14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is getting ready to release the Community Technology Preview of Windows Server Codename Centro. Currently, Microsoft has not set a final availability date for Centro, but as the product is intimately connected with Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn, it will follow it to the market. At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2007 in mid May, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates revealed that the company plans to release Windows Server 2008 to manufacturing by the end of 2007. As early as the second half of 2005, when Microsoft was just beginning to develop Centro, the release date was set in accordance with Windows Server 2008.
This because Windows Server Codename Centro is in fact built on Windows Server 2008. And after Microsoft has released the third beta for Windows Server 2008, it is now getting ready to deliver the CTP to Centro. "Big News! Microsoft is planning to release a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Server Code Name "Centro" in the next few weeks. We look forward to your continued participation with Windows Server "Centro" and are really excited to receive your feedback on the upcoming CTP," reveals an email from the Redmond Company as cited by techlog.
The Centro platform involves not only Windows Server 2008, but also Microsoft Exchange and the company's new security products. System Center Essentials, ISA Server, SQL Server 2005 and Forefront security technologies are also integer parts of Centro. Following the combined availability of Windows Vista, the Office 2007 system and Microsoft Exchange 2007, the latest version of Exchange will be integrated into the Centro platform. In this context, Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 and Centro will also have common points.
What Microsoft is essentially aiming to accomplish with Centro is to provide an integrated platform with Windows Server 2008 as a solid foundation. Centro will deliver an evolved email system and management capabilities along with the best line-up of security technologies Microsoft has to offer.