While testers have been all over the newest Windows Vista Community Technology Preview (CTP) build, the new Longhorn Server test build, which Microsoft also delivered at the end of February, has gotten far less attention.

Testers confirmed that Microsoft has posted on the Connect beta-download site the Longhorn Server Build 5308 bits for download.

Microsoft officials acknowledged that the company released Longhorn Server 5308 to a set of private beta testers last week.

"Because the Windows Vista and Windows Server 'Longhorn' development cycles are synched, Longhorn code is also going out as part of the Windows Vista CTP, but is accessible to private beta testers only," a company spokeswoman said.

In December, Microsoft released simultaneous builds of Windows Vista and Longhorn Server (build number 5270 for both).

Since Microsoft released a public CTP build of Windows Server Longhorn at the Professional Developers Conference, the company has not labeled any of the test releases as either a beta or a CTP.

In the same vein, Microsoft is characterizing the new Longhorn Server 5308 build as neither a beta nor a CTP, the spokeswoman said.

Microsoft's current plan is to launch an "official" CTP program for Longhorn Server some time after the server development team delivers Beta 2 of Longhorn Server, which is expected later this year, around the time Vista Beta 2 ships. The final version of Longhorn Server is due to ship some time in 2007.

What's new in the latest Longhorn Server test build? According to the Longhorn Server 5380 release notes, a copy of which are posted on the ActiveWin.com site, the latest server code has some rough spots.

Microsoft officials have explained previously that Longhorn Server will be customizable for specific workloads via role-management and a role-management tool. Longhorn Server will be role-based, allowing administrators to choose from among 20 different "levels of functionality" (such as print server; DHCP server, etc.) when configuring and deploying their Windows Server systems for specific tasks, they said.

In the newest Longhorn Server build, the role-management tool won't allow testers to install the Rights Management Services subsystem of Longhorn Server, according to the notes. And there is no workaround for the problem.

There also seem to be problems around roles and the Security Configuration Wizard, the notes say.

"With Security Configuration Wizard, you can configure security settings appropriate for various server roles. To ensure full compatibility, all server roles are disabled by default. However, you can still enable individual server roles manually," according to the notes.

Microsoft also has made some functionality tweaks to the Server Core functionality at the heart of Longhorn Server, the release notes say.

Microsoft officials declined to elaborate on these or any other changes made to Longhorn Server 5308.