14 DAY TRIAL // In the wake of the February 2007 Community Technology Preview of Windows Server codename Longhorn, Microsoft has provided additional details about the release. Although the news was broken first by various news outlets, the Windows Server Division has confirmed that the February CTP of Longhorn has been made available to the TechBeta participants via Microsoft Connect.
"The February 2007 CTP is another milestone on the march to Beta 3, which is still on track for the first half of this year, and it includes a number of enhancements to existing server roles and features, plus some UI changes - most notably in the Server Manager tool. MSDN and TechNet subscribers also will be able to get the February 2007 CTP from their Subscriber Downloads site in the next few days," revealed David Lowe, Senior Product Manager in the Windows Server Division.
The February CTP of Longhorn is a snapshot on the way to Beta 3, and in the "tire kicking" process of testing and evaluation, and adding new features and functionality, Lowe warned that the new CTP also introduces new bugs. "There is an issue with Windows SharePoint Services failing to install as a result of a late-breaking change we made to the integrated database engine. Note that this is not an issue with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, which has already shipped, and we'll make sure this bug is fixed by the next CTP," Lowe explained.
The Group Policy Management Console and the WDS Transport Deployment role service also have issues, as well as the process of installing roles in Server Management that causes the application to crash. Microsoft promised to address all these issues by Beta 3 stage.
Windows Firewall is on by default for the new installations starting with the February CTP. Microsoft has also introduced a stand-alone configurable Application Server role, in concert with a set of new role services and features. In this aspect, the Remote Server Administration Tools are a great addition.
"Print Server and Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services are now available roles for Server Core installations. And with more roles and features available to add to your Server Core installation, it will be handy to have the new oclist.exe command line utility that keeps track of which roles and features are installed," Lowe concluded.