Windows Server 2008 has but to be launched to production. But that;s not stopping Microsoft execs from beginning to reveal glimpses of what;s in some the future server releases due out within the subsequent year-plus.1st: We now know the codename for the following version of Windows Server that can adhere to Windows Server 2008. It;s…,
Office 2007 Activation KeyWindows 7 Server. (Thanks to Bink.nu;s Steven Bink for that revelation.) Until now, Softies and their slavish followers have been referring to this release as “Longhorn Server R2″ or “Windows Server 2008 R2.” No word but what;s in
Windows 7 Server (other than the Direct Connect feature described by Bink), but if the server team sticks to its every-two-year timetable,
Purchase Office 2010, it should be out some time in 2010.Inside the nearer term, there are two Windows Server 2008 derivatives that are due to ship in 2008. Microsoft;s mid-market server, code-named “Centro” — and now officially christened “Windows Esential Business Server” — is because of within the second half of 2008. Beta 2 of Essential Business Server (which Microsoft is encouraging testers to run in production) should be out in the next 30 to 60 days, according to Russ Madlener, Director of Product Planning for Windows Server Solutions.Essential Business Server will be a 64-bit only release and is aimed at users with between 25 to 250 PCs.Essential Business Server will come in two editions: Standard and Premium. Standard will include Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, System Center Essentials; the next version of ISA Server and Forefront Security for Exchange. Microsoft is expecting customesr to deploy these components across three servers and buy a Client Access License (CAL) for each user or device connected to the Standard Essential BUsiness Server. The Premium SKU ads SQL Server 2008 to the mix. Customers are encouraged to deploy the Premium SKU across four servers.Microsoft is planning to demo Essential Business Server on an Intel Modular Architecture system next week at its TechEd IT Forum in Barcelona, Madlener said. Other hardware partners, including IBM and HP, are building systems tailored for Essential BUsiness Server.Microsoft also is readying its subsequent version of Small Business Server, code-named “Cougar,
Office 2010 Pro,” for release inside the early part of 2008. Cougar will package together Windows Server 2008,
Office Pro 2007 Key, Exchange Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, SQL Server 2005 and System Center Essentials. Like Essential Business Server, Cougar will be 64-bit only.In other Windows-Server-related news, the PowerShell team has made available to testers a 1st Community Technology Preview (CTP) build of PowerShell 2.0 (which, last I heard,
Microsoft Office 2007 Key, was code-named “Aspen”).PowerShell is Microsoft;s extensible command line interface (CLI) shell and scripting language that is built into Exchange Server 2007, Windows Server 2008 and a growing number of other Microsoft products. PowerShell will be part of Essential Business Server, as well.