* Latest Microsoft betas and an IPv6 primer
There were a couple of important beta releases from Microsoft last week. While most of the press focused on the second beta release of Windows Vista, there was also a second beta release of “Longhorn” Server, the follow-on to Windows Server 2003 due out in about 18 months.
The Vista beta is available right now to developers and IT professionals who are subscribers to MSDN or TechNet, as well as to members of the Technology Adoption Program (TAP) and the TechBeta program. Over the next few weeks it will be rolled out to additional developers, IT professionals, and “bleeding edge” consumers as part of the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program (CPP). By the end of next month, it should be available for anyone wishing to download it.
The Longhorn server release is interesting because it adds a couple of new features – although it’s still far from feature complete.
One of those new features is support for IPv6. We’ve been hearing about IPv6 for so long now that I’ll bet some of you had thought it was going to go the way of ATM to the desktop (see “IT’s big flops”) and quietly disappear. Changes in the way IP addresses are controlled and distributed has made 4-byte addresses last years longer than anyone thought they would. Back in 1999, for example, Network World ran a story about the disappearing IP address space being the next “Year 2000” problem (“IPv6: The new Y2K dilemma”)! Nevertheless, there is a finite limit to them and something does need to be done.
Since it’s been so long between the proposal of IPv6 and the widespread implementation of the protocol, it’s understandable that many of you might not be as familiar with it as you should be. To that end, Microsoft has thoughtfully provided an archive version of a Webcast devoted to “an introduction to Internet Protocol Version 6, the Internet Control Message Protocol for IPv6, Multicast Listener Discovery, Neighbor Discovery, and Address autoconfiguration.” That’s all new stuff and will all be present “in the box” with Longhorn Server. Browse here to take a look at the Webcast.
We’ll take a look at some other new features for Longhorn server in the weeks and months (some wags even say years) leading up to its release. Stay tuned, but remember to eat, sleep and breathe!
