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Windows .NET Server 2003 RC2 Officially Posted

Microsoft Corp. officially posted Release Candidate 2 of Windows .NET Server 2003 to the Web for download on Thursday.

The widely expected move followed an announcement at Comdex that RC2 was coming in a few weeks and an announcement earlier this week that RC2 would be posted within days.

RC2, like the rest of mile markers in the Windows .NET Server 2003 release roadmap, has slipped from its original schedule to the collective yawn of the IT industry. Also at Comdex, Microsoft officials said that Windows .NET Server 2003 would ship about two months later than the most recent plans had called for. It is now expected in April.

Users can sign up to obtain RC2 through the Corporate Preview Program at http://www.microsoft.com/windows.netserver/default.mspx.

One surprise in the release on Thursday was the decision to make a beta version of a new Group Policy Management Console tool broadly available through the Corporate Preview Program.

Group Policy poses notoriously difficult problems for administrators. The new tool combines new capabilities for Group Policy management with Group Policy-related elements of several existing tools. (See story).

About the Author

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