Microsoft took nearly five years to build a new version of Windows Server but apparently that wasn’t enough time to make sure its management and security software supported the new OS. A slew of applications in the Systems Center and Forefront families still don’t work with WS2008, according to a recent report from research firm Directions on Microsoft.
The report lists the following System Center applications or features that don’t jive with WS2008:
Configuration Manager 2007 (formerly Systems Management Server). This product has its first service pack in beta and is expected to fully function with WS2008 by the second half of 2008, with some functionality supporting the new OS earlier.
Reporting Manager 2006. Support for WS2008 isn’t expected until the new Service Manager product is released in 2010. (Service Manager is a trouble ticketing product that has been in beta since 2006 but has had so many development woes that it is not expected to ship until 2010.)
Virtual Machine Manager 2007. A new version, with support for WS2008, is planned for sometime later in 2008.
Essentials 2007. SP1 which includes support for WS2008 is expected to be available mid-June 2008.
This one is a shocker. Mobile Device Manager 2008 is on the list. It was released at about the same time as WS2008 yet support for the new OS wasn’t included. That is expected to happen in the second half of 2008.
The Forefront security product family also has applications that won’t work with WS2008. These include:
Forefront Security for SharePoint. A service pack with WS2008 support is expected in Q2 2008.
Because the new and much ballyhooed Communications Server 2007 doesn’t support WS2008 (can you believe that?), there isn’t much of a reason for Forefront Security for Communications Server to support WS2008 either. So it doesn’t.
Interestingly, Forefront Client Security, can be used on servers, too. But you’re going to have to wait until the second quarter of 2008 before it can be used with WS2008.
The full report from Directions on Microsoft includes explanations of all the above mentioned products, plus a list of the management and security applications that do work with Windows Server 2008 today. However the above list makes one thing clear. No matter how much money Microsoft spends on its major new releases, or how much time it takes between them, no one, not even the vendor, takes the initial release of any Microsoft software all that seriously.
