December 2002

Below is an excerpt of a research report published by Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. More samples of our content, as well as a list of upcoming articles and reports are also available.

C O N T E N T S:

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• What is an Application Server?
• Hosting Components
• Overview: How Windows Server 2003 supports component-based programming, which increases software reuse and frees developers from having to write code to provide services such as message queuing and pooling
• Connecting to Data
• Overview: How Windows Server 2003 provides access to data from a wide variety of database management systems and how it works to ensure that applications correctly update those databases
• Supporting the User Interface
• Overview: How Windows Server 2003 supports both thin-client and thick-client user interfaces and the new features designed for each
• Benefits and Prospects
• Overview: Strengths and weaknesses of Microsoft's Application Server technology and the company's prospects for success in this market
• Resources
• Overview: List of where to find additional information on the subjects discussed in this report
• Appendix: Rewritten IIS Anchors Windows Server 2003
• Overview: Technical details on the new version of Internet Information Services (IIS) included in Windows Server 2003, on which ASP.NET relies