IE7 Not Exclusive Anymore
Internet Explorer 7.0 isn't just for technical beta testers anymore.
Microsoft opened up a preview version of the browser to all comers
this week as a prelude to a more formal Beta 2 to come sometime
in the next few months.
IE 7.0 is the browser that wasn't supposed to happen. Microsoft
planned to keep IE releases in lockstep with the base operating
system -- major upgrades only at service pack and new release time.
But along came more security issues than the Windows XP Service
Pack 2 version of IE could handle, and a little competitive threat
called Firefox.
New features in IE7 include security enhancements and tabbed browsing.
A technical beta released for IE7 last year was only for a limited
group of testers, but the version released this week is for anyone.
Of course, if you test it, you've got to commit. You can't run IE6
and IE7 in parallel on the same system.
It's worth testing as a partner, even if only to determine early
whether your Web site will have any problems with the new browser
technologies.
See the story here,
complete with links to download locations.
Windows Server 2003 R2 Generally Available
Microsoft formally made Windows Server 2003 Release 2 (R2) generally
available on Wednesday. The product will now be available for
customers and partners to purchase.
Billed as a minor upgrade to Windows Server 2003, R2 adds improvements
to branch office management, storage management and identity integration.
It also features enhancements to the Microsoft Management Console
and Windows SharePoint Services.
Client access licenses (CALs) are the same as for Windows Server
2003. Customers with Software Assurance contracts have already paid
for their upgrades. All others, even those with Windows Server 2003
licenses, pay new version prices.
Licensing Advisor Tool Gets Refresh
Also this week, Microsoft upgraded the Microsoft
Product Licensing Advisor (MPLA). It's a tool that Microsoft
positions as helping partners by encouraging customers to figure
out answers to more mundane licensing questions on their own. That
way, Microsoft contends, partners can concentrate on higher value
conversations with customers about business problems, rather than
about Microsoft contract terms.
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The advisor will now include information and advice for customers
on Open Value subscriptions; Open License for academic, charity,
local government and corporate organizations; and Select License
for academic, government and corporate customers.
The enhanced Software Assurance benefits will become part of the
tool in March when most of the new benefits go into effect. The
tool now also includes information on Microsoft Product Use Rights
and includes international estimated retail prices.
Microsoft plans another revision this spring.
Posted by Scott Bekker on February 01, 2006