Microsoft Corp."s "Longhorn" server will be a far more configurable system than past Windows releases, allowing customers to change the server"s setup on the fly by selecting which components to load. "We are in the final stages of preparing to ship the first beta; Longhorn Beta 2 is well-understood, so it"s in very solid shape," Bob Muglia, senior vice president for Microsoft"s Windows Server Division, said in an interview here at the Tech Ed conference last week.
The Longhorn server release, due to ship in 2007, will focus on a number of areas, including system configuration, management and health. It will also bring improvements in file and terminal services and on the application front, Muglia said. Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., has been working on a new error-reporting feature known as Crimson, which reports on system health.