During the high-tech conference, the Redmond, Wash., software giant spotlighted several new and enhanced products designed to improve the management, security and automation of Windows data centers. Most of the products won't ship until next year.
The long-awaited PowerShell is aimed at easing system administration and automation tasks across various Windows platforms, including Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and the next-generation Windows Server, code-named Longhorn. PowerShell is built into Longhorn and can be used to automate the server software's new Server Manager.
Now available online, PowerShell also is integrated with Microsoft's management software offerings, including Systems Center Operations Manager 2007, due to ship in the first quarter of next year, and Systems Center Virtual Machine Manager, a new product due out in the second half of 2007.
Microsoft said it plans to release beta three of Longhorn in the first half of 2007, and the company announced a release candidate of its long-awaited Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2.
Windows Server 2003 SP 2, slated to ship in the first quarter of 2007, includes features that will be particularly useful to Windows customers next year, such as Windows Deployment Services. The services will ease migrations to and deployments of the Vista and Longhorn upgrades. Windows Server 2003 SP2 also incorporates other management and automation tools, such as the Scalable Networking Pack and Microsoft Management Console 3.0.
Also at IT Forum, Microsoft announced that it plans to release two other new products, Forefront Security for Exchange and Forefront Security for SharePoint, to volume-license customers in December. The products are now in beta testing.
On Tuesday, Microsoft also announced the first public beta of Forefront Client Security and new Dynamics CRM and SharePoint optimizers for its Intelligent Access Gateway remote access solution. The gateway came with Microsoft's acquisition of Whale Communications.
