Microsoft on Tuesday said it's set to release near-final versions of its key database server and other business-oriented software.
The company announced a "release candidate" of SQL Server 2008, along with test versions of security and identity management software, at its TechEd conference in Orlando, Fla.
Also on tap for later this month is a release candidate of Microsoft Application Virtualization, version 4.5, the company said. Microsoft also announced a server-virtualization validation program, which lets software developers test and validate their code running against Windows Server 2008 and previous versions of the operating system.
Microsoft Senior Vice President Bob Muglia said Identity Lifecycle Manager 2, beta 3, a tool for configuring and managing identification on corporate networks, is now available.
Also released in beta testing is Forefront Security for Office Communications Server, beta 1, a tool that helps prevent instant messaging-based malicious software, the company said. In the first half of next year, Microsoft plans to incorporate within Forefront support for virtualization.
Muglia said the announcements are part of Microsoft's overarching Dynamic IT initiative for automating enterprise technology to make it more flexible.
Microsoft said on Friday that it has pushed back the delivery date of its SQL Server database until the third quarter of this year.
The company is planning to have a launch event, called Heroes Happen Here, on February 27 that will be a public coming-out of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and SQL Server 2008.
Rather than release the final product at that time, Microsoft will have a "feature complete" preview, according to a Microsoft employee blog dedicated to SQL Server.
A release candidate for SQL Server 2008 will come out in second quarter with final general availability in the third quarter, according to the blog's author, Francois Ajenstat, director of marketing for SQL Server.
The blog noted that the timing falls within Microsoft's previously stated goal of getting SQL Server 2008 out two to three years after SQL Server 2005, which itself suffered from a series of significant delays.
Despite the delays with SQL Server 2005, it has been a successful product. Market research indicates that Microsoft's database revenue is growing faster than that of rivals Oracle and IBM. Microsoft's server and tools business is one of the company's largest and fastest-growing divisions.
DENVER--Confirming what many had expected, Microsoft announced on Tuesday that the next version of its server operating system, Windows Server 2008, won't formally launch until next year.
Microsoft said it will launch the product, which it has said will be finalized before the end of the year, at an event in Los Angeles on February 27. The company will also launch Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 at the same event. The company made the announcement at its Worldwide Partner Conference here.
The new operating system, formerly code-named Longhorn Server, includes the PowerShell scripting language, role-based deployment options as well as network access protection features.
Update: A Microsoft representative said Tuesday that the code for Windows Server 2008 is still set to be finished by the end of the year.
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