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Today Microsoft is cranking up the hoopla for the 2008 refresh of their mainline server and tools products: Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and SQL Server 2008. Visual Studio 2008 is already generally available and SQL Server 2008 won’t ship until 3Q, but some there is some claim to relevancy for the launch event beyond the marketing hype since Windows Server 2008 became generally available today.
Day 2 seems to have been Windows Server Day at WinHEC 2007 with Bill Laing, general manager of Microsoft’s Windows Server Division orchestrating the show. While there were some spiffy demos (e.g. hot swap) the only new news seemed to come out in the discussion of the roadmap for Windows Server operating system products ([1],[2]) where it was revealed that Windows Server 2008 R2 would be 64-bit only and that Windows Server 2008 would be the last 32-bit operating system, client or server, that Microsoft would release. Presumably that injunction does not apply to variants of Windows Server 2008 like Home Server which in beta, at least, are 32-bit and of course versions like Centro and Cougar (i.e. Small Business Server) were already scheduled to be 64-bit only because they include Exchange 2007 which is 64-bit only.
Windows Server OS Roadmap
Finally, Mark Russinovich’s interesting keynote description of some of the kernel changes in Windows Server 2008 (e.g. no more specific uniprocessor kernel variants) is summarized by Peter Galli at eWeek.
Microsoft today unexpectedly launched the Windows Unified Data Storage Server which provides simplified network storage solutions for medium size businesses (via OEMs of course):
In response to this need, today we launched a new Windows storage platform: Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 (WUDSS.) This new product – available now within Dell’s new PowerVault NX1950 hardware and through other OEMs later – represents a big milestone for Microsoft storage technology. By bringing together Windows Storage Server file server capabilities, Windows iSCSI target and initiator software, and new storage management features, WUDSS will be an ideal mid-range solution for customers looking to more easily store and manage file and block (email, database, line of business applications) data. WUDSS is great progress on our overall goal of making high end storage capabilities more affordable and accessible to a broader market.
Per the press release linked above:
Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 is a new Microsoft storage platform providing an advanced file server and IP SAN (iSCSI) capabilities, as well as unified management tools for easy deployment and maintenance in heterogeneous environments.
Think of WUDSS as an easier to use version of Windows Storage Server. I expect it has a different (and presumably lesser) price point too, but that wasn’t specified.
Some of the “smaller” stories of the week that didn’t find a post of their own:
Microsoft’s partnership with NBC gives MSNBC.com exclusive online use of NBC news video clips for 99 years …
Online ad industry forms “click measurement” standards group:
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today announced that they are forming an industry-wide Click Measurement Working Group to create a set of Click Measurement Guidelines. These Guidelines, a joint effort with the Media Rating Council (MRC), will provide the detailed definition of a “click” and the standard against which clicks are measured and counted including the identification of invalid clicks and/or fraudulent clicks.
Member companies who have confirmed their participation in this Working Group thus far include: Ask.com, Google, LookSmart, Microsoft Corp., Yahoo!, and others.
Microsoft invites hackers to test Vista. They need an invitation? Actually, Microsoft got a nice reception at the Black Hat Briefings conference even if attention for the Microsoft hosted sessions waned in the face of more exciting sessions. One such was a demonstration of installing a rootkit on a Vista beta. See, I told you they didn’t need an invitation!
Microsoft and Ziff Davis convert Computer Gaming World into Games for Windows: The Official Magazine. Note that it is PC gaming, not console.
Microsoft, Nintendo sued over game controller patents.
Microsoft to Offer Xbox 360 Bundle? Microsoft may not be cutting the Xbox 360 price to fight Sony’s PS3, but there are lots of other ways to play the game.
Robert McLaws speculates that .NET 3.0 will RTM before Vista.
Microsoft Brings Storage Server OS To Custom System Builders :
Microsoft is planning to bring its Windows Storage Server operating system, currently available only to OEMs, to a wider range of custom-system builders as its Longhorn version of Windows becomes available.
IDC: Global handheld market sees tenth quarter of on year decline in 2Q. Old fashioned PDAs are toast. Related: Dell Abandons PDA Development. Surprisingly, IDC didn’t have a much cheerier outlook for smartphones, in Europe at least. Feature bloat gets the blame.
IPTV subscriber base set for explosive growth, says iSuppli. The good news for Microsoft and all the other vendors is that it has a projected CAGR in subscribers of 92% through 2010. The bad news is that only amounts to 63 million subscriber worldwide in 2010. Still, it’s not chicken feed. Full iSuppli press release here.
Google: We won’t sell music. They seem to be the only ones.
Lenovo Hires Former Microsoft Executive To Lead Human Resources. It’s Kenneth DiPietro, a former vice president of human resources at Microsoft.
Microsoft Hires Agency Search Guru:
Harrison Magun, a general manager of Avenue A/Razorfish, has left the agency to take a position with Microsoft.
Magun recently wrapped up work at the aQuantive agency. Next month, he starts at Microsoft’s MSN unit as director of media analytics.
A selection of “small” Microsoft stories from last week:
Vista’s voice recognition feature provided the comedic relief at last week’s Financial Analyst Meeting, but the claim is that it was a known beta bug. Speaking of Vista, Developers cry foul over Windows kernel security which makes things harder for both hackers and legitimate security software from third parties. Microsoft released Vista upgrade information, but take it with a grain of salt. Finally, a frequent refrain: “No one outside of the 98052 ZIP code seems to believe that Windows Vista is really going to ship when Microsoft says it will.”
What RealNetworks thinks about Microsoft’s Zune - Rob Glaser would like Microsoft’s spurned partners to call.
Shocking news: Lehman Bros. thinks Microsoft Poses Long-Term Web Threat To Google, Yahoo. The NY Times had more on the same competition from a Yahoo perspective.
Californians to Soon Get $1.1B from Microsoft. It’s another state antitrust settlement.
Microsoft plans to charge $1.50 for the next Office 2007 beta to help pay for the bandwidth and hosting required by the unprecedented demand. Starts next Wednesday at 6PM PDT, but only applies to new testers.
The Microsoft Developer Network Library is now a free download. It used to be only available to MSDN subscribers although there is an online version.
Microsoft recalled Small Business Server 2003 R2 due to a manufacturing defect.
Microsoft Sets Sights on iSCSI: “Microsoft on Friday will release the iSCSI target technology it acquired from String Bean Software earlier this year.”
Microsoft Releases Free Commerce Server 2007 Developer Edition . This used to be Commerce Server 2006 but has undergone a name change. The full version is supposed to be available on August 1.
Windows Live Mail Desktop starts an open beta - also sometimes called Windows Live Mail Center.
Microsoft Defends WGA, Plans Similar Tool to Validate Office
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