomes less attractive and we're hearing that, while most enterprises will have a look at it, they will also slow down migration plans until its release."

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