Microsoft Outlines Windows Server Road MapMicrosoft Outlines Windows Server Road Map

Microsoft has clarified plans for future versions of Windows Server, pegging 2007 as the target for a server version of the company's next-generation Longhorn operating system. A client version of Longhorn would come six to 12 months before Longhorn server, but company officials stopped short of saying the client would arrive in 2006.

It's the first time Microsoft has attached a date to Longhorn, even though chairman Bill Gates and other company executives have talked up the operating system since last fall and released early code to developers. "Microsoft has [now] put something in writing, so customers can begin to plan around the delivery schedule," says Al Gillen, an analyst at research firm IDC.

In an effort to make its product cycle more predictable, Microsoft now plans major upgrades to Windows Server every four years, punctuated by smaller-scale "update releases" in between. In keeping with that schedule, Microsoft will deliver an update to Windows Server 2003, code-named R2, in the second half of next year. Among R2's improvements: remote access to data without a VPN, support for intercompany directory services, and the ability to "quarantine" PCs that aren't up to date on patches.

The strategy of offering major or minor Windows upgrades every two years signals a shift away from Microsoft's heavy dependence on feature packs as a way of delivering new operating-system functionality. "Our customers have a relatively hard time digesting feature packs," says Bob Muglia, senior VP of Microsoft's Windows Server division. "The uptake is not as much as we'd like to see." For now at least, the two-year refresh cycle applies only to Microsoft's server operating systems.

The transition to Longhorn server will be easiest for companies running Windows Server 2003 or its successor, R2, Muglia says. At the beginning of this year, only 12.7% of the installed base of Windows servers ran Windows Server 2003, according to IDC. That means many Microsoft customers face a Windows Server 2003 upgrade before they tackle Longhorn.

In addition to R2 and Longhorn, Microsoft's Windows Server division has several other operating-system releases planned. The Windows Server road map now looks like this:

• In 2004, a version of Windows Server 2003 for systems that employ dual-purpose chips from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. or Intel that support both 32-bit and 64-bit applications, and a security-oriented service pack for Windows Server 2003.

• In 2005, beta 1 of Longhorn server in the first half of the year, and Windows Server 2003 Update, or R2, in the second half.

• In 2006, beta 2 of Longhorn server, and Windows Server 2003 service pack 2.

• In 2007, Longhorn server.

Jim Allchin, group VP of Microsoft's platforms group, said last week that Microsoft would develop client and server versions of Longhorn simultaneously, rather than in sequence. Yet, Longhorn server will ship six to 12 months after Longhorn client because server operating systems typically require additional testing, Muglia says.

Some functionality that was once envisioned for Longhorn will be held back so Microsoft can meet its development targets. "There's a lot of small things that are being scaled back," Muglia says. One of those is Microsoft's new file system, WinFS, which involves a client-server database design to store data in a wide variety of formats, including XML. Muglia says WinFS will function as conceived in some usage scenarios, but, in Longhorn's initial release at least, not in others.