14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is not advancing only Windows 7, Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 from Beta stage to Release Candidate, but also its infrastructure for enterprise connectivity and integration. In this regard, the Redmond company revealed that the Release Candidate of BizTalk Server 2009 was just around the corner. However, the software giant failed to pinpoint the actual deadline when it planned to make available BizTalk Server 2009. In fact, the timetable for the development of BizTalk Server 2009 offers no specific dates for the delivery of RC and RTM development milestones.
However, BizTalk Server 2009 has reached a sufficiently high standard of quality for the Redmond company to permit its deployment in production environments. As of February 5, 2009, a select pool of Microsoft partners and customers were no longer limiting BizTalk Server 2009 to Beta testing scenarios, signaling the proximity of the next release, which would take the product out of Beta.
A program manager with Microsoft's Connected Systems Division revealed that the volume of bugs associated with BizTalk Server 2009 was low enough for the solution to move from Beta to Release Candidate stage. Still, the software giant gave absolutely no indication as to when it expected BizTalk Server 2009 RC to drop, albeit the Build was extremely close. Until this point in time, the Redmond company only said that it would release BizTalk Server 2009 to manufacturing and make the product available in the first half of 2009. BizTalk Server 2009 Beta went live in December 2008. For now the public Beta of BizTalk Server 2009 continues to be live on Microsoft Connect.
“BizTalk Server 2009 builds on the existing integration capabilities, which make it easier and less expensive to connect systems within an organization as well as those of partners and customers. Used in conjunction with other components of our “Real World SOA” application platform (e.g., Windows Server, .NET, Visual Studio, SQL Server, and SharePoint) BizTalk Server allows service-oriented applications to connect and interoperate to a wide range of highly heterogeneous systems, including LOB systems, legacy systems, smart devices, and trading partners,” Microsoft revealed.