Longhorn Server Approaches Beta 3

As with previous CTPs, the new build—released late yesterday—is only available to select testers.

"On April 4th, Microsoft posted a Community Technology Preview...build of Windows Server 'Longhorn' to the Microsoft Connect site for beta participants," Helene Snell, Windows Server senior product manager, said in a statement issued at the request of Microsoft Watch.

Microsoft also makes CTPs available to TechNet Plus subscribers. By contrast, Beta 3 is expected to be widely available.

The Longhorn Sever development cycle has been on the slow track. Microsoft released Longhorn Server Beta 2 in May 2006. The unexpected new CTP could signal a Beta 3 delay or final refinements for the scheduled availability.

"This CTP is the build that we will be asking beta customers to test and evaluate and then let us know if we are ready to ship Beta 3, and has all the features [and] functionality that customers will see in Beta 3," Snell said.

Previously, Microsoft indicated that Beta 3 would ship in the first half of the year. Snell said the public build "is still on track" for its scheduled availability and that it will include "a number of enhancements to existing server roles and features, plus some UI [user interface] changes—most notably in the Server Manager tool and the addition of PowerShell."

The release of Beta 3 and the road map to delivery affect more than Longhorn Server. In November, Microsoft executives said Windows Vista Server Pack 1 would be released around the same time as Longhorn Server. Microsoft had indicated that the server software would be finished by the end of the year, a position Snell reaffirmed in the statement.