Feature packs deliver Windows Server features on a separate schedule (“out of band”) from the server OS itself. Feature packs do not require separate server licenses, but one-Rights Management Server (RMS)-requires separate Client Access Licenses (CALs), and several feature packs require SQL Server, which must be licensed separately. If Microsoft holds to its cycle of alternating interim and major releases, then fewer separate feature packs may be released out-of-band in the future.

Feature packs deliver Windows Server features on a separate schedule (“out-of-band”) from the server OS itself. These features typically do not require separate server licenses, but can only be installed on a properly licensed edition of Windows Server. One feature pack, Windows Rights Management Services, requires a separate Client Access License (CAL) for each client.

Even though feature packs are released separately from the Windows Server OS, Microsoft has not published support dates for individual feature packs. All will likely have the same support dates as Windows Server 2003.

Many of these feature packs will be incorporated into the Windows Server 2003 R2 release, due in late 2005. Going forward, Microsoft intends to deliver most new features in updates (like R2) and full releases of Windows Server, rather than in discrete feature packs.

If Microsoft holds to its cycle of alternating interim and major releases, then feature packs will likely be incorporated back into the normal release cycle, and fewer “out-of-band’ releases will be made because of the confusion they cause in determining where the products and feature packs are in the support life cycle.

Feature packs deliver Windows Server features on a separate schedule (“out-of-band”) from the server OS itself. These features typically do not require separate server licenses, but can only be installed on a properly licensed edition of Windows Server. One feature pack, Windows Rights Management Services, requires a separate Client Access License (CAL) for each client.

Even though feature packs are released separately from the Windows Server OS, Microsoft has not published support dates for individual feature packs. All will likely have the same support dates as Windows Server 2003.

Many of these feature packs will be incorporated into the Windows Server 2003 R2 release, due in late 2005. Going forward, Microsoft intends to deliver most new features in updates (like R2) and full releases of Windows Server, rather than in discrete feature packs.

Notable feature packs include the following:

Windows Update Services (WUS). Formerly called Software Update Services, WUS is a tool to allow organizations to host Windows Update in-house (on the organization’s side of their firewall) and automate the downloading and deployment of patches from the Windows Update site. WUS requires Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003. WUS 2.0 will provide a single patch distribution system that covers Windows, Exchange, Office, SQL Server, and Visio, and it will integrate with a new, unified Microsoft Web site for distributing patches. It is currently in closed beta testing with release planned for the first half of 2005.

Feature packs deliver Windows Server features on a separate schedule (“out-of-band”) from the server OS itself. Notable feature packs include the following:

Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) allows an application to use a dedicated instance of Active Directory (AD) for its own identity data, without having to update the main Windows AD schema or store and replicate the data in the main Windows AD database. The latest version of ADAM shipped with Windows Server 2003 R2 but is still available as a separate feature pack.

Automated Deployment Services (ADS) provides new imaging tools and an infrastructure for deploying server images to bare hardware; it will be superseded by Windows Deployment Services when Windows Server 2008 ships.

DSML Services for Windows allows Active Directory access using the Simple Object Access Protocol over the Hypertext Transfer Protocol based on the Oasis Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) version 2 specification.

Group Policy Management Console is a tool that helps administrators understand how to use Active Directory and Group Policy to manage Windows clients. For example, administrators can use it to simulate a Group Policy change and see what effects it would have on users.

Feature packs deliver Windows Server features on a separate schedule (“out-of-band”) from the server OS itself. These features typically do not require separate server licenses, but can only be installed on a properly licensed edition of Windows Server. One feature pack, Windows Rights Management Services, requires a separate Client Access License (CAL) for each client.

While feature packs are released separately from the Windows Server OS, Microsoft has not published support dates for individual feature packs. All will likely have the same support dates as Windows Server 2003.

