Windows calls on the enterprise

C|Net | at | by Mike

Microsoft on Thursday will launch the most ambitious version yet of its Windows server operating system, as the company looks to push aside Unix servers and mainframes in the enterprise. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will officially launch Windows Server 2003 at a press conference in San Francisco. The company's customers have had the software since early April, when a code key capable of unlocking potentially tens of thousands of copies of the software leaked out onto the Internet. Microsoft released final, or gold, code at the end of March.

Also on Thursday, Microsoft plans to launch Visual Studio .Net 2003, a new version of its development tools, and SQL Server 2003, an update of its database server software.