Exchange Server 2007 Road Map Update

Terry Myerson, Microsoft's Exchange Server manager, made the announcement on Friday in a post on the Exchange Server Team Weblog.

Microsoft officially launched Exchange Server 2007 on Nov. 30, but the software hasn't been generally available. Some volume-licensing customers have access to the messaging product, and it is available for download trial.

According to Microsoft's Support Lifecycle Web site, Exchange Server 2007's general availability is March 8.

"Some people had access through volume licensing, but the release is next week," said Laura DiDio, an analyst with Yankee Group.

The time between Exchange Server 2007 general availability and Service Pack 1 could be unusually short, particularly for a Microsoft server product. Microsoft released the first service pack for Exchange Server 2003 about a year after the messaging software released.

Microsoft is lining up several Service Pack 1 releases, including Windows Vista, to coincide with Longhorn Server.

Additionally, the seemingly quick pace of the service pack reflects a more modular approach, which Microsoft adopted with Windows Server 2003. The software shipped somewhat feature-incomplete, with Microsoft rolling out extras for more than a year afterward. Exchange Server 2003 is similar.

"SP1 will fill in the GUI holes that we just didn't have time to complete by RTM [Release to Manufacturing]," Myerson said.

The software also will tap into new Longhorn Server features, such as IPv6, which Windows Vista also supports.