Microsoft launches new netbook-like Windows Server option
With a nod to the new economic realities pushing users towards lower-priced options, Microsoft took the wraps off its new low-end Windows Server release, known as Windows Server 2008 Foundation, on April 1.
As CEO Steve Ballmer indicated in February the new offering is Microsoft's equivalent of a netbook operating system -- but designed for servers instead of client machines. Foundation Server is a cheaper, somewhat scaled-back version of its existing Windows Server product meant for preloading by OEMs on their entry-level server systems. Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo already have expressed interest in the Windows Server Foundation release, according to Microsoft officials.
"The economics of the market are very different since a year ago," said Iain McDonald, Director of Product Management for Windows Server. "We have a great product in Windows Small Business Server, but it really is a full-featured server" that isn't well suited to run on the growing class of low-end servers out there that cost a few hundred dollars.
"If a server is $700, you can't have the OS be $300 worth of that," McDonald said.
Windows Server 2008 Foundation (which was codenamed "Lima") has a 15-user limit and is aimed at small-business users in both developed and developing markets. The product does not require Client Access Licenses (CALs) and therefore cannot be used to access other Windows Servers. (Likewise, Window Server CALs cannot be used to access Windows Server 2008 Foundation, Microsoft officials said.)
Unlike Microsoft's current Windows Server SKUs, Foundation Server doesn't come with a hypervisor. Active Directory is configured in the new offering so that it can be only the root of a forest, meaning it will allow users to join a domain but not act as a standalone domain server, Microsoft officials said. Let me try that again: Active Directory (AD) is configurable so that the server can support a standalone domain server or join a domain as a member server (but the 15-user limit still applies across the AD scenarios.)
There was very little external beta testing done on the Foundation Server product, as it is more of a new licensing/pricing option, as opposed to a brand new product, said McDonald.
The new offering is available immediately in 40 countries in English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish, with more localized versions coming throughout the year.
Some Windows power users had been hoping that Microsoft would make the Foundation Server SKU available to end users and not just OEMs, but Microsoft officials said that is not happening. One analyst said that limit may not be a bad thing, however.
"Overall, I believe Windows Foundation is well designed and thought out for the entry level needs of its target users, and the upgrade path to Windows Small Business Server seems pretty clear for companies that require more robust IT," said Charles King Principal Analyst with Pund-IT, Inc. "The OEM-only strategy may irk some folks but it should also help ensure that the product ends up with the clients for whom it's intended. I also expect that Microsoft's OEM partners' channel will love Windows Foundation."
It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft's new netbook-like Server SKU has the same effect on Microsoft's bottom line as has XP for netbooks. On the client side of the house, XP on netbooks has helped buoy sales but not revenues.
Do you think Microsoft's newest Windows Server release will win over new customers? Why or why not?