Microsoft offered multiple confirmations of its plans to synchronize the release of its Windows Server Virtualization technology (codenamed Viridian) and the upcoming build of Windows Server 2008. The Redmond company's last 32-bit server operating system, formerly codenamed Longhorn, is currently in Beta 3 stage, but the first Release Candidate is just around the corner. In fact, Windows Server 2008 will move into release candidate state by the end of this month, if all indications in this context are correct. Patrick O'Rourke, Senior Product Manager, Windows Server Division, hinted at the possibility of Windows Server 2008 slipping into October, and taking Viridian with it, but even so, the two products will move into their next respective stages in the immediate future.

VMworld 2007 was the stage where Larry Orecklin, general manager of marketing for System Center at Microsoft, informed that the company is ready to take the next step in the development of Viridian, and that the Windows Server virtualization will drop with Windows Server 2008 RC. David Greschler, Microsoft's Director of Integrated Virtualization Strategy also confirmed the scenario tying the two products together.

"Virtualization technology can have a profound impact on customer's IT infrastructure from the data center all the way to the desktop. By decoupling physical resources from applications and data, it can dramatically reduce system costs, significantly increase availability and ultimately increase agility. This week at VMworld we're announcing that the Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Server virtualization is coming soon with the initial release candidate of Windows Server 2008," Orecklin stated.

The final version of Windows Server virtualization is currently planned to ship within 180 days from the moment Windows Server 2008 is released to manufacturing. Although it was supposed to go gold before the end of 2007, the RTM of Windows Server 2008 was postponed to the first quarter of 2008, with the launch still scheduled at the end of February. Still, users will be able to get their hands on the first iteration of Viridian as a Community Technology Preview together with Windows Server 2008 RC, and in this context, it looks like Microsoft plans to include a full-fledged beta of Windows Server virtualization in the final release of its next generation server client.

Windows Server 2008 RC and the Viridian CTP have already been dropped in the laps of a select group of Technology Adoption Program (TAP) partners, but Microsoft will deliver additional access to the build by the end of the month. Diverging a tad from the subject at hand, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007, a management tool for Windows Server and Viridian, was officially made available at the end of the past week. Chris Stirrat, the head of the System Center Virtual Machine Manager team, revealed that the next version of SCVMM would be timed to coincide with the official release of Viridian.