Windows Archive

NeoWin features an article, an introduction and overview of the Longhorn OS.

Microsoft Corp. said it will act as a neutral arbiter in the ongoing battle between the competing recordable DVD standards, supporting all of them in the upcoming Longhorn release. Microsoft added support for DVD-R and DVD-RW into Longhorn, due in 2005. Longhorn already supports the DVD-RAM, DVD+RW and DVD+R formats. Also, here is a picture, showing the Windows Client roadmap: Windows XP Tablet PC Version 2 due 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2 due 2004. Beta 1 and Beta 2 of Longhorn due 2004. In the meantime, here are a few screenshots and videos of Longhorn.

Windows Server 2003 makes strides toward putting storage control back inside the OS, InfoWorld says. Microsoft plans several enhancements to Windows Server 2003: an iSCSI release in June, a NAS 3.0 release in the second quarter; an ADS release in the third quarter; a Small Business Server release "in a few months", and a virtual server release in the fourth quarter. Read the article at ExtremeTech.

Longhorn will not ship in beta form until early 2004, and will not be released to manufacturing until 2005. Also, Microsoft revealed that the company's Blackcomb project will not be delivered as a major server upgrade as previously expected, but will instead be phased in over several years, beginning with technology that Microsoft will release this year as "out of band" upgrades to Windows Server 2003.

Microsoft plans a major cleanup of the Win32 API set and XML application markup language (XAML) to make its next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, as friendly for developers as it is for users.

"With Windows Server 2003 behind us, it's time to turn our attention to the more exciting world of desktop computing, where Microsoft is slowly plowing through pre-beta milestones of Longhorn, it's follow-up to Windows XP. Due in late 2004 or early 2005, Windows Longhorn will offer sweeping changes over its predecessors and be the most significant release of Microsoft's desktop operating system since Windows 95. For developers, consumers, and business users alike, Longhorn is going to be huge." Read the article at WinSuperSite.

"Is Server 2003 fast? Yes, it's easily outdistances anything that Microsoft has ever shown us before. And, yes, it's faster than Linux. It is stable? Based on about two weeks of testing with the final release, I would say that it's also the most stable Microsoft operating system I've ever seen. But then again, I'm not asking it to do much besides basic file/print. The functionality servers that any business needs are largely not there. Ironically, this reminds me of the old claim against Linux that it didn't have any applications. That was never true of Linux, but it is true of Server 2003." Read the article at Practical-Tech by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols.

With Windows Server 2003, Microsoft is promising greater security. However, its 50 million lines of code mean it'll never be secure enough. Read the article at BusinessWeek.

"As the development of Windows 2000 wound down over three years ago, Microsoft was making a transition of another kind: The company's development focus was moving from delivering technology to delivering solutions that met real customer needs. It sounds like an obvious strategy, but consider the ramifications: In the past, Microsoft would determine what features to include in each revision of its products, deliver as many of those features as it could in the time allotted, and then move any dropped features into the next version." Read the article at WinSuperSite.

A more advanced test version of Windows XP's successor has leaked onto the Web, and analysts say it indicates that Microsoft has stepped up work to deliver the new operating system. Read it story at CNet.

Tom Bittman, lead Windows Server analyst at Gartner, told the E-Commerce Times that for some entities whose server requirements are simple, the improvements Microsoft has included in the new release might be overkill. Although Microsoft's new release can provide good ROI, most businesses cannot justify the upgrade without tying it to a routine hardware refresh. Enterprises typically replace their hardware every three to four years.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is the latest version of the Windows Server platform. Listed here are the articles about Windows Server 2003 that you'll find on Microsoft's Web site, organized by technology. Additionally, Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 Release Candidate is out to betatesters.

Microsoft will announce the first release candidate for its small business edition of Windows Server 2003 in June, officials said at a meeting here with CRN. Microsoft's Small Business Server 2003, which will incorporate Windows Server 2003, Exchange 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services, is going to be promoted heavily for its ease-of-deployment capabilities and enhanced remote user features, officials said at the Windows Server 2003 launch in San Francisco on Thursday.

Microsoft on Thursday will launch the most ambitious version yet of its Windows server operating system, as the company looks to push aside Unix servers and mainframes in the enterprise. In the meantime, server makers will be among the Microsoft backers on Thursday, plugging new customer wins and services for companies that are considering a move to Windows Server 2003.