Print - Microsoft Moves Windows Server to the Centro

At the first-ever Microsoft Business Summit today in Redmond, Washington, the company will announce its long-term goals for the midsized-business market, a market for its business-oriented products that's second in size only to the small-business market. Building off the temporary Windows Server System product bundle for midsized businesses that the company announced 2 months ago, Microsoft will ship a new server suite, code-named Centro, that's designed for midsized businesses.

The Centro product bundle will ship in the Longhorn Server time frame (2007) and will be based on the Standard Edition of Longhorn Server, not Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2003 Release 2 (R2). Other products in the bundle will include the standard editions of Longhorn Server, Microsoft Exchange Server 12, the next version of ISA Server (as well as other security technologies), and several key technologies that the company is developing as part of the Microsoft System Center family of products (which will include software- and patch-deployment capabilities, among other features).

At a basic level, Centro will be based on the Windows Small Business Server (SBS) model. The product bundle will include an integrated installation routine that installs all the products at once and will include simple, integrated management tools. Unlike SBS, however, Centro will span several servers and will integrate more easily with other standalone Microsoft server products. Microsoft is also working on migration tools that will make it easy for businesses to upgrade their existing infrastructures to Centro, a capability that SBS doesn't offer.

Microsoft is still working out the details of the Centro product bundle, both internally and with its hardware partners, who will sell Centro hardware bundles. Customers who want to install just the Centro software on their own servers can do so, I was told.

What's with the name Centro, you ask? "The name Centro comes from all the small towns in Italy," Steven Van Roekel, director of Mid-Market Solutions in the Window Server Group, told me in a prebriefing last week. "Every one of these towns has signs with the word "Centro" on them, pointing to the center, or middle of the town, and everything revolves around it. I thought it was an appropriate name for a product that targets medium-sized businesses." The Centro name, incidentally, is temporary: Microsoft will announce final branding for this product at a later time.

"The Centro name, incidentally, is temporary: Microsoft will announce final branding for this product at a later time." Keeping in line with other creative names, might I suggest "Windows Server System for Medium Businesses 2007"? There. I just saved them a bundle on fancy Marketing Consultants.

I think the ads are screwed up. It kept going back the same ad and I couldn't get through. I had to click around until I made it here. Those ads are annoying!

yup; i think the adds are really screwed up; i had to click several times before i got through!

Y'know. I just can't get excited or even interested in Microsoft's Business products. Are organizations really going to continue deploying servers with a swiss cheese security layer? I uust read about suggestions for preventing session hijacking for ASP.NET apps. Seems even the latest and greatest framework from Redmond needs developer workarounds. Maybe I should stop learning .NET.

Windows--for playing videogames in your admin account while anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, and registry cleaner software runs in your system tray. Macs--for actually getting work done.

ITUNES 5, IPOD NANO, ITUNES-ENABLED CELL PHONE ANNOUNCED TODAY. Damn, that iPod nano is sweet. I wonder if Paul is going to report on Microsoft's pre-emptive press release trying desperately to tell everyone they had WMA phones out there on the market...and yet nobody noticed them. :)

Centro.. prounounced with a Ch and a rolled rrrrr ...and yes the ads are broken - get rid... Microsoft Internet Expolorer with Annoying Ad Removal 2006... now there's a thought

iPod nano=Creative DEAD Creative today became the next SCO, no good products just a company living on the hopes of making a quick buck by way of patent litigation.

"Windows--for playing videogames in your admin account while anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, and registry cleaner software runs in your system tray. Macs--for actually getting work done." What is wrong with you kid? It's like you genuinely believe that you personally are in competition with Windows users, and that any Apple triumph reflects on you individually. That is pretty tragic. I bet you've never kissed a girl.

I just wanted to note something here. The biggest news in Microsoft-land is moving Windows Server to Centro and suing the EU. Meanwhile, over in Apple-land, there is major news people are actually excited about and all the news sites are abuzz over--actual new products and software updates that are wildly popular. That freaking iPod nano is thinner than a pencil! The last "exciting" Microsoft news was Vista Beta 1, which is struggling to introduce features to Windows in late 2006 that Tiger had last March. I just wanted to note why people are so disillusioned and bored with Microsoft. Apple is where the exciting computing stuff is happening.

"Jobs told the crowd that the service now feature more than 15,000 podcasts in its directory, growing by 1,000 per week. More than 7 million podcast subscriptions have been made to date. "This phenomenon is just exploding," he said." So, are all those morons here who were saying podcasts are just a fad going to eat crow now? Once again, Apple innovates while bitter MIcrosofties are left in the dust, supporting a crappy company with a supremely crappy operating system.

"What is wrong with you kid? It's like you genuinely believe that you personally are in competition with Windows users, and that any Apple triumph reflects on you individually. That is pretty tragic." You want to know what I think is tragic? A single company actually altering history itself and holding back computing. Mac users are doing things Windows users have never done and won't another two years. Apple has done so much innovation since the original iMac--going all USB which caused manufacturers to fully support the format, thereby causing PC manufaturers to do the same. It's tragic the way people are scared of computers because of the incredible awfulness and backwards design of Windows when a modern system like OS X is so incredibly simple and intuitive for novices and power users at the same time. From the interface to the top-notch technology beneath it (from NeXTStep's object-oriented technology, which Microsoft still has yet to catch up to). Apple are artists and real people who care about making the absolute best of the best; Microsoft are balding businessmen in ties and sugar-addicted teen videogamers who care about pleasing the stockholders and "covering their markets."

lol, yeah, no kidding windows users NEVER have a reponse when you point out broken registries (a "registry" is a broken idea from an ancient computing past), running in an admin account, and the very poor GUI design. have fun clicking "Start" to shutdown

I use both Windows and Macs constantly, both at work and at home. The differences are pretty minor. Macs have more stuff in the box, but the Windows installed base means there's always some freeware alternative around. This lunacy about Microsoft changing the course of history is just surreal. Trying to blame mass-public technophobia on Windows? Get a grip. And a life. And even if this was the case, do you honestly think you'd be helping the situation by turning up here, going "US military use Macs, LOL. Longhorn is a trainwreck. Yadayada. Someone love me please. etc." The actual truth is you have absolutely no life whatsoever. You live for an Operating System, you pathetic strange person. Please just go away.

"I bet you've never kissed a girl. " I'd be suprised if he has ever even seen a girl - except as a digital image on his crappy Mac.

"I'd be suprised if he has ever even seen a girl - except as a digital image on his crappy Mac." Mac users hang out with Women. We leave the "girls" to the Windows crowd.

Mac users hang out with Women. We leave the "girls" to the Windows crowd. Well, looks like Apple has the transvestite section of market covered.

Mac users hang out with Women. We leave the "girls" to the Windows crowd. Some Mac users ARE Women. Bet they don't post here though.

Is there a Macitpro.com site we could destroy with pointless OS bashing? Seems we should take the fight to these tossers.