The documentation for volume activation 2.0 has been updated today for Server 2008. You can find it here:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=75674
Running KMS on Server 2008 is functionally very similar to running it on Vista RTM. You leverage slmgr.vbs to bring the service online and then clients find the server based on the DNS srv record. BTW, Server 2008 KMS can be run within a virtual environment.
There are online videos to understand volume activation and how to setup a KMS host if this is all new to you. See the links below.
Setting up KMS - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104718 VA overview - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104707
If you want to know which volume license keys to use when activating new machines running Server 2008, see page 19 in the Planning Guide and the FAQ. You only need to put one key in your KMS, and it will handle requests from both Vista and Server 2008. There are separate keys, and unique keys based on which version of server you need to activate. Before you get excited - this is much easier to understand than it might first seem. Simply decide the "top" version of Server 2008 you might install and then use that MKS key to activate the service on a 2008 server. All versions in groups below that version will also activate off that key. The groups are simple.
The groups are named "C, B, A, and Client" respectively. So if you want to activate Server Enterprise, Standard, and client machines, just use your B key to bring the KMS online and the work is done.
The other major change from KMS 1.0 is that in order to activate servers you only need 5 machines online, vs. 25 to activate clients. The client activation still only comes online after you have 25 machines activating, but servers will begin activating after 5. The 5 do not have to be all servers. I mentioned above that KMS 2008 can be run in a virtual environment, which is a change from KMS 1.0. The client requirements have not changed, they can be physical or virtual but only the physical count towards your initial 5 or 25.
Just in case you missed the link above, the table listing which versions of Windows are in each tier is up to date on this page - http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/vol/ActivationFAQ/default.mspx See - Are there any changes with Windows Server 2008 keys?
Last, there is also an MAK for Server 2008 just as there was for Vista, and it works much the same way. The key tiers for MAK are relative to the same groupings as KMS, but differently from KMS they do not support the groups under them. So you will have an MAK for Vista, and an MAK for Server Web, Server Std/Ent, and Server DataCenter/Itanium respectively.
addendum:
Just wanted to add a note on adopting this for Server 2003. Server 2003 installations will continue using the VLK as they have in the past, but will get an update for being a KMS host that can activate Server 2008 and Vista. It will then have support for the tiered keys I mention above. Look for this "KMS 1.1" update in the coming weeks. It will also support running in a virtual environment.
I have seen a flurry of Email over the past two days on volume license keys for Mac Office 2008. It seems that information has not been made clear on whether you need a volume license key and where to get it.
I do not work for the MacBU so I cannot speak on their behalf but I am happy to share the results of our discussion thread. Mac Office comes in two versions, volume and retail. The volume license is available from a licensing agreement (such as a Campus or School Agreement) and retail refers to the version you would purchase in a store.
Just like other Microsoft products, the retail version of Mac Office has a key printed on a label packaged with the media. That key should be used when installing or re-installing. To the best of my knowledge you cannot use a volume key with the retail media, or a retail key with volume media. (when I say media I am referring to the disc)
The volume media is available for download (Visit the Microsoft Volume License Services Web site). You do not need to also obtain a separate volume license key. The key is embedded in the media so you can deploy Mac Office without having to worry about which key to use. The how-to documentation for installing from a central file share is available at:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/itpros/default.mspx?clr=99-15-0&srcid=aa7ed869-4d89-4c4e-b143-647d5141f8cc1033&ep=9&target=d79a5153-0a7b-40f0-ac1b-8a725ce70f0a1033&CTT=InContent&usid=e2de0337-6aa2-436e-98ca-842788fbf1f5
See the screen capture to the left I took from the page. Here it specifically notes that the installation will not ask for a key.
If you happen to get information indicating otherwise, rest assured you now have the answer!
Now, being the Windows guy I have to say - go install Vista on it... ;-)
A few questions have come up as to why when you go out to download Windows Server 2008 there is a "without Hyper-V" option. Further, if Hyper-V is only offered on the 64-bit version, why is there a "without Hyper-V" option for 32-bit?
The answer is not-so-complicated. Windows Server 2008 is offered with and without Hyper-V.
The 64-bit version with Hyper-V (no special notation in the download name) allows you to install Windows server and fully enable the Hyper-V role to create, manage, and host virtual machines. The option for "without Hyper-V" in 64-bit does not offer the role, so you cannot create, manage, and host virtual machines. This includes the administrative console. There is no Hyper-V admin console available in the "without Hyper-V" option, so you cannot create and manage virtual machines running on some other server that has Hyper-V.
The 32-bit version with Hyper-V (no special notation in the download name) does not allow you to host virtual machines because Hyper-V can only be installed on 64-bit hardware, but it does include the administrative console so you can create and manage virtual machines on some other server that is 64-bit and has Hyper-V enabled. The option for "without Hyper-V" in 32-bit does not offer the role, so there is no admin console available to manage another server.
One more detail to know - there is no way to upgrade from "without Hyper-V" to the version with Hyper-V.
