Windows Vista was recently delayed from the end of 2006 to the beginning of 2007, and it's likely that Longhorn Server will share the same fate.

Microsoft had announced in the past that the new OS would be available in 2007, but didn't provide an exact date. According to CRN, the next Longhorn server beta will soon be released, but the final version won't be shipped until the second half of 2007.

Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business, said during the Microsoft Management Summit 2006 that the next "near feature complete" beta will be released in the very near future, and that the next major server beta, incorporating all necessary Vista client changes will be available this fall.

Not long ago, the Redmond company representatives announced that one of the most expected features in Windows Vista won't be implemented and that it will have to wait until Longhorn Server.

The technology in question is EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface), designed by Intel to replace the BIOS system, which is 20 years old.

With the help of EFI, the operating system no longer loads the drivers in the RAM memory. Instead, they are stored in the EFI flash memory on the hardware device.

It remains to be seen if in Longhorn Server's case the second half of 2007 will become early 2008, as it happened to Vista.