Many Windows Releases in 2005

An unusually large number of Windows releases is planned for 2005. Although Microsoft maintains that it will not ship any software before it is ready, this chart shows how tight the Windows release schedule is, and any slips could affect other releases.

In the first half of 2005, Microsoft plans to release a final update rollup package of critical fixes for Windows 2000 on both client and server. It also plans editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 for the 64-bit AMD and Intel x86-64 processors, Windows Server 2003 SP1 for both the core OS and Storage Server, and Windows Update Services 1.0 (the successor to Software Update Services). An early beta or technical preview of Longhorn will probably have to appear if Microsoft wants unique Longhorn applications to be available by Longhorn’s 2006 ship date.

The second half of 2005 should see at least one additional client beta of Longhorn, probably at the Sept. 2005 Professional Developers Conference. Also likely are a final release of Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster edition (the high-performance computing or HPC edition) and Windows Server 2003 R2. A first beta of Longhorn Server should appear in 2005; Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 might appear at the turn of the year, although early 2006 is more likely.