One of the more popular questions on our Windows Server "Longhorn" discussion forums is around the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack . In particular, people have been asking why they can't use the Admin Pack on Windows Vista. It can be installed...

Some of you may have seen blog postings reporting on the release of a December 2006 CTP of Windows Server "Longhorn". Well, I can confirm that the rumors are true - we did release a new CTP to our Technical Beta Program participants in the last couple...

Twas the week before Christmas and all through Redmond, not a creature was stirring ... except for the Windows Server virtualization development team. These folks gave some select system partners early bits (private beta) of Windows Server virtualization (aka, Viridian; aka, hypervisor). Sharing this type of technology to a small group of partners for testing is standard practice. A public beta of Windows Server virtualization is planned for the first half of 2007....

As many of you will have heard, we are on track to release our next major milestone of Windows Server "Longhorn" in the first half of 2007. Beta 3 will be feature-complete, and it will be the first *public* milestone of Windows Server "Longhorn", meaning...

If you're going to do a webcast about how Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" are great on their own, but even better together, then there's no point in having only one presenter do it. So it was decided that we should pair me (David Lowe) with...

NEC Corporation today announced it has demonstrated the world's first dynamic partitioning of CPU and memory resources on the Beta 2 version of Microsoft Windows Server, code-named "Longhorn," using NEC's enterprise server Express5800/1320Xf. Express5800/1320Xf is a large-scale, high-reliability server that can run up to 32 Intel 64-bit Dual-Core Itanium 2 processors. The demonstration was conducted during the iExpo2006 exhibition held on December 6-8 in Tokyo, Japan. ...

Today we launched a new Windows storage platform: Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 (WUDDS.) This new product – available now within Dell’s new PowerVault NX1950 hardware and through other OEMs later – represents a big milestone for Microsoft storage technology. By bringing together Windows Storage Server file server capabilities, Windows iSCSI target and initiator software, and new storage management features, WUDSS will be an ideal mid-range solution for customers looking to more easily store and manage file and block (email, database, line of business applications) data. ...

For ISVs and developers who want to build parallel apps for Windows CCS, you should try to attend one the upcoming lab in Redmond or the labs next year in Redmond, Copenhagen or Munich. Following is a quick description and check out the agenda. ...

Iomega today announced their new StorCenter network attached storage products for small and medium business, powered by Windows Storage Server 2003 R2. Iomega does a good job building (and pricing) storage products that make file and print painless for...

During this Webcast, David Lowe and David Zipkin will look deeper into the technologies that make the combination of Windows Server "Longhorn" and Windows Vista a compelling solution for enterprise organizations. They'll explore features that help you manage offline files, Group Policy, networking, quality of service, security and deployment. Thursday, December 07, 2006 at 1:00 PM Pacific Time ...

The team has noticed a few press stories and blog postings speculating about an upcoming product based on Windows Server "Longhorn" called "Fresno." We're not sure where the idea originated, but to set the record straight there is in fact no such Windows Server product in development. For now, Fresno will simply remain the "raisin capital of the world." ...

I am happy to announce that Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 Release Candidate is available for public review. You can find more information about this release here. Here is the list of what is currently available for public download: Update Package in English and German for 32-bit x86 and Itanium-Based Systems Update Package in German for x64 Editions SP2 ISO-9660 image in English for 32-bit x86 ...

Last Tuesday in front of over 4000 attendees, Jeffrey Snover and Bob Muglia announced the release of Windows PowerShell 1.0 RTW at IT Forum. Windows PowerShell is the new command-line shell and scripting language for Windows system administration. You...

While David Lowe and folks are getting mid-60s in Barcelona at IT Forum, there's a bunch of us enjoying the sun (through the convention center windows) and heavy-number crunching computing in Tampa. You can see video highlights of the conference at WinHPC.org. Others from the HPC community who are commenting from the show include Dan, Joe and Doug....

As Patrick mentioned, many of the Windows Server team are here in Barcelona for TechEd: IT Forum this week and we're gearing up for a great set of breakout sessions, lightning demos, hands-on lab and chalk-talks around Windows Server "Longhorn" and Virtualization...

Virtual Strategy magazine posted an audio interview with Mike Neil, who's senior director of virtualization strategy. The interview is nearly 17 mins, and here's an outline of the discussion:...

Several of us will be on airplanes this weekend, some headed to Barcelona for IT Forum, and others headed to Tampa for Supercomputing 2006. For those who want to follow the news and happenings from Barcelona, you can visit the VirtualSide. You'll hear and read about virtualization, systems management, access and security, Windows Server (including Longhorn). For those who want to follow the high-performance computing happenings at SC06, you can visit WinHPC. Ken will be posting videos from the show, and updating the news sections....

I wrapped up my stint at VMworld 2006 with some good interactions with partners, bloggers and reporters. There were a range of topics discussed, from VDI and appliances to virtualization formats and the MS/Novell agreement. Like last year's VMworld, we still got a few raised eyebrows about Microsoft's booth and sponsorship at VMworld. But the thinking is pretty simple: most VMware customers are virtualizing Windows Server images. So people walking the halls of the LA Convention Center are just as likely to be Microsoft customers, too. ...

The show floor proved to be really busy this morning. One piece of evidence: we distributed 1,500 shirts in 2.5 hours. The orange shirts say "Virtualize World Peace" and the crowd was 2-deep at demos for Virtual Machine Manager (in beta now), SoftGrid and Windows Server virtualization (the hypervisor-based architecture for Longhorn)....

It's great to be in LA right now because it's mid-80s and sunny here versus flooding rain back home in Redmond. But even the sunny skies of LA couldn't liven up the audience sitting through the opening keynote this morning at VMworld. ...

The VHD Test Drive Program is now live. If you've heard of VMware's appliances, then you get the idea behind this program. We're making the Windows Server OS and a number of Microsoft server-based apps available for evaluation via a single virtual hard disk (VHD) file. So it's all pre-built and pre-configured for you to run within Virtual Server 2005. And within 60 days, a number of other ISVs, including BEA Systems, Citrix, Quest Software, Platespin, Dell and HP will make their apps available via this program, too. Read more in a Q&A with Mike Neil....

Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. today announced a set of broad business and technical collaboration agreements to build, market and support a series of new solutions to make Novell and Microsoft products work better together. The two companies also announced an agreement to provide each other’s customers with patent coverage for their respective products. These agreements will be in place until at least 2012. Under this new model, customers will realize unprecedented choice and flexibility through improved interoperability and manageability between Windows and Linux. ...

My colleague Jim Ni had an email exchange with Robert Mitchell of Computerworld as a follow-up to Rob's informative article last week titled, "The Virtualization Procrastinators." Rob blogged about his exchange with Jim, in which Jim was correcting an inaccuracy about the description of the planned hypervisor in Windows Server Longhorn....

Port25, which is a blog for Microsoft's open source software lab, is casting an eye toward high-performance computing. They've tapped the talents and experiences of Frank Chism, a technology specialist by title here as Microsoft. As you can watch/listen to in this interview, Frank has earned his stripes working on HPC systems and clusters....

Beta 2 of Certificate Lifecycle Manager (CLM) went live today, available here . CLM helps lower the costs (and avoid the headaches) of issuing and managing smart cards by providing workflow and policy tools for admins. No custom development required and...