Windows 7 is getting close

As I've said in the past: the Windows operating system is one of Microsoft's crown jewels. Updated versions of both the client and server are a fundamental part of Microsoft' revenue streams.

Over the past 10 years or so, a new client OS has meant a new Server OS as well as a new version of Office (with Office expanding massively).

The latest versions of what will become Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 were recently released. Dubbed Release Candidates, these are both solid offerings. Microsoft also recently announced that both the client and server versions will be broadly available from 22 October 2009.

Doing it differently

As I've reported in the past, the Windows 7 beta is different from previous Windows betas. There was only one beta release and only one RC release, and Microsoft is moving forward aggressively to meet the formal release date of October 22 2009.

As in the past, the code will be complete (released to manufacturing or RTM) some time before this formal release date - sometime in July would seen a reasonable time. Those of you with MSDN or TechNet Plus accounts will be able to get your hands on the final code, therefore, earlier than formal release.

Server 2008 R2 - Windows 7 Server, as you could call it, is going to be a great upgrade. I've been running the Beta, and more recently the RC on two of my servers and they've been flawless. R2 contains a new edition of Hyper-V, which seems a lot more responsive.

A big disappointment for me is that with R2, you can no longer compress VHD disks. This means a lot more disk space than used previously, and a slightly degraded performance in some cases. The reason Microsoft did this was reliability - compressed disks were prone to failure, especially as they grew. Another downside to Hyper-V in R2 is that it's still not power aware - so running it on a laptop is sub-optimal. Maybe in the next version.

One huge plus with Server 2008 R2 is PowerShell. With the Windows 7/Server 2008 launch, we'll get the released version of PowerShell Version 2. And along with it a glittering array of PowerShell support - in the form of over 500 new cmdlets. PowerShell is installed by default on R2, and there's a shortcut on the start bar when you first login. And I just love that Server Core now supports PowerShell and ASP.NET. For R2 and beyond, PowerShell moves from "nearly useful everywhere" to invaluable everywhere.

R2 supports a number of new features that are sure to interest a lot of customers. Take a look at Microsoft's Introduction to R2, and for a more detailed look at what's new in R2, get the Reviewer's Guide. Go here to download the Release Candidate.

Good bye x86

R2 also marks the end of the road for X86 as a server platform - R2 is 64-bit only. For me, this has meant investing in some new 64-bit servers. But 64-bit OS Capable hardware has pretty much been the norm for several years, so this won't be a huge cost for most users. The new servers are quieter, and more powerful than the 5 and 6 year old servers they replace so it's not a total disaster.
 
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