Published: March 1, 2006
Introducing the Technology Upgrade Program
As announced on December 6, 2005, Microsoft is pleased to offer the Technology Upgrade Program. The program provides eligible customers with a copy of the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Upgrade Media Kit if they purchase Windows Small Business Server 2003 with SP1 (Standard or Premium Edition) preinstalled on a new server from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or System Builder during the eligibility period (see dates below). This page provides further details about this program.
How do I qualify for this program?
To be eligible, customers must purchase Windows Small Business Server 2003 with SP1 (Standard or Premium Edition) preinstalled on a new server from an OEM or System Builder partner during the eligibility period. Purchases of SBS 2003 through a software retailer (full packaged product), an applications vendor, or a Volume Licensing agreement are not eligible.
The Program eligibility dates are as follows:
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English Language versions
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March 1, 2006 through August 31, 2006 |
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Non-English Language versions
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March 1, 2006 through September 30, 2006 |
How do I get my Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Upgrade Media Kit?
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Retain Proof-of-Purchase Information and Locate Certificate of Authenticity: Upon purchasing on or after March 1, 2006, please retain all relevant documents for the proof-of-purchase, including but not limited to your invoice. Please also locate your Certificate of Authenticity of the product that should be adhered to your server chassis. You will need this information when requesting the Upgrade Media Kit. For information on locating your Certificate of Authenticity, see http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/en/default.mspx. |
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Visit the following site to place your order for the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Upgrade Media Kit. Please note that while there is no charge for the Media Kit itself, a nominal fee for shipping and media fulfillment operations will apply. In addition, the order process and fulfillment of the Media Kit will be managed by one of our partners. https://upgradeweb.moduslink.com |
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Eligible customers must order the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Upgrade Media Kit by the following dates:
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English Language versions
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October 15, 2006 |
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Non-English Language versions
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November 15, 2006 |
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What is in the Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Upgrade Media Kit?
You will receive the following in the Media Kit (subject to change):
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R2 Technologies CD |
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Premium Technologies CD (2 CDs) – Premium Edition only |
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A "Getting Started" poster |
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Certificate of Authenticity for the Upgrade, which you will need to adhere to the server chassis |
How do I install Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 once I receive my Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Upgrade Media Kit?
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Ensure you are running Windows Small Business Server 2003 with Service Pack 1. If you do not have Service Pack 1, please visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/downloads/sp1/default.mspx |
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Check your minimum system requirements for Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2. |
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Follow the instructions on the Getting Started poster included with your Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Upgrade Media Kit. |
We recommend contacting your hardware manufacturer, Microsoft Small Business Specialist partner or Microsoft Certified Partner if you need help. To find a partner near you, please visit: http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/partner/vendorsearch.mspx
NOTE: Your partner or hardware manufacturer may charge for upgrade and related services. Please check with the partner of choice for applicable service charges for support and installation.
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Upgrade Media Kits will be available in the following languages.
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English |
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German |
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Japanese |
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French |
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Spanish |
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Chinese Simplified |
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Chinese Traditional |
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Italian |
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Portuguese | |
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Korean |
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Dutch |
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Swedish |
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Brazilian |
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Polish |
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Hungarian |
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Czech |
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Russian |
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Turkish | |
Latest release of Antigen products provide e-mail users with increased protection from viruses, spam and other security threats.
REDMOND, Wash. — June 6, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the release of Microsoft® Antigen e-mail security products — including Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for SMTP Gateways, Antigen Spam Manager and Antigen Enterprise Manager — available to customers July 1, 2006. This milestone marks the first Microsoft-branded release of the enterprise anti-virus and anti-spam products acquired in the 2005 acquisition of Sybari Software Inc.
Microsoft Antigen e-mail security products use multiple scan engines to help provide comprehensive protection from viruses, spam and other security threats. In addition to scan engines from industry-leading security companies AhnLab Inc., Authentium Inc., CA Inc., Kaspersky Lab, MailFilters.com Inc., Norman Data Defense Systems Inc., Sophos Plc and VirusBuster Ltd., all Microsoft Antigen e-mail security products now include the new Microsoft anti-virus engine.
