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By George Norman - Software News Editor

Added on 23 Jul 2009(516 Views)

Microsoft has just announced that the Windows 7 operating system has reached the RTM milestone in its development process (Windows 7 Build 7600 is the RTM). Alongside Windows 7, another Microsoft developed operating system RTM’d as well: Windows Server 2008 R2. Makes sense, since the development process of the two OSs has been closely linked together.

Now that Windows Server 2008 R2 is officially RTM, here is when you can get your hands on the operating system. Keep in mind that these dates are linked to who you are – not everyone will be able to get Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM, just like not everyone will be able to get Windows 7 RTM.


Windows 7 RTM will be made available on these dates (with some final bits included):

July 29th - to OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers); only the English version will be made available.

August 11th – to OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers); the remaining languages will be made available.

August 14th - to ISV (Independent software vendor) and IHV (Independent hardware vendor) partners via MSDN. Language availability: English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish.

August 14th – to TechNet subscribers in English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish.

August 14th – to developers with MSDN subscriptions in English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish.

August 19th - to Microsoft Partner Program Gold/Certified Members via the Microsoft Partner Program (MPP) Portal.

August 19th – to Volume License (VL) customers with an existing Software Assurance (SA) license.

August 20th – the 180 days evaluation version of Windows Server 2008 R2 will be made available for download here.

August 21st– st to ISV (Independent software vendor) and IHV (Independent hardware vendor) partners via MSDN. On this date additional language support will be rolled out, on top of the support provided on the August 14th release.

August 21st – to TechNet subscribers, with support for the remaining languages.

August 21st – to developers with MSDN subscriptions, with support for the remaining languages.

August 23rd – to Microsoft Action Pack Subscribers.

September 1st – to Volume License customers without a SA license. These customers will have to purchase Windows Server 2008 R2 through Volume Licensing.

September 14th - Windows Server 2008 R2 will hit the retail channel.

Windows Server 2008 R2 highlights for admins:
- Hyper-V and Live Migration
- File Classification Infrastructure (FCI)
- Active Directory and Pervasive PowerShell
- IIS 7.5
- Server Scalability

Windows Server 2008 R2 highlights for regular users:
- DirectAccess, which provides always-on access to corporate networks.
- BranchCache, which lets the user cache corpnet data locally.
- Remote Desktop Services, the evolution of Windows Server 2008's Terminal Services.

Besides making admins and users happy, one of the main goals the development team tried to reach with Windows Server 2008 R2 is cutting costs. “Power efficiency and power management were priorities for R2. The power efficiency improvements help you save power automatically - without additional steps or configuration. An improved processor power management engine, storage power management improvements, tick skipping, core parking, and timer coalescing all contribute to improved power efficiency. While licensing topics are a bit arcane, those of you already running Windows Server 2008 should know that you don't need new Client Access Licenses (CALs) when updating to Windows Server 2008 R2, which helps make for a cost-effective upgrade,” explains Technical Product Manager, Windows Server Marketing, Oliver Rist.





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Tags: Microsoft, Windows Server 2008 R2, RTM, Release to Manufacturing

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