Forefront Stirling Virtualized Evaluation Version Available for Download

Microsoft has made available for download a virtualized evaluation version of Forefront codenamed Stirling. Essentially, the Redmond company is offering users a pre-configured Virtual Hard Disk designed to enable the test driving of Stirling. The VHD downloads weigh in as much as 16 GB, and deliver a wide range of security solutions packaged as virtual hard disks and meant for integration with Virtual PC 2007 or Virtual Server 2005 Enterprise R2 SP1. A Beta Build of Stirling has been available for download since early April 2008 when Microsoft introduced the project to the world. Now, the VHD variants of Forefront Stirling come to complement the Beta release.

"This fully functional pre-configured VHD provides you with a trial software that will automatically expire after 30 days. This is a preconfigured virtual machine contained within the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format. A virtualization product that supports the VHD format is required to use this virtual machine," Microsoft informed in the product's description.

Back at the start of April, Brad Wright, Product Unit Manager - Forefront, revealed that the Beta 1 build of Stirling was designed to give only a taste of what an integrated security system could offer to customers. In this context, Stirling is set up as a complete security solution spanning the entire IT environment. Additionally, Wright promised that Forefront Stirling Beta 1 was just an early development milestone, still far from the feature complete product.

The Forefront Codename Stirling VHD enables users to test the product without having to perform any deployment tasks. Because the VHDs come with their own virtualized environments, testers need only to take care of details such as putting together a virtual machine with the resources provided by Microsoft for free.

"Microsoft Forefront codename 'Stirling' is an integrated security system that delivers comprehensive, coordinated protection across endpoints, messaging, and collaboration applications. It also provides the network edge that is easier to manage and control. By delivering simplified management and providing critical visibility into threats, vulnerabilities, and configuration risks, 'Stirling' helps you reduce costs and achieve greater insight into your enterprise security state," explained David Burt, Product Manager, Communications Forefront Security.

Microsoft Forefront Codename "Stirling" VHD is available for download here.