Here are two short takes for this week that have made the rounds on news sites. For the complete article visit Pauls site linked below.
Microsoft on Longhorn Server: Just Kidding, Our Bad
Within hours of Microsoft senior VP Brian Valentine"s comments about the company rethinking its plans for a Longhorn Server product, Microsoft went into damage control mode, with various executives making statements contradicting Valentine. "Brian was just thinking out loud," Windows Server group product manager Bob O"Brien told tech reporter Mary Jo Foley. "But there are no plans for a Longhorn Server. That is not on the boards." What Microsoft is considering, however, is a Limited Edition release of Longhorn Server that would basically upgrade Windows Server 2003 to a few Longhorn capabilities, such as the SQL Server-based file system. Hold on to your seats, folks, the Longhorn story is probably going to change pretty regularly from here on out, as Microsoft figures out exactly what it"s going to do.
Much Ado About Nothing: Windows Server 2003 RTM
For the past few weeks, there"s been a bizarre buzz on the Windows enthusiast sites about the pending release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows Server 2003, a product that pretty much has nothing to do with any of the sites getting so excited about it. Folks, it doesn"t matter when the exact RTM date is, or what exact build number it is. Microsoft says it is on track to launch Windows 2003 on April 24, as scheduled, and that"s pretty much all that matters. Whenever Windows 2003 does RTM, I"ll have a full review available, of course, but for the guys excited about XP, Longhorn, and other client technologies, Windows 2003 just isn"t very relevant, so I"m confused by all the drama.