Windows Update Services

Windows Update Services is the 2.0 version of Microsoft's free Software Update Services tool for centralized administration of Microsoft's Windows Update online service. SUS/WUS download Microsoft's patches and other updates from Windows Update and allow an administrator to determine whether they should be distributed to clients inside the customer's organization. Clients are also redirected to look to the internal SUS/WUS server rather than the external Windows Update site for patches.

WUS offers additional server roles, more efficient bandwidth usage, the ability to group computers, extensive reporting and other features. The November beta would carry through on an earlier Microsoft promise to deliver the beta in the fourth quarter. The final release of the free tool is scheduled for the first half of 2005.

Windows Server 2003 SP1

A Release Candidate for Windows Server 2003 SP1 will give more customers access to new features, including the Security Configuration Wizard that Microsoft has been promising was imminent since shortly after Windows Server 2003 shipped.

Microsoft also says preliminary testing of SP1 has yielded several performance improvements, including a 50 percent improvement in SSL workloads and up to a 50 percent reduction in CPU usage in heavy networking environments.

Windows Server 2003, HPC Edition SDK

Out of the 15 editions of Windows Server 2003 that are shipping or in the pipeline, the most original is the Windows Server 2003, High-Performance Computing Edition. It is designed to take advantage of massively parallel computing clusters, where Linux-based systems currently dominate. It is Microsoft's second effort within the Windows Server 2003 family to take on Linux with a dedicated SKU aimed at a niche where Linux is strong. The first was Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, which shipped in April 2003.

The software development kit should give academic, commercial, government and defense researchers the tools to start building Windows-based clusters in advance of the HPC edition's expected second-half 2005 release.

Windows Storage Server "R2"

In addition to the Windows Server 2003 "R2," it turns out that Windows Storage Server 2003 will also get a Release 2. Can a Windows Small Business Server 2003 "R2" be far behind?

Windows "Longhorn" Server Beta

The next full release of Windows Server on Microsoft's current roadmap is Longhorn. As things stand, Longhorn is supposed to be ready in 2007. Microsoft's first hurdle will be delivering a major beta, and the hurdle now has a timetable attached to it -- the second half of 2005.

Longhorn's functionality list got extended this week with the announcement that it would include the Network Access Protection technology originally planned for the Windows Server 2003 "R2" release.