And Speaking of Release Candidates...

Microsoft also took a big step toward finally making Windows Server 2008 a reality by making RC1 of the product available for download. You can download it here.

There figures to be another release candidate delivered between now and the scheduled "Heroes Happen Here" launch of the finished product on Feb. 27, 2008, but Microsoft officials won't say for sure. The theme of formal launch, to be held in Los Angeles, is focused on celebrating the "incredible work" IT pros have done in order to deliver "heroic results" to their organizations. The company claims that, so far, 1.8 million customers have downloaded evaluation code of the product.

New enhancements to RC1 include those made to Group Policy with Group Policy Preferences, formerly known as PolicyMaker Standard Edition and Policy Share Manager. Microsoft will make Group Policy Preferences available to IT shops in two ways: integrating it into Group Policy management tools in Windows Server 2008, and integrating it into the upcoming Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista.

Also, the client-side extensions for group Policy Preferences are included in Windows Server 2008, and down-level versions can be downloaded separately for Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista RTM and Windows Server 2003 SP1 and later.

Posted by Ed Scannell on December 06, 2007


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