Microsoft will announce the release candidate for its Windows Small Business Server 2003, the latest product in the Windows Server 2003 server family headed for release.
Windows SBS 2003 On Tap
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
I hope they keep ISA server, toss SQL server, and add share point services.
… for small business’s of less than 40 people. But you you need a damn good machine to run it properly, with everything installed (EXCH, ISA, SQL, IIS). (Dual P3@1GHz w/1GB RAM, and SCSI RAID 1, was bearly adequate IMO).
Looks like the SBS2K3 “Standard” comes with EXCH, IIS, and SP (Share Point), while the “Premium” adds ISA and SQL to the mix. While bundling EXCH was great, ISA put the “icing on the cake”, no need for additional routers/firewalls/proxy. All self contained in 1 neat little package… Pity MS makes it a “Premium” add-on.
Guys, I have a problem – I just can’t find many examples for true innovations from Microsoft. Does someone here have a couple of examples?
Guys, I have a problem – I just can’t find many examples for true innovations from Microsoft. Does someone here have a couple of examples?
Bob was innovative, and it bombed
the Office Assistants were innovative, and they bombed
Windows NT was innovative, it bombed, had to be greatly dumbed down to be successful, and was truly successful only about six years later
namepower said”Guys, I have a problem – I just can’t find many examples for true innovations from Microsoft. Does someone here have a couple of examples?”
Yeah, but nearly no firm does actual inovation. Does Linux was technically innovative ? No. But is is one, or maybe the biggest event in the recent years, because of the way it is developped.
Apple didn’t invent the GUI, but they put it for the “mass people”, MS was really not innovative with DOS on 86, but without microsoft, I doubt most people here would have a PC. MS didn’t invent journalised Filesystem, but they put it for the “masses” since 95, etc… The loved BeOS wasn’t very innovative either : just a bunch of really talented guys which had some good ideas, and applied them. No revolution there either.
Most firms just use academic research, or invest into it. R&D is more about D than R, I think.
I really don’t mean any revolution or anything. Just some kind of innovation like quartz extreme, expose, usb, software features, something like ms bob! I mean they have a vast product portfolio, there must be something. Or is there nothing? Nobody seems to recall anything that was first introduced in a ms product.
Do you want original innovation or just a list of features that weren’t in the operating system and applications before a certain version? Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME didn’t have a built in firewall but Windows XP does. Windows XP has true user seperation which Windows 95/98/ME didn’t.
Mozilla is very innovative even though it is not for any one particular operating system. Ad Blocker and tab browsing are built into Mozilla. Other web browsers have those features too except for one, Internet Explorer. If you want those features in Internet Explorer, you will have to download add on programs.
Depending on the window manager that you use with Linux or BSD, you can have many virutal desktops that increases your desktop working area. More space means less desktop clutter. I have heard there is an add on for Windows XP but do not know if it works the same way.
It might be hard to find true innovation, especially in Microsoft products, because something that is truely innovative might mean completing your tasks in a way you are not used to. Microsoft products are geared for the masses so changing them radically is not in the best interest of Microsoft.
See the point is that i’ve been havin a discussion with a couple of mac fanatics and they challenged me to list them a couple of true innovations – with innovation i mean a feature that has not been before in any other os or program. Osx has got a couple of features you don’t see anywhere else. It doesn’t have to be an os, could be office, sql server, exchange, the visual tools. A couple of features that has exclusively introduced by ms. i want a original innovation! I love macs but i have been using ms os’s for along time and i find it really difficult to find anything new in ms products.
MS Bob is to cool as Windows 3.1 is to stable.
DirectX
XBOX (first console with broadband, a harddrive, breakaway controller cables, digital surround sound, etc., and the XBOX Live! online service).
Start Menu
Active Desktop/Explorer web integration
UPnP
Smart Tags
Intellisense
Windows Media Technologies/Windows MCE
Tablet PC/hand-writing/speech research
Smart Displays
.NET
Cleartype
ConferenceXP http://www.conferencexp.com
Mouse scroll wheel
SPOT http://www.microsoft.com/resources/spot/default4.mspx
Microsoft Office (an integrated suite of applications for the price of Word Processors of the time)
Office auto-correct/real-time spelling/grammer checking
Office 2003’s smart documents and rights management
MS Bluetooth wireless desktop (first bluetooth keyboard and mouse).
Microsoft Research projects such as “Easy Living”
http://research.microsoft.com/easyliving/
“Task Gallery”
http://research.microsoft.com/adapt/TaskGallery/
(one of the early implementations of Longhorn’s GUI tech)
“Persona” (speech and Agent tech)
http://research.microsoft.com/ui/persona/home.htm
Check http://research.microsoft.com for more.
MS engineers also work in standards groups like Bluetooth SIG and the Digital Home working group.
thx for the effort, i will use some of the info. but i think that the mouse wheel was not first introduced by ms. Tablet pc had been introduced by a company called go. anyway thx again.
hmmm, yeah a lot of those don’t seem to be true innovation, but rather simple evolution. cleartype, etc…
I’m not going to stand up for MS’s innovative spirit, but I have to admit anytime I see Gnome, KDE or quite a few other window managers or desktop environments, all I see is the windows 95 influence. I don’t see anything incredibly unique in any of the new DEs, but I don’t see a lot of features from Mac, Nextstep, CDE, Amiga or OS/2 incorporated either.
I really don’t know if it’s innovation, but there sure are a lot people copying the windows style.
the integrated browser was before it’s time, MS got blasted hard about it, but now we see everyone integrating at least browser features. the Outlook/Exchange interaction is going to be copied a lot soon, too. how is Kroupware coming along, anyone know?
just so I’m not totally offtopic, it’s good to see MS split SBS into two products. most small businesses do not need SQL or that god awful piece of junk ISA.
Geeez, what a stupid discussion.
Microsoft develops R1 features, then Linux clones it and should be able to do it right, but somehow bloats it up (GPL error??).
Like someone said, most of what Linux offer is cloning from MS. Just that if you pay 90$ you get it 1-3 years before the Penguinworld does.
Competitors have been innovative though as some here seem to neglect. Apple is very innovative, both in how they design things and how they consider smoothness to work….
BeOS is probably the most innovative system around, and luckily we’ll see it up to speed pretty soon again =)))