Windows Server 2008’s Best New Features

Just as there were plenty of changes in Windows Vista, there are also signficant changes in Windows Server 2008 (formerly codenamed Longhorn). And there seems to be plenty of anticipation over the new product. According to Microsoft, the new Beta 3 version of the software was downloaded more than 100,000 times in its first three weeks of availability. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

During his WinHEC 2007 keynote address in mid-May, Microsoft’s own Bill Gates demonstrated first-hand how Windows Server 2008 administrators can spend less time on day-to-day tasks and more time adding value to their businesses with Windows Server 2008 Security and Policy-Enforcement features that work together to provide advanced access, control and protection at the network, application and data layers. I’m sure that got the attention of a fair share of server admins.

Gates seems utterly convinced that Windows Server 2008 is a key component to the next wave of hardware innovation, which includes support for virtualization, multicore processors and 64-bit applications. Windows Server 2008 offers enhanced features such as the Server Core installation option, Server Manager, Internet Information Services (IIS 7.0) and inclusion of Windows PowerShell

If you check out the product specs, you can see how Windows Server 2008 aims to help alleviate pressures on IT pros by adding enhancements to further automation of daily management tasks and tighter security. Windows Server 2008 aims to provide a more extensible platform for hosting and Web applications, improve efficiency, and increase network availability.

When Microsoft releases Windows Server 2008 to manufacturing later this year, it will include the first widely distributed beta of the new hypervisor-based virtualization technology.

As you can see, there are plenty of new features. But which ones are the most critical? Is it the self-healing NTFS file system? the Parallel session creation? the clean service shutdown?