“Customers are faced with the challenge of providing the best possible protection for their e-mail users and maintaining the availability, uptime and performance of this mission-critical application,” said Ted Kummert, corporate vice president of the Security, Access and Solutions Division at Microsoft. “Antigen’s unique multiengine solution integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange Server to provide customers with the benefits of layered protection, while minimizing cost, complexity and impact on performance.”
These new products have completed the Security Development Lifecycle process. Other new feature additions include enhanced signature updates and quarantine management for improved security and log file management, and cluster support for easier administration.
“Server-based security for e-mail and collaborative applications is an important component of a multilayer security model and critical for protecting internal resources and providing threat containment,” said Brian Burke, research analyst at IDC. “Antigen’s proven strength in providing layered, anti-malware protection for e-mail servers addresses the most important customer concern around e-mail security: preserving uptime and availability of Exchange servers. By managing multiple engines, Antigen eliminates daily downtime during updates and provides customers with the opportunity to lower overall risk.”
Microsoft Antigen e-mail security products have already proven to be highly effective in helping customers such as global technology consultants Perot Systems achieve outstanding results in trial implementations. Perot processes nearly 15.5 million e-mail messages per month across its entire production environment, as much as 77 percent of which is spam or malicious in nature. Using Microsoft Antigen, Perot has been able to capture and eliminate nearly all of that unwanted e-mail traffic. Perot has also deployed Antigen in customer environments worldwide, and has benefited from Antigen’s support for multiple scan engines, ease of deployment, rapid signature updates, and centralized, efficient management, significantly upgrading the company’s ability to regulate network traffic for itself and its customers.
“With Antigen, we have a solution that delivers signatures from industry-leading anti-virus labs around the world with a single product that offers complete virus signature coverage,” said Don Westurn, senior Microsoft Exchange engineer at Perot Systems. “We’ve deployed Antigen on many servers in different kinds of environments, and it continues to impress us. In every instance, we’ve had great results; Antigen has been robust, reliable and easy to deploy.”
The following products were announced today:
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Antigen for Exchange provides anti-virus and content filtering for Exchange Server 2003 and 2000, stopping threats that get past perimeter defenses while simultaneously containing internal incidents. |
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Antigen for SMTP Gateways provides anti-virus and content filtering for Windows Server™ 2003 and Windows Server 2000 Server SMTP Gateways, stopping threats before they reach internal messaging resources and users. |
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Antigen Spam Manager provides anti-spam and content filtering for Windows®-based SMTP and Exchange servers, stopping spam before it can affect user and network productivity. |
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Antigen Enterprise Manager provides centralized management for Antigen-protected servers, improving IT administrators’ visibility into and control of e-mail server security. |
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Antigen Messaging Security Suite provides comprehensive anti-virus, anti-spam and content filtering for Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 Server e-mail servers and SMTP gateways (includes Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for SMTP Gateways and Antigen Spam Manager). |
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Antigen Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager 2005. Provides critical events and alerts on virus, worm and spam activity to Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 from Antigen for Exchange Server 2003, Antigen for SMTP Gateways, and Antigen Spam Manager, and monitors the health and availability of these products. |
Availability
A free three-month trial license for Antigen e-mail security products is available online. All Antigen products will be available through Microsoft Volume Licensing and the Microsoft industry partner channel on July 1, 2006. This includes Antigen for SharePoint® and Antigen for Instant Messaging, which will remain Sybari-branded products until the next versions, which are targeted for release in the first half of 2007. More information can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/antigen.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Microsoft, Windows Server, Windows and SharePoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.
Are you ready for Windows Server 2003 R2’s blockbuster new management features? This intensive, one-day workshop will provide you with everything you need to get up to speed! Windows Server 2003 R2, an update release of the Windows Server 2003 operating system, makes it easier and more cost effective to extend connectivity and control to identities, locations, data, and applications throughout and beyond your organization.
