Microsoft has made available for download the beta for the second service pack of Windows Server Update Services 3.0. Starting with SP2 Beta, WSUS 3.0 now plays nice with the latest iterations of the Windows 7 client and server operating systems. Cecilia Cole, WSUS program manager, emphasized that WSUS 3.0 SP2 Beta was capable of integrating with Windows Server 2008 R2 (including the BranchCache feature) and came with support for Windows 7.

“The WSUS product group launched the WSUS 3.0 Service Pack 2 beta program over on our Connect site, so if you want to get a head start on testing and evaluating this Service Pack, then you'll want to make your way over there and download a copy today. WSUS 3.0 Service Pack 2 addresses a number of product features and fixes, and includes the addition of support for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. Just remember that you have to be a registered Connect user and logged in, or you won't see the download being available,” J.C. Hornbeck, manageability knowledge engineer, stated.

Even though they are served exclusively through Microsoft Connect, the Redmond company is making it easy for customers to grab the bits and start testing. In this regard, all that users will need is a Windows Live ID in order to access the download. The software giant plans to discontinue offering the Beta of WSUS 3.0 SP2 in March 2009, and, in this regard, testers will need not only to download the solution, install and test it, but also report any bugs until the deadline.

Cole enumerated the WSUS Beta feature improvements and fixes, including “Auto-Approval Rules – new functionality lets you specify the approval deadline date and time. You can now apply a rule to all computers or to specific computer groups. Update Files and Languages – this release provides improved handling of language selection on downstream servers. A new warning dialog appears when you download updates only for specified languages. Cross-Version Compatibility – the user interface is compatible between Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2 for WSUS 3.0 on both the client and the server. Software Updates – stability and reliability fixes for the WSUS server, such as support for IPV6 addresses greater than 40 characters. The approval dialog now sorts computer groups alphabetically by group name. Computer status report sorting icons are now functional in x64 environments. Fixed setup issues with database servers running Microsoft SQL Server 2008.”