Many of these feature packs will be incorporated into the Windows Server 2003 R2 release, due in late 2005. Going forward, Microsoft intends to deliver most new features in updates (like R2) and full releases of Windows Server, rather than in discrete feature packs.

Notable feature packs include the following:

Windows Update Services (WUS). Formerly called Software Update Services, WUS is a tool to allow organizations to host Windows Update in-house (on the organization’s side of their firewall) and automate the downloading and deployment of patches from the Windows Update site. WUS requires Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003. WUS 2.0 will provide a single patch distribution system that covers Windows, Exchange, Office, SQL Server, and Visio, and it will integrate with a new, unified Microsoft Web site for distributing patches. It is currently in closed beta testing with release planned for late 2004.

Feature packs deliver Windows Server features on a separate schedule (“out-of-band”) from the server OS itself. Notable feature packs include the following:

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) allows organizations to host Windows Update in-house (on the organization’s side of their firewall) and automate the downloading and deployment of patches from Microsoft. WSUS 2.0 (released June 2005) provides a single patch distribution system that covers major products, including Windows, Exchange, Office, and SQL Server. (WSUS was formerly called Software Update Services and Windows Update Service.)

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) extends Internet Information Services (IIS) and ASP.NET to support Web-based collaboration sites and Web-based business applications. (WSS was originally released as the Office Server Extensions with Office 2000 in 1999; a subsequent version was named SharePoint Team Services and delivered with certain versions of Office XP.) Released Oct. 2003, WSS is required by SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and is used by Project Server 2003 for sharing project documents and hosting project workspace Web sites. An update is due in the second half of 2006.

Feature packs deliver Windows Server features on a separate schedule (“out-of-band”) from the server OS itself. Notable feature packs include the following:

Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) allows an application to use a dedicated instance of Active Directory (AD) for its own identity data, without having to update the main Windows AD schema or store and replicate the data in the main Windows AD database. The latest version of ADAM shipped with Windows Server 2003 R2 and is no longer a separate feature pack.

Automated Deployment Services (ADS) provides new imaging tools and an infrastructure for deploying server images to bare hardware; it will be superseded by Windows Deployment Services when Windows Server Longhorn ships.

Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is a tool that helps administrators understand how to use Active Directory and Group Policy to manage Windows clients. For example, administrators can use it to simulate a Group Policy change and see what effects it would have on users.

Feature packs deliver Windows Server features on a separate schedule (“out-of-band”) from the server OS itself. Notable feature packs include the following:

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) allows organizations to host an instance of the Windows Update service in-house to automate download and deployment of patches from Microsoft. WSUS 2.0 (released June 2005) provides a single patch distribution system that covers major products, including Windows, Exchange, Office, and SQL Server. (WSUS was formerly called Software Update Services and Windows Update Service.)

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) extends Internet Information Services (IIS) and ASP.NET to support Web-based collaboration sites and Web-based business applications. (WSS was originally released as the Office Server Extensions with Office 2000 in 1999; a subsequent version was named SharePoint Team Services and delivered with certain versions of Office XP.) Released Oct. 2003, WSS is required by SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and is used by Project Server 2003 for sharing project documents and hosting project workspace Web sites. An update is due in the second half of 2006.

Feature packs deliver Windows server features on a separate schedule (“out-of-band”) from the server OS itself. These features typically do not require separate server licenses, but they can only be installed on a properly licensed edition of Windows Server. One feature pack, Windows Rights Management Services, requires a separate Client Access License (CAL) for each client. Notable feature packs include the following:

Windows Update Services (WUS). Formerly called Software Update Services, WUS is a tool to allow organizations to host Windows Update in-house (on the organization’s side of their firewall) and automate the downloading and deployment of patches from the Windows Update site. WUS requires Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003. WUS 2.0 will provide a single patch distribution system that covers Windows, Exchange, Office, SQL Server, and Visio, and it will integrate with a new, unified Microsoft Web site for distributing patches. It is currently in closed beta testing with release planned for late 2004.