Built on Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Server 2003 R2 takes advantage of the stability and security of a proven code base while extending connectivity and control into new areas. With Windows Server 2003 R2, you get:
- Improved branch office server management. The improved replication functionality saves bandwidth and removes the need for backup in branches.
- Improved identity and access management across security boundaries. Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) provides improved total cost of ownership (TCO) and better security when collaborating with partners or deploying internet-facing web applications.
- Efficient storage setup and management. IT generalists can appreciate the simplified storage area network (SAN).
View other available dates and locations
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June 7, 2006
Windows Is Still More Reliable than Linux On The Server
By Andy Patrizio
Windows Server and Linux are growing up fast, but they still aren't a match for the solid, stable Unix systems on the high-end of the server scale.
That's the conclusion of a report from The Yankee Group, which released it 2006 Global Server Reliability Survey on Wednesday. The report compared a number of server operating systems in areas of reliability, down time and recovery.
It found that Windows Server 2003 showed the highest reliability gains, surpassed only by mature Unix-based server operating systems like HP-UX from Hewlett-Packard (Quote, Chart)and Sun Solaris 10 from Sun Microsystems (Quote, Chart).
Windows Server 2003 had nearly 20 percent more annual uptime in similar deployment scenarios over Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
The Yankee Group found that corporate Linux, Windows and Unix servers experience on average three to five failures per server per year, resulting in 10.0 to 19.5 hours of annual downtime for each server. The down time for Linux systems was longer not due to a software failure, but because Linux often isn't as well-known or that well documented.
"One of the reasons for extended down time often had nothing to do with performance and reliability of the OS," said Laura DiDio, research fellow for application infrastructure and software platforms at The Yankee Group.
"The one random element I can't emphasize enough is I think some of the disparity we see between Red Hat Linux down time and Windows and Unix comes not so much from any inherent flaws in the Linux core kernel, but the unfamiliarity of some of the network administrators with Linux."
When a Linux system fails, it can sometime send a Linux administrator, who likely has less years of experience than a Sun or IBM Unix veteran, scouring the Internet for documentation or a fix.
Overall, DiDio said, all of the server operating system environments have shown markedly improved reliability in recent years, both in hardware and software. The improvements in hardware from Dell, HP and other vendors has given the operating systems a better base on which to run.
This in turn helps the software, which has also improved. With each new release of the Windows server since Windows 2000 was released in 1999, Microsoft has showed a 20 to 30 percent improvement in reliability, said DiDio.
The poorest performing operating system was Debian GNU/Linux, while SUSE Linux from Novell had the best performance, even topping some of the big Unixes. But it's used so little as to be statistically irrelevant, said DiDio.
Another reason Linux may prove shakier is that many shops, more than 50 percent in this survey, were making some level of customization to their Linux environment. Making changes to the kernel and underlying system increases the chances for breakage somewhere in the system.
But don't unplug the mainframe just yet. In terms of power, performance and reliability, DiDio said the only thing that could come close to mainframe performance is the high-end Unix systems from Hewlett-Packard, Sun and IBM. "And even that is debatable."
I am really excited to tell you guys about an upcoming web seminar on June 14th at 9am Pacific. I will be interviewing Mor Hezi from our Business Intelligence team. We are going to be talking about Excel 2007 and it's integration capabilities with SQL Analysis Services and SharePoint Server. There is huge opportunity with the new Excel toolset to bring BI to the masses. Come join us and find out how you can capitilize on this opportunity.
Here is a link to sign-up: http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004134
Learn how to build Windows Mobile 5.0 applications today with the Windows Mobile 5.0 Virtual Labs. These virtual labs provide a guided, hands-on learning experience that you can start immediately with no software setup or computer configuration required.
Windows Mobile 5.0 and the Messaging & Security Feature Pack enhance mobile messaging and device management for the enterprise. This deployment guide is designed primarily for Information Technology (IT) professionals who are responsible for planning and deploying mobile messaging systems that use Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Mobile powered devices that have the Messaging and Security Feature Pack.