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Complete Windows SMB Server Systems to Cost Less than $1K

Complete server systems running Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition will cost less than $1,000, a Microsoft executive says.

During a speech to financial analysts last week, Microsoft senior vice president for servers and tools, Eric Rudder, said, "It will have an incredibly attractive price point. You'll see this product actually bundled with compelling OEM server hardware, for less than $1,000."

Rudder's comments were Microsoft's first on-the-record statements about pricing for the new edition of Small Business Server, which is expected to be completed in September. Normally, Microsoft first unveils pricing data when a product is released to manufacturing.

Microsoft first publicly revealed that it would have both a standard edition and a premium edition of Small Business Server earlier this month when a release candidate of the product went out to about 200,000 testers. In the Windows 2000 generation, there was only one edition of Small Business Server.

Small Business Server is a simplified version of the server intended for businesses with up to a few dozen workers and no dedicated IT staff. It provides an integrated setup of Windows, office Internet access, Exchange, fax services and other standard requirements at small organizations.

Windows Small Business Server 2000 came with Windows 2000 Server, Exchange Server 2000, Internet Security & Acceleration Server 2000 and SQL Server 2000, among fax and other services and an integrated setup. Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition will have 2003 versions of Windows Server and Exchange Server, along with ISA Server, SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003. The Standard Edition will lack SQL Server, ISA Server and FrontPage.

The Windows 2000 version of Small Business Server retails for $1,500, a price that includes five Client Access Licenses.

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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