So... Windows Server 2003 walks into a bar and the Windows Server 2000 bartender hands him over a blue screen of death cocktail and says... 'Have you heard this one?' Well, chances are that indeed you haven't, and as such I took the liberty of embedding the small video fragment at the bottom of this article. It features the heartbreaking story of the last Windows Server 2003 at Microsoft.com. The Redmond company has a history of dogfooding its own products, and Windows Server 2008 is no exception to this rule. As a matter of fact, Microsoft has deployed Windows Server 2008 into production environments since the platform was still in beta stage.

"Once I was almost famous. For years, my friends and I were on the front lines: we were the Windows Server 2003 servers that powered Microsoft.com, one of the hottest Web sites in the world. Then, early last summer, everything changed. Quietly, without warning, the new kids took over. Windows Server 2008. Yes, I know, the product's not even done yet. These were Beta 3 servers, for Pete's sake. Long way from prime time. But there they were, humming away. No problems. All of 'em on Windows Server 2008. Except me. The last Windows Server 2003 left at Microsoft.com", reads an excerpt of the lament of Windows Server 2003 from the Lone Server Story.

Windows Server 2008 is the successor of Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft's last 32-bit server operating system. The platform is scheduled for official launch on February 27th, 2008 in the Heroes Happen Here event in Los Angeles. Along with Windows Server 2008, the company will also make available SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. Starting in mid December 2008, users were able to access the Release Candidate 1 build of Windows Server 2008, signaling Microsoft's proximity to releasing the server operating system to manufacturing.

"If you're like me (and I know I am), you probably wonder how a product that's eight months away from shipping can be handed the responsibility of running something as big and important as the Microsoft corporate portal. Fact is, Windows Server 2008 was lurking around MS.com since back when they still called it Longhorn. Those early bits first took live traffic back in '05. And since then, WS08 has been everybody's favorite kid. They called it part of the development team. Said it was a prodigy. Given all the cool little jobs. But then, suddenly, to be given the whole enchilada? All of MS.com? While still in Beta friggin' 3? Unimaginable, but there it was", Windows Server 2003 added.


Video: The Lone Server