Windows System
Microsoft To Ship Release Candidate of Windows Server 2008 Next Week
A release candidate is typically almost identical to the final release. Windows Server 2008, currently in Beta 3 and feature complete, is scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 2008.
Michael Neil, general manager of virtualization for Microsoft, disclosed the plans while demonstrating the software’s virtualization capabilities at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. A release candidate is typically almost identical to the final release. Windows Server 2008, currently in Beta 3 and feature complete, is scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 2008.
In late August, Microsoft pushed back the release date from the end of this year, saying the operating system needed a “little more time to bake.” The company did not provide details.
The release candidate will include a test version of software code-named Viridian and formally called Windows Server virtualization. This “hypervisor” allows multiple operating systems to run simultaneously, a useful technology in improving server efficiency and eventually leading toward more flexible data center operations.
Microsoft hasn’t had a smooth time delivering either software to the market. In May, Microsoft stripped out several significant Viridian components from the first version of the technology, and in August, it delayed Windows Server 2008’s release to manufacturers from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008.
Viridian is scheduled to ship in final form within 180 days of the final version of Windows Server 2008.
Source: informationweek
