Yesterday’s Windows double-shot

Yesterday, both Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 were released to manufacturing. Customers are set to receive the new bits in March.

Both are long-awaited updates.

Windows Server 2008 (aka “Longhorn Server”) is a significant revamping of Microsoft’s server platform line. The deeply embedded virtualization capabilities, if nothing else, warrant a lot of attention. There are also many improvements to Internet Information Services; IIS 7.0 should be a lot fast and more stable, as well as easier to develop for.

Windows Vista SP1… well, it’s hard to be enthusiastic. It’s been a full year since Windows Vista shipped, and the platform has totally failed to gain traction. It’s hard to find anyone, outside of Microsoft and its closest partners, who are enthusiastic about Vista. Sales of Windows XP remain brisk, and there are even petitions asking Microsoft to maintain XP as a parallel product line to Vista. SP1 promises to fix many of Vista’s most painful shortcomings. It’s about time.