News

Windows for Grids Pushed Back to 2006

• By Scott Bekker
• 04/06/2005

"Microsoft is now planning to deliver the first beta to customers in the second half of 2005 and the final release is scheduled for first half 2006," a Microsoft spokesperson said in an e-mail to reporters Tuesday night.

Since originally unveiling plans to create the cluster-focused edition in June 2004, Microsoft has offered a delivery target of the second half of 2005. A beta was supposed to be available in the first half of this year.

The delay will allow Microsoft to incorporate feedback from customers and partners looking at pre-beta versions of the edition, the spokesperson said. Among the problems needing more attention are overall management and deployment of CCE-based clusters.

Microsoft also disclosed plans to provide a summer update to the CCE Software Development Kit that was distributed to a limited number of ISVs and OEMs late last year.

Currently envisioned as supporting only x64 processors in its first edition, Windows Server 2003 CCE is targeted at what Microsoft hopes will become a large, mainstream market a rung or two below the supercomputing grids that regularly make the Top500 supercomputing list. Uses might include departmental clusters and even smaller environments that Microsoft is calling "personal" supercomputing.