Server 2008 launch to coincide with Windows 7?

A senior executive at [a href="http://www.microsoft.com" target="_blank"

rel="nofollow"]Microsoft[/a] has hinted that the release of the Windows Server 2008 R2 will coincide with the Windows 7 launch.

Bill Laing, vice president of the Windows Server division, confirmed that a Release Candidate of Server 2008 R2 was "not far away" in an interview with CNet.com. As the Windows 7 Release Candidate is generally expected to be made available soon, it stands to reason they could be released alongside each other.

"It's not far away, but we don't have a final date yet," Laing said.

Microsoft UK revealed last week that the company was planning to make announcements around the Windows 7 launch and it is widely believed that the Server 2008 launch will be included in this.

Microsoft has said Windows 7 will be launched by January 2010 at the latest, and that its new business tools, such as Branch Cache and Direct Access, will need Server 2008 R2 to run.

Click here to read our review of the Windows 7 beta.

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.