Microsoft made the official announcement on the name of Longhorn Server; oops . . . Windows Server 2008, does this mean partners and customers will start asking about it?
Pervasive has been following Windows Server 2008 (WS8) for a while and we are active participants in the beta program and in evaluations on the product. We have are scheduled to be ons-site at Microsoft (Redmond, WA) to work with their Longhorn Server team to identify any needed changes.
Our plan is to make future products compatible with WS8 but there is still a lot of work required and release dates and timelines need to be determined. Is this going to be enough . . . doubtful. We rely on our partners and customers to also be involved in testing and evaluations as well, are your applications going to work with WS8?
Is adoption going to be there? Is it too early to worry about this, I don’t think so. Beta 3 is available for download from the Microsoft website:(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/default.mspx).
While Windows Vista has not been an overwhelming success it still has surpassed 40 million copies it is outpacing Windows XP in overall sales and mainstream adoption is on target for late this year (think Back to school, Christmas and FY08 budgets). Based on product roadmaps I have seen (and discussed) with Microsoft you can expect a year end release to manufacturing and general availability in early spring for Windows Server 2008 (sounds a lot like the Vista release).
In seven to nine months, customers and partners are going to be asking for support. Our plan is to work towards that release date and have an offering but the reality is that partners and customers will also need to be ready and have been testing.
Are you going to be ready?