Microsoft will push back the release of the next version of Windows—Windows .NET Server—until the end of 2002. Originally code-named Whistler and scheduled for simultaneous availability with Windows XP, Windows .NET Server is the follow-on product to Windows 2000 Server and will be the first shipping version of Windows to bundle the .NET development platform. Microsoft hints the delay is due to increased security vigilance, but other development issues could be to blame. The impact of the delay will be greatest on Microsoft and its partners, who are counting on this release to drive server upgrades and wider adoption of technologies such as Active Directory (AD), .NET-based applications, and Web services.

Delay Blamed on Security Push

The primary reason Microsoft gives for the delay is its current focus on "Trustworthy Computing," including a one-month development moratorium while Windows program managers, developers, and testers reviewed the current code base and their development practices. (For more information, see "Gates Puts Focus on Trustworthy Computing" on page 10 of the Feb. 2002 Update and "Security Coding Halt, New Hires" on page 6 of the Mar. 2002 Update.)

Publicizing increased security vigilance as the reason for the delay helps Microsoft argue that it has made security a primary focus, but other reasons could explain the delay:

• Windows XP slipped, and shipped later than Microsoft would have liked. The two versions share not only a large number of common binary files, but also personnel and other resources, such as build and test labs. A delay in one version of Windows impacts subsequent versions.
• Beta testing of Windows servers is more difficult than it is for Windows desktops. Organizations have many PCs on which to test the client version of Windows and can swap test machines in and out of the network without significantly affecting day-to-day operations. In contrast, companies tend to have a limited number of Windows servers, and most of them are used for business-critical production. This makes customers more reluctant to test new versions of the server operating system, as any problem created by the beta code, such as a problem with AD, could negatively impact a large number of users. Now that customers have the third beta, they may be just beginning their testing of the new version’s features.

Delay Impacts Microsoft Most

By far the greatest impact of the delay will be on Microsoft and its reseller and systems integrator partners, who are counting on Windows .NET Server to drive upgrades from earlier server versions of Windows, particularly from Windows NT shops that balked at upgrading to Windows 2000 because of the complexity of AD. Windows .NET will feature improvements in AD and applications that use AD, such as Group Policy. For example, the long-awaited "Resultant Set of Policy" tool will facilitate the implementation of Group Policy so that organizations can leverage AD to consistently configure and manage what users can do with their computers. Making Group Policy easier to deploy will encourage more customers to exploit AD.

Microsoft also needs Windows .NET to bolster adoption of its .NET development platform, as it will be the first version of Windows to include the Common Language Runtime (CLR), the class libraries, and ASP.NET. Windows .NET will also play a crucial role as the hosting platform for the new generation of applications and Web services that Microsoft has encouraged developers to create. (For more information on the .NET platform, see the Feb. 2002 Research Report, "The .NET Development Platform.") The delay in providing "built-in" .NET support may be embarrassing to Microsoft, but it is not an insurmountable problem: the .NET Framework SDK can be installed on any recent version of Windows, including XP and 2000 Server.

Most affected by the delay are customers on Windows NT 4.0 Server, because Microsoft has announced that it will gradually cease supporting it. (For more information, see "Microsoft Retires NT 4 Server" on page 6 of the Jan. 2002 Update.)

Microsoft has already provided a third beta of Windows .NET Server to customers for testing, and a series of release candidates will likely be made available in June and July of 2002, prior to the release to manufacturing in late 2002. General availability therefore would likely be in late 2002 or early 2003.

Resources

For more information on Windows Server, see www.microsoft.com/windows.