Microsoft Preps New 64-Bit Windows Products
WinInfo | at | by Mike
An update to Microsoft's 64-bit Windows Server product, Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition (LE) version 1.2, will ship later this month, the company said this week. Windows LE is essentially a preview version of Windows .NET Advanced Server 64-bit Edition, which will ship late this year alongside other members of the Windows .NET Server family. This new version has been optimized for Intel's Itanium 2 processor, which began shipping Monday.
Microsoft will support the Itanium 2 with other products as well. In addition to Windows .NET Advanced Server 64-bit Edition, the company will ship a new 64-bit Edition of Windows Datacenter Server late this year and a new version of XP, dubbed Windows XP 64-bit Edition version 2003, in early 2003. Microsoft is also working on a 64-bit version of SQL Server 2003, which is currently shipping in beta form to select customers. "SQL Server 2003 is the anchor, next to Windows .NET Server, of our server products," Barry Goffe, Microsoft Group Manager of Enterprise Marketing Strategy, told me recently.