Microsoft’s expectations are running high for the upcoming release of Windows Server 2008. Steve Ballmer, the company’s CEO, will officially launch the server software at an event in Los Angeles on Wednesday, capping months of beta testing by customers around the world.

The launch is vitally important to Microsoft, which hopes sales of the updated server software will spur wider adoption of Windows Vista by corporate customers that have so far resisted the urge to upgrade from Windows XP.

[ Dive into the hands-on evaluations of the Windows Server 2008 family in the InfoWorld Test Center special report. ]

Earlier today Microsoft released the RTM version of the Microsoft FTP Service for IIS 7.0 for Windows Server 2008!

Listed below are the links for the download pages for each of the individual installation packages:

• FTP 7 (x86) Installation Package
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=87847
• FTP 7 (x64) Installation Package
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=89114

Full Article – http://blogs.msdn.com/robert_mcmurray/archive/2008/02/27/ftp7-for-windows-server-2008-rtm-is-released.aspx

We know it’s been mighty quiet on the SkyDrive blog, but we’ve been hard at work on a new version that we’re proud to announce today!

You’ve made two things clear since our first release: You want more space; and you want SkyDrive where you are. Today we’re giving you both. You now have five times the space you had before — that’s 5GB of free online storage for your favorite documents, pictures, and other files.

Full Article – http://skydriveteam.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!977F793E846B3C96!1697.entry

Microsoft is sharing more details about its small- and mid-size servers due out later this year that will be built around Windows Server 2008.

Both of these servers are part of the newly-christened Essential Server Solutions Family. At the low end (for users with 50 PCs or fewer), Microsoft will offer Windows Small Business Server 2008, the product codenamed “Cougar.” For mid-size companies, Microsoft is readying Windows Essential Business Server 2008, codenamed “Centro.”

Both of these products are currently in private beta testing, according to Microsoft. They will go to public beta some time in the first half of this year and both launch together in the second half of 2008, company officials said.

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1203

In a landmark announcement during the keynote address at the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), Microsoft Corp. promised to soon allow Xbox LIVE members to play, rate and share community-created games. As the first in the industry to pioneer high-speed online gaming and high-definition games, Xbox 360 once again broke new ground by introducing a new, open distribution service for games created by the community and soon playable by its 10 million Xbox LIVE members. Community-created games on Xbox LIVE will quickly double the size of the Xbox 360 game library. By the end of 2008, Xbox 360 owners will have access to more than 1,000 games, making it the largest, most creatively diverse library across all next-generation platforms.

1. Where can I find prescriptive guidance on upgrading to Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft applications support for Windows Server 2008?

• Upgrading Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008
• Timeline for Microsoft server application to support Windows Server 2008
• Installing Windows Server 2008
• Installing SQL Server 2005 on Windows Server 2008
• Installing Exchange Server 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008
• Installing Microsoft Office SharePoint Services SP1 on Windows Server 2008

Full Article – http://blogs.msdn.com/ridethe2008wave/archive/2008/02/19/windows-server-2008-customer-faqs-useful-read-for-partners.aspx

Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 is slated for widespread availability on March 1, after a gala launch on February 27. But when will it enter widespread usage? A major report released today seems to present an overly rosy picture.

With Windows Server 2008 to be widely available to everyone in March, how many businesses and other organizations are really going to migrate to the new OS, and when? Technology retailer CDW Corp. today released survey results claiming that 68% of all organizations are going to adopt the new Windows Server, with 18% already in the planning stages.

Full Article – http://www.betanews.com/article/How_soon_will_enterprises_adopt_Windows_Server_2008/1203372048

A source close to Microsoft says the company will launch new desktop software called WorldWide Telescope on February 27 at the TED Conference in Monterey, California. Our guess is that this is what Robert Scoble was talking about last week when he said he saw a new Microsoft project that brought him to tears.

The service will be accessed through a downloadable application – Windows only for now is what we hear. Users will be able to pan around the nighttime sky and zoom as far in to any one area as the data will allow. Microsoft is said to be tapping the Hubble telescope as well as ten or so earth bound telescopes around the world for data. When you find an area you like, you can switch to a number of different views, such as infrared and non-visible light.

