An update to the eXtensible Open Router Platform — an open source router software package — was released this week with support for Windows servers and a number of new features, fixes and improvements, according to the software's developers.

XORP Version 1.2 source code can now be compiled for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 1), allowing a Wintel box to run as a full-featured WAN router. Other changes to the software include re-written code for Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), a critical routing protocol.

XORP developers say their new OSPF implementation, written from scratch, will provide better support for IPv4 and IPv6 and should allow XORP platforms to process traffic more efficiently, compared to previous versions which used OSPF code provided by a third party.

In addition to Windows, XORP 1.2 can run on FreeBSD, NetBSD, MacOS X 10.4.5 a and Linux Fedora Core4, among other Linux platforms.

XORP, started in 2002, was developed as a test-and-research platform for network engineers interested in developing software and new features for managing networks. Recently, start-up Vyatta announced plans to make a commercial product out of XORP, wrapping the code with a Linux OS purpose-built to run as a router, and configuration and management tools for making it easier to set up and run XORP on a machine.

XORP 1.2 source code, release notes and other documentation can be downloaded here.