Windows Server 2008 is Microsoft's latest server platform and the successor of Windows Server 2003. Initially scheduled to be released to manufacturing by the end of the past year, Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn, was pushed back until the first quarter of 2008 due to what appeared at the time to be quality concerns. But since the end of February 2008, Windows Server 2008 has been ready to take on the world, with Microsoft using a robot analogy in its Server Unleashed marketing campaign in order to automatically push ideas of high performance, reliability, security and stability.

"It runs on legs of steel," Microsoft promises. "It manages, implements, updates and never takes a sick day. Serving up better, faster, more secure web experiences. Trained in the arts of diplomacy and self defense. We call it the lean, mean reliability machine." This is the image that the Redmond company is building with the Windows Server 2008. And in this context, Server Unleashed is the best place available to allow you an insight into Microsoft's own vision of the latest Windows server operating system.

Alternatively I have also managed to find three videos of Server Unleashed and embedded them at the bottom of this article. I am sure that you will appreciate the quality of the design as well as the subtle humor. Command Line, Crouching Robot and Meet the Exerciser have accompanied Windows Server 2008 to the market on February 17, 2008. The release date was set all the way back in 2007, and the platform RTM'd earlier the same month.

In fact, Windows Server 2008 was released to manufacturing concomitantly with Windows Vista Service Pack 1. Microsoft's new strategy is to synchronize the client and server releases, and in this respect Windows Server 2008 also carries the SP1 label, just as Windows Vista.

You can download free Windows Server 2008 SP1/RTM evaluation editions via this link.