Today the Windows Server Product Team pushed out the final bits for Windows Server 2008. There are many new features in Windows Server 2008 (Server Core, Powershell, TS Gateway, Hyper-V, etc.), but the feature I’m looking forward to the most (as is most of my customers) is IIS7.
IIS7 has been under development for the past 4-years and has been completely re-engineered to support the taxing needs of today’s web hosting environment. I can go into great detail about what’s new in IIS7, but I’ll instead invite you to view the webcast, IIS7: End-to-End Overview of the New Web Application Server from Microsoft, for all the details.
Today also marks the RTM for Vista SP1. The Windows product team has been working diligently since Vista went Gold over a year ago. Many customers have had great experiences with Vista, but many customers have also experienced some pains. SP1 will address many of the issues identified. The team has also focused on improving reliability and performance of Windows Vista.
There will be phased roll out of SP1 with MSDN & TechNet subscribers, along with OEM’s, having access to SP1 today, Volume Licensing customers will receive SP1 on March 1st, and SP1 finding it’s way to Windows Update and Microsoft Downloads on March 18th.
Update: Ok…so I criss-crossed my memos between the Windows Server 2008 availability and the availability of Vista SP1. Windows Server 2008 is available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers today with volume licensing coming online at the beginning of March and retail availability landing in mid-March. Vista SP1 will be available on Microsoft Downloads, Windows Update and MSDN and TechNet downloads in mid-March.
This is a good time to throw in another plug for the upcoming launch events for Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. Steve Ballmer kicks off the festivities in Los Angeles on February 27th. After that, we’ll see a wave of launch events taking place throughout the world. I, personally, will be presenting at the upcoming launch events taking place in Chicago (March 11), Indianapolis (April 3), Madison (April 17) and Milwaukee (May 9). If you’re not able to make it to a launch event in person, you can try catching the Virtual Launch Event. I’m not quite sure what the Virtual Launch Event is going to entail but it sure sounds interesting.
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