Earlier last week Microsoft announced the RTM of Windows Server 2008 would be delayed, without giving much reasoning behind the announcement. Redmond Developer News has some specualative information based around the release of Vista SP1, which would make sense.
Microsoft published almost no details earlier this week with its announcement that Windows Server 2008’s release to manufacturing (RTM) date had slipped from late this year into early next. Only vague explanations of needing to meet high quality standards were given, leaving most in the dark. Does the delay mean that Windows 2008 development has hit some kind of snag, and could more delays be coming?
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Enderle, though, believes the timing of the delay is directly tied to another announcement Microsoft made on the same day: that Windows Vista SP1 was expected to RTM early next year.
Vista and Windows 2008 share the same codebase, and it’s important that one version of the code not get too far ahead of another version. With the many changes coming in Vista SP1, Microsoft didn’t want Vista’s code to be too far ahead of Windows 2008’s. “From the standpoint of servers, Microsoft would rather have [Windows 2008] at [Vista] SP1 level when it ships,” Enderle said.
Gillen agreed that the need to keep the code at roughly the same level could be a factor. “They can’t afford to let the two code bases get too far apart.”
Whatever the reason, the continued delays for Windows 2008 — formerly known as Longhorn Server — certainly take a toll on Microsoft’s reputation, which already suffers from a perception that it can’t make publicly-stated deadlines.
And if, for some reason, the RTM date were to slip again, it could be an ominous sign. Enderle does not anticipate another delay because, he said, Windows 2008 is now “Gated on [Vista] SP1’s” release, and there is finally an established timeline, if not yet a very specific one, for the service pack.
Said Gillen, “I really would not expect them to delay it again. If they did, it wouldn’t bode well in terms of how they would deliver this product.”
Redmond Developer News | News: What’s Behind the Windows Server 2008 Delay?
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