Microsoft is gearing up to make Windows Server 2008 R2 available to consumers by the end of 2009, according to Bill Laing, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Windows Server and Solutions Division. The Windows Server boss referred exclusively to the server version of Windows 7, and offered no predictions related to the client release. However, the shipping date for Windows 7 is not far off from the availability deadline of Windows Server 2008 R2, with the client traditionally preceding the server platform.

Laing indicated to Beyond Binary at the end of the past week that Windows Server 2008 R2, which was in fact a second Release of Windows Server 2008, would be available by the end of this calendar year. Since the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2009 RTM/SP1, the Windows client and server platforms have been joined at the hip. Illustrative of this is the concomitant development of Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2.

And just as their precursors, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 share the same codebase. In fact, their development processes are also advancing in parallel. Back in January 2009, Microsoft released not only the Beta Build 7000 milestone for Windows 7, but also the first Beta for Windows Server 2008 R2, which continues to be available for download even at this point in time. The availability of Windows 7 Beta was discontinued in early February 2009.

Moving onward, Microsoft is expected to deliver the Release Candidates for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 simultaneously, just as it was the case with the Beta release. The company is reportedly looking to May 2009 for the availability of the Windows 7 RC and Windows Server 2008 RC bits. Laing failed to offer official confirmation of the RC deadline for the next iterations of Windows client and Server, noting that Microsoft has yet to decide on a specific availability date for the two operating systems.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta (Windows 7 Server Beta) is available for download here.