Full Article – http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/18/microsoft-to-announce-worldwide-telescope-on-january-27/

On February 14, the company rolled out a refreshed version of Popfly which added a new data-source editor, allowing users to add their own data to mash-upsl; as well as a new search interface. The February refresh also adds other improvements, according to an entry on the Popfly blog, including Silverligt support for Popfly Web sites; a new help wiki; and new “blocks, like moving slide show.

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1196

After his last foray into the “Linux guy reviews a Microsoft product” space, Jason Perlow is back — this time to take a look at Microsoft’s Hyper-V, the hypervisor-based virtualization solution built into the newly released Windows Server 2008. Although Hyper-V is still in beta and isn’t slated to ship in final form until the latter half of this year — and will be missing a few previously-promised features by the time it does arrive — it just might be the “killer app” for Windows Server, and one which will have Microsoft’s competitors scrambling to keep up, Perlow claims.

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1182

After his last foray into the “Linux guy reviews a Microsoft product” space, Jason Perlow is back — this time to take a look at Microsoft’s Hyper-V, the hypervisor-based virtualization solution built into the newly released Windows Server 2008. Although Hyper-V is still in beta and isn’t slated to ship in final form until the latter half of this year — and will be missing a few previously-promised features by the time it does arrive — it just might be the “killer app” for Windows Server, and one which will have Microsoft’s competitors scrambling to keep up, Perlow claims.

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1182

This article explains how NLB algorithm works internally from a technical point of view. This article only applies to Windows NT, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.

General rule for a NLB Cluster which applies to each host in the cluster:

1. All port rules (range) defined in a host cluster must be unique across the cluster.

2. Host priority (Default Host) must be unique across the cluster.

3. Cluster mode must be unique across the cluster: either Unicast or Multicast.

A cluster node maintains a statistical mapping of port rules with associated Virtual IP of the cluster. I will give an port rule example and then explain how it works in cluster when an incoming TCP/IP packet arrives to cluster hosts. I have configured the following port rule at one of the cluster host:

Full Article – http://msmvps.com/blogs/systmprog/archive/2008/02/14/how-network-load-balancing-algorithm-works-internally.aspx

Windows 7 Milestone 1 (build 6519) has leaked to the Internet almost a month now and one of the features that seems to be in it, caught my attention. It’s the “Homegroup” feature, that was codenamed “Castle”. Beta testers that have been around long enough remember this feature as left out of Windows Vista.

Full Article – http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/archive/2008/02/14/windows-7-preliminary-feature-homegroup.aspx

Major update: Microsoft has finalized Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) and released it to manufacturing. This FAQ has been updated to reflect the final release, and Microsoft’s schedule for getting this code into the hands of its users.

While most Windows service packs are hardly worth discussing, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) has been steeped in mystery almost since before Vista itself was completed. With Vista, Microsoft has engineered a new update deployment technology that allows administrators and power users to “slipstream” service packs and other fixes into new Vista installations in a manner that is much simpler than with previous Windows versions. But the real issue with SP1 is in how Microsoft has mishandled the dissemination of information about this release. For this reason, and because there are so many silly rumors floating around, I’ve created a FAQ for Vista SP1 that will be updated as new information is released. If it’s not in this FAQ, it’s just speculation.

Full Article – http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/vista_sp1.asp

The Yahoo board is said to believe the $44.6 billion offer undervalues the company.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Yahoo Inc’s board believes Microsoft Corp’s unsolicited bid of $44.6 billion to acquire Yahoo “massively undervalues” the company and directors are set to reject the offer, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing an unnamed source.

Microsoft’s $31 per share offer fails to take account of the risks that a merger between the world’s largest software maker and Yahoo would be rejected by regulators, the paper reported, citing “a person familiar with the situation.”

A spokeswoman for Yahoo, a diversified Internet media company, declined to comment on the proceedings of the company’s board of directors.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard and Anupreeta Das in San Francisco and Megan Davies in New York, editing by Vicki Allen)