Microsoft is planning to produce an interim release of
Windows in 2005, before Longhorn, the next update, which is not due
until 2006/2007, analysts claim.
Based on input from users, it is likely that Microsoft will update
Windows Server 2003 to make it easier for users to take advantage
of new technology on the Windows platform platform.
"However, because we are still engaged in this process and cannot
provide details on naming or packaging, etc this far in advance, we
have no further information at this time," Microsoft said.
One way Microsoft is expected to deliver the technology is by
bundling together products and services that were released
post-Windows Server 2003 and which are available as individual
add-ons to the operating system.
In a statement, Microsoft said, "Customers tell us they are happy
with the innovation we are delivering on the Windows Server 2003
platform and would like an easy to consume delivery vehicle for
these updates."
Mark Tennant, Windows server product marketing manager, said, "We
are looking at a number of value-add technologies such as Windows
Sharepoint Services, Windows Rights Manager for Office 2003, Active
Directory management and migration tools which today are free
downloads from the Microsoft website." Tennant could not confirm
how this would be charged.
The question is when this release will ship and what it will
contain.
In a research paper looking at the upgrade options for users,
Gartner analyst Michael Silver said a new, sellable Windows release
in 2004 is highly unlikely because of two factors: Microsoft is
working on Service Pack 2 for Windows XP in 2004, which ties up
Microsoft's development resources; and businesses would not be able
to deploy both SP2 and a new release of the XP operating system in
one year.
One option for Microsoft is to offer the SP2 security service pack
as a full version of Windows XP. However, it would be difficult for
Microsoft to sell this since enterprises without Software Assurance
or Enterprise Agreement deals would be reluctant to purchase
another product to fix the security deficiencies in XP.
Taking this into account, Silver predicted that the most likely
outcome would be for Microsoft to release an interim version of the
Windows client operating system in the fourth quarter of 2005.
This would allow it to fulfil Software Assurance customers'
expectations of a new version of Windows during their contract
period.
Silver said, "We would expect this release to be more of a 'Windows
XP Second Edition' than a limited release of Longhorn, meaning that
the most interesting features of Longhorn, such as WinFS and the
new user interface, would not be in the XP Second Edition."