Microsoft will let customers configure the next major release of Windows Server for specific server tasks, rather than selling a host of different Windows Server Longhorn editions tailored to those tasks, a company executive said Friday.
The release, code-named Windows Server Longhorn and set to ship in 2007, will support much more granular role-based installation than does the current Windows Server 2003. This will include the option to install only the software code needed to support a certain role, such as terminal server or file server.
Microsoft's long-awaited new Windows file system is still a work in progress. Although Microsoft hopes to ship a test version of WinFS in late 2006, it could be several more years before the revamped storage mechanism finds its way into Windows Server.
The software maker has already decided that WinFS will ship separately from Longhorn, the new desktop version of Windows that is due in 2006. On Friday, Windows Server Chief Bob Muglia said that WinFS will also not be a part of the server version of Longhorn that ships in 2007.
Microsoft has set a date for a second Longhorn-themed Professional Developers Conference . The event will be held in September 2005, almost two years after the company first detailed the Windows XP successor at the 2003 PDC.
Longhorn has undergone a lot of changes since the unveiling. Microsoft has sacrificed some key advances it had planned for the operating system to be able to make a 2006 ship date. Also, Microsoft now plans to offer updates for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to support technologies that previously were reserved for Longhorn.
When Microsoft began installing its campuswide wireless network five years ago, it was something of a pioneer. Microsofties scooped up the Net capabilities and soon everyone was surfing the Web during meetings. Five years later, though, the network is due for an overhaul. "The equipment is nearing end-of-life," said Sunjeev Pandey, a senior director in Microsoft's IT unit. Newer technologies are faster and better, he said, as well as more secure and manageable.
The software maker has been taking bids for the new network and expects to pick a winner by the end of the year, according to Chief Information Officer Ron Markezich. By early next year, the company expects to be doing pilot projects with the new gear.
Microsoft and the University of California are getting ready to make their respective cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals on Thursday in the biggest patent fight in Web history.
Microsoft will argue that similar technologies, or "prior art," were demonstrated before Eolas filed its patent application--and the software giant may find friendly ears on a key portion of its argument with the three-judge panel selected to hear its appeal.
A security researcher has uncovered yet another set of security flaws in an image component, which could put Linux users at risk of system compromise if they view a maliciously crafted image. The bugs, in the imlib image library found in most Linux systems, haven't been patched by the library's developer.
Researcher Pavel Kankovsky found that several integer overflows in image decoding routines could be exploited to cause buffer overflows and potentially execute malicious code on a user's system, according to advisories from Suse, Gentoo and independent security firm Secunia. The bugs can be exploited by tricking a user into viewing a specially crafted image in one of the many applications linked to imlib.
Yesterday, Microsoft issued release candidate (RC1) builds for the x64 versions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP, both of which are scheduled for release in the first half of 2005. Microsoft declared build 1289 of Windows 2003 x64 Edition and XP Professional x64 Edition as RC1 on Monday.
In recent briefings with Microsoft, executives from the software giant have been effusive in their praise of the x64 platform, which provides 64-bit capabilities, better performance, and complete compatibility with the 32-bit x86 platform that today's PCs use. One of the highlights of the x64 platform, they've said, is that, unlike the Itanium, x64 provides full 32-bit application compatibility and performance, giving customers the best of both worlds.
Intel will ship so-called designer processors that will feature new technology extensions to take advantage of the unique features in Longhorn, the next major version of Windows.
First up is a set of product extensions, codenamed the "T family," which will pair Intel's HyperThreading (HT) Technology with Intel's x64-compatible 64-bit extensions, which the company cryptically calls EM64T. These extensions will be applied to a generation of desktop chips Intel will begin selling in 2005; today, the EM64T technology is available only in certain high-end Xeon and Pentium 4 designs.
Microsoft has released another test version of its forthcoming SQL Server 2005 database and has introduced a free management tool.
The company made the second "community technology preview" of SQL Server 2005 available on Friday. A third test version, which will be made more widely available to customers, is expected early next year. A final version of the database is due by the summer.
SQL Server 2005, code-named Yukon, had been expected some time this year. In March, however, Microsoft pushed back its final delivery target to the second half of 2005.
Microsoft has made available for download the first release candidate of a major security update to Windows Server 2003. The 316MB download contains many of the changes that Windows XP Service Pack 2 brought to that operating system against buffer overflows and other common attacks, including specific support for "no execute" processors.
It also adds a new Security Configuration Wizard, which uses a role-based approach to remove unnecessary services, diminishing "the attack surface." The wizard asks a series of questions about the tasks performed by the server and disables services unnecessary to those roles. The wizard is not installed by default.