5 March 2002 Microsoft will push back the release of a series of new .Net server branded enterprise operating systems until the second half of 2002, following security concerns raised under the company’s new ‘Trustworthy Computing’ initiative.
This is the second time that the release of the .Net server family has been delayed. The products, which will run applications built in Microsoft’s new .Net framework and are based on Web Services and XML technologies, were originally slated for a December 2001 release. However this was changed to the first half of 2002 in November 2002, when the beta version of the servers was released.
When the range of servers is finally released, it will include an entry-level file and print server called the Windows .Net Standard server; an enterprise infrastructure server called the Windows .Net Enterprise server, and the Windows .Net Datacenter server for enterprises requiring the highest level of scalability and reliability. A fourth, pre-configured, “out-of-the-box” Windows .Net Web server will also be included in the line-up.
Microsoft had already released Visual Studio .Net, a tool enabling developers to build applications for the .Net framework, in February 2002. However, the delay of the servers that support this framework will probably not affect the Microsoft’s marketing plans too greatly.
This is because the .Net framework remains so undefined. Indeed, sources close to the company say that not even Microsoft knows how it will work and do not expect .Net applications to take off for another year.
According to a statement released by Microsoft, the delay is due to the “increased focus on the core tenants of trustworthy computing (security, privacy and availability) as a part of Microsoft’s everyday culture and its core product development cycle.”
“As a result, there will continue to be modifications and additions to engineering processes and procedures that may lengthen the delivery schedule in the short term, but will yield higher quality and customer approval in the long term,” says Microsoft.
