Microsoft Corp. today announced at the company's .NET Briefing Day that its upcoming Windows� .NET Server operating system has reached the RC1 milestone. Release candidate 1 (RC1) is an important step leading up to the product's final delivery, signifying that engineering, development and beta testing have been completed and that the server code is entering the final phases of testing and completion work prior to its release to manufacturing. Microsoft� Windows .NET Server RC1 code will be available for third-party testers to download beginning tomorrow and will be available for customers to begin previewing next week. "This product is rock-solid," said Jim Allchin, group vice president of the Platforms Group at Microsoft. "We're delivering the features and improvements that our IT and developer audiences have told us they want most: improved security, greater reliability and better performance. Windows .NET Server is far easier to deploy, manage and operate, and it includes a comprehensive set of Web application services that make it easy to build powerful, connected solutions quickly. This is the most customer-driven release of Windows Server ever."

Windows .NET Server comprises core server infrastructure technologies that build on the reliability, availability and scalability strengths of Windows 2000 Server and that deliver a superior, cost-effective server operating system. Microsoft .NET is deeply integrated into the Windows .NET Server family, which includes native support for the .NET Framework for developing and deploying connected applications, networks and Web services. The new server operating system provides an impressive level of software integration and will be a highly dependable, cost-effective and productive platform available for business requirements from the workgroup to the datacenter.

Windows .NET Server addresses the requirements of three distinct user audiences: