The second release candidate of Windows HPC Server 2008 is now available for download via Microsoft Connect. The software giant is indeed making headway with the development of the successor of Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, indicating that it is coming ever closer to making available the gold Windows HPC Server 2008 bits. However, until this point in time, the Redmond company has failed to reveal a delivery deadline for the next iteration of Windows for supercomputers.

"The 2nd release candidate is now available for beta community participants. You can download the bits by registering as a beta participant at Microsoft Connect. See the 'Windows HPC Server 2008 beta program'," stated Phil Pennington, from the Windows Server Technical Evangelism team.

Windows HPC Server 2008 debuted into the Beta testing program in mid-November 2007 indicating that the last Community technology preview would be offered in May 2008. As early as June 30, 2008, the first Release Candidate of Windows for Supercomputers became available for download, with access also restricted only through Microsoft Connect. The operating system is planned for RTM in the second half of 2008, but Microsoft failed to offer additional details. But even while still in development, Windows HPC Server 2008 managed to climb in to top 500 supercomputers worldwide courtesy of the system at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). On the NCSA supercomputer, Windows HPC Server 2008 Beta hit a high of 68.5 teraflops.

"A significant new feature with RC2 is the ability to schedule jobs using applications designed to offload processing to multi-core graphics cards. A white-paper published within the beta program downloads section details this feature. A typical command line to submit a graphics processor job uses the new HPC_ATTACHTOCONSOLE environment variable as follows: 'Job submit /env:HPC_ATTACHTOCONSOLE=TRUE mygpgpu.exe'," Pennington added.