Computerworld - Microsoft Corp. yesterday released an interim preview of Longhorn Server, the last step before Beta 3, which the company has promised will be the first public look at its next-generation server software.
Dubbed April 2007 Community Technology Preview (CTP), the update is available only to currently enrolled technical testers from the Microsoft Connect site.
Among the features debuting in the newest CTP is PowerShell, the command-line shell and scripting language once dogged with the code-name Monad. PowerShell, which at one time was going to be included in Vista, was yanked from the operating system and instead delivered as a separate component on Jan. 30. Longhorn Server marks the first Microsoft operating system to have the command shell built in.
Other additions to the CTP include a larger set of remote server administration tools and a change to Windows Firewall so that it's now turned on by default.
"This marks the last CTP we will release before Beta 3, and it is a late snapshot of what will be a very major milestone for us," the Longhorn Server team blogged yesterday.
Although some analysts have wondered whether the unexpected April CTP meant Beta 3 was off-schedule, Microsoft said last week that the beta remains on track for a public debut before the end of June. The final software is to be unveiled in the second half of 2007. Users can register to be notified when Beta 3 goes public on the Microsoft site.
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