Microsoft starting to build around Windows 2000

A week after Bill Gates said Microsoft would introduce a host of servers this year to support the just-released Windows 2000, the company has started to fulfill that pledge.

Last week, Microsoft unveiled the first release candidate of Exchange 2000, a messaging and collaboration server and the first Active Directory-enabled application. A release candidate is software that is deemed worthy of release but sent to select customers for final testing.

Microsoft also announced the first beta version of Exchange Conference Server, which is designed for videoconferencing and data conferencing. In addition, the first beta version of Microsoft's Host Integration Server, the successor to SNA Server, also was released.

The three betas are but a sampling of the servers Microsoft plans to add to the Win 2000 stable. Others that Gates said the company would release this year include the DataCenter version of Win 2000, a 64-bit version of the operating system; SQL 2000; BizTalk Server 2000; AppCenter Server 2000 and Commerce Server 2000.

Exchange 2000, which is expected to ship in the first half of this year, will be a showcase for Active Directory, which is required to run the messaging server. Exchange offers a host of new administrative features, including a new file system called the Web Store, and instant messaging features, but it lacks real-time conferencing features to combat what groupware rival Lotus has built into its Domino platform and Sametime Server.

"Synchronous communication features are the next frontier for groupware," says Jim Kobielus, an analyst with The Burton Group in Midvale, Utah. "Microsoft needed to add stuff like chat, white boarding, and screen sharing to neutralize what Lotus is developing in the data conferencing area."

Microsoft did that in Exchange Conference Server, in addition to adding support for videoconferencing through IP Multicast and the H.323 multimedia conferencing standard. Lotus offers similar video features in its LearningSpace Server.

Conference Server will likely ship midyear.

Microsoft last week also shipped the first beta version of Host Integration Server 2000, which was code-named Babylon. The server supports application and data integration with IBM mainframes and AS/400 systems.

"We are trying to move to host integration for Windows-based applications and away from just terminal emulation services," says Tad Parker, lead product manager for Host Integration Server.

While Host Integration Server pulls mainframe data into the Windows platform, analysts say the real value will come when data can be exchanged bidirectionally.

"When a mainframe-based order-management system can be supported with data from the Windows platform, that's when you'll start to see real integration," say Dan Sholler, an analyst with Meta Group in Stamford, Conn.

Microsoft plans to include bidirectional capabilities in the next release.

Host Integration Server supports the SNA and TCP protocols; provides data access via Open Database Connectivity and OLE DB to IBM's DB2 database; provides replication integration of Microsoft's SQL database, Oracle and DB2; and supports COM+ for CICS/IMS mainframe transactions.

The server is expected to ship this summer. i