Windows Server 2003 R2 Released

Fulfilling its promise to release an interim update for Windows Server 2003 before the end of the year, Microsoft released Windows Server 2003 R2 in Dec. 2005. The R2 release will be of interest to customers with specific identity management, branch office, Unix interoperability, and storage management issues, and will trigger updates to Small Business Server and the Windows Storage Server platform. The R2 release also frees the Windows Server team to focus on the next major release, code-named Longhorn Server and due in 2007.

What’s R2?

Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Server and Tools, committed to releasing a predictable cycle of alternating major and minor releases of Windows Server. Major releases, scheduled approximately every four years, will contain major architectural changes to the server platform. Minor or interim releases, due between major releases (approximately two years after a major release) will include updates to existing features or new features that don’t require major changes to the base OS.