I've been wanting to test this out and finally had some time this weekend. I am meeting with a school on Tuesday to POC this so I wanted to prove it to myself first.
Imagine you open your team site or web portal (whatever you choose to name it) to catch up on announcements, events, grab a shared document, etc - and you decide you need to launch Outlook or maybe an application to manage your Student Information System to update a record or check someone's information. Traditionally this would be a separate workflow of opening a VPN or launching a full remote desktop session.
With Server 2008 you can publish icons to a web part in SharePoint and launch applications over Terminal Services from within that web experience. This is fantastic for any organization that might want to ensure applications are available for remote users but are uncertain about the consistency of user's home machines.
Just to make sure everyone is on the same page - these applications would appear to be running on a user's workstation but would actually be served up over a Terminal Services session. So the app would not be installed on the user's machine. They would launch it by clicking on the icon in SharePoint.
See icons in the right pane, this could be any app you choose to publish via TS Web / RemoteApp. It could even be a farm of TS servers sitting behind your TS Gateway. All these technologies are included in Server 2008.
I just click on the icon to launch the app. In this case I launched Word Viewer as an example.
Setting this up was VERY easy. There is a step by step guide available here. To REALLY step this up a notch, I should be publishing this through ISA 2006 for enhanced security and single sign-on.
Update:
Just after I posted it occurred to me if I'm going to "step it up a notch" I'd better enable the desktop experience on my server. So here's the same Word Viewer with the Vista look/feel.
A new project for a video hosting platform called Video.Show has been announced by some of our developer evangelists. The code doesn't cost anything, in fact it is offered as an open source project. It also appears to be ready for usage, not just a vision.
A blog post on the topic caught my eye because of the first bullet point regarding who should be interested:
Your company or school wants to distribute e-learning or educational content over the web for internal or external access;
Tim Sneath : Video.Show 1.0 Released to Web
This is an important type of opportunity because it gives a school the power to decide whether they want to use a public service (such as Soapbox) or host their own site in a protected and value-added manner using Video.Show. This is an opportunity to demonstrate how the school is safely delivering a rich learning experience to the students. The solution looks cool, which is a very big deal. If a school were to host their own video community it would need to satisfy the "cool" factor or it might face student rejection.
Typically a solution like this makes sense after a technology proves itself in subset of courses and moves from the individual innovator to something the institution is interested in supporting. The Video.Show solution delivers an open source solution residing on a trusted and supportable platform.
From Tim's site, I found a reference to a very interesting implementation of the Video.Show solution - http://www.filmsforlearning.org/. The site includes a social community and online commenting system for student published video content. There appears to be a great online community supporting the site - http://community.filmsforlearning.org/.
While many, many, many people from our field have made the trek to Seattle this week to attend one of our bi-annual internal technology briefings I am attending from home. I log in via the web and organize my Outlook calendar with the sessions I want to attend, and then join each session via LiveMeeting to experience streaming audio and video.
This is one of those times I observe our operations at Microsoft and can't help but think there should be a case study on how this would work for EDU. Granted, Microsoft has budget to hire a small army of people to record each session and the hardware necessary to do the audio/video, but having a week of sessions, 8-10 hours per day, 10-15 sessions per hour, and broadcasting every session securely via LiveMeeting is an impressive achievement!!! I have to think it could be replicated consistently on a smaller scale using simple desktop sharing and a microphone for the case of teachers who would like to extend their classroom.
For me, attending virtually means I can still help out my wife with our infant, still connect with customers via my own LiveMeetings, and I can instantly slip out of one session and in to another without disturbing other attendees. I occasionally even attend two sessions at once and toggle the audio back and forth.
Best of all, unlike being there in person and fighting to get in to packed sessions, LiveMeeting never runs out of seating!
When I went off to college I sold my dirt bike and drum set to by a laptop. Sad, sad state of affairs... So I was protective of my laptop, I didn't take it to class and rarely took it to the library. I typically kept it on my desk for doing work because it was nowhere near rugged enough to endure the day to day abuse of student life.
Well I'd say this laptop from RM is student-ready! Check out the youTube video after the jump. They drive over this laptop with multiple cars to prove it can take a whooping. If the second car dragging it under the tire doesn't hurt it, I'd say it can survive banging around in a backpack!
I'm just linking to the article posted by Bink. Lazy I know, but I have been presenting on these for weeks and promised to communicate when they get posted. Well he beat me to it (he usually does).
http://bink.nu/news/group-policy-preference-client-side-extensions-are-now-available-for-download.aspx
Direct download links after the jump.
Actually you've already got it. Since Server 2008 is the same codebase as Vista SP1, it technically already is SP1 as it ships RTM. So the first service pack for Server 2008 will be SP2.
For full details and a great backgrounder on how this all came about, read over this blog post from Iain McDonald.
http://blogs.msdn.com/iainmcdonald/archive/2008/02/15/windows-server-2008-is-called-sp1-adventures-in-doing-things-right.aspx
When I think of Heroes happen {here}, Iain is one of the people who put the rest of us between those brackets. A hero's hero.