Microsoft.com Moves To Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta

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Microsoft.com moves to Windows Server 2008 R2 beta

Microsoft's homepage is now being powered by Windows Server 2008 R2 beta, a move that the company does with every Windows Server release to show the confidence it has in the product.

Many tend to forget that the same day the Windows 7 beta was released, the Windows Server 2008 R2 beta went public as well, and the same goes for the Windows 7 Ecosystem Readiness Program. The media is letting Windows 7 overshadow Server 2008 R2, but Microsoft isn't taking much notice. As with any Windows Server release, the software giant is eating its own dogfood: the company recently finished rolling out the operating system on its homepage, though it's not clear which build the company is running. Netcraft spotted the change:

Microsoft is now running Microsoft-IIS/7.5 on its main website www.microsoft.com. IIS 7.5 is part of Windows Server 2008 R2, which is currently in beta testing. The changeover appears to have started around the 8th January, when www.microsoft.com began responding sometimes with Microsoft-IIS/7.5, but with many requests still being served by 7.0. Now the transition appears to be complete, with all requests now being handled by version 7.5.

Just like with Windows 7, Microsoft is keeping mum about Windows Server 2008 R2's release date. However, if we look at when microsoft.com adopted Windows Server 2008 and when it was released (eight months later), it looks like Windows Server 2008 will be ready by the end of September. That is more or less in line with what we're expecting for Windows 7, which may mean the two will be released simultaneously. Don't hold your breath though; Vista and Server 2008 certainly weren't.

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