Windows Server Roadmap

Windows 2000 Server leaves Mainstream support as important interim Windows Server releases arrive in 2005. Paid support will still be available for Windows Server 2000 for at least five years beyond the June 30, 2005, end of Mainstream support, according to current policies. A final update rollup should deliver the most widely applicable security and reliability fixes for Windows 2000 around the time it exits Mainstream support.

Note that Windows Server 2003 will continue to be supported on the IA-64 (Itanium) processor architecture, although support has been discontinued for Windows XP on that architecture.

Windows Server 2003 SP1 will deliver many security improvements first developed for Windows XP SP2, as well as a few new features. Support for the x86-64 processor architecture, developed by AMD and now adopted by Intel, will arrive around the time that SP1 ships. Following SP1 in the second half of 2005 will be a new version of Windows Server 2003 code-named R2, which delivers new features for remote access and management of branch offices, and which will incorporate Windows feature packs (such as Windows SharePoint Services) and version 2.0 of the .NET Framework run-time system.