Today, Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates delivered the opening keynote address, "The Magic of Software," at Microsoft IT Forum 04, the company's premier European conference for information technology (IT) professionals. In his presentation, Gates announced the immediate availability of the latest Windows Server System (TM) technologies, including management products, tools, resources and feature packs that address systems management complexity. These and other advancements facilitate the company's long-term vision for increased operational efficiency through common engineering across Windows Server System and the Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI). With DSI, Microsoft is focused on delivering improved technologies to simplify and automate tasks associated with creating and maintaining existing infrastructure.

"The distributed nature of computing makes it challenging for customers to manage the cost and complexity of their technology investments," Gates said. "We are committed to a unique approach that builds operational knowledge into the applications themselves, enabling customers to reduce complexity now and in the future."

Also today, Gates announced the immediate availability of the Windows Server System Common Engineering Report. This next step on the Windows Server System Common Engineering Roadmap extends the planning horizon for IT professionals by providing unprecedented transparency and detail about the integration across Windows Server System products. The first two products to publish the details of their Common Engineering Criteria implementation are Microsoft® Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 and Microsoft Virtual Server 2005. This report, along with an updated set of white papers, is available online at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/cer/default.mspx.