Microsoft windows Server code name "Longhorn" is the next generation of the windows Server operating system that helps information technology (IT) professionals maximize control over their infrastructure while providing unprecedented availability and management capabilities, leading to a significantly more secure, reliable, and robust server environment than ever before. windows Server "Longhorn" delivers new value to organizations by ensuring all users regardless of location are able to get the full complement of services from the network. windows Server "Longhorn" also provides deep insight into the operating system and diagnostic capabilities to allow administrators to spend more time adding business value.

windows Server "Longhorn" builds on the success and strengths of the award-winning windows Server 2003 operating system and on the innovations delivered in Service Pack 1 and windows Server 2003 R2. However, windows Server "Longhorn" is far more than a refinement of predecessor operating systems. windows Server "Longhorn" is designed to provide organizations with the most productive platform for powering applications, networks, and Web services from the workgroup to the datacenter with exciting, valuable new functionality and powerful improvements to the base operating system.

In addition to new functionality, windows Server "Longhorn" provides powerful improvements to the base operating system over windows Server 2003. Notable improvements include those to networking, advanced security features, remote application access, centralized server role management, performance and reliability monitoring tools, failover clustering, deployment, and the file system. These improvements and many others help organizations maximize the flexibility, availability, and control of their servers.

windows Vista and windows Server "Longhorn" originally began as part of a single development project, and as such they share a number of new technologies across networking, storage, security and management. Although the development of windows Vista and windows Server "Longhorn" have branched into separate releases with different release cycles, many of these enhancements apply to both windows Vista and windows Server "Longhorn." When organizations deploy both operating systems, they will see how the combined client-server infrastructure provides even greater advantages.

Benefits of windows Server "Longhorn"
More Control
windows Server "Longhorn" allows you to get more control over your server and network infrastructure, allowing you to focus on your most critical business needs by providing:
· Simplified management of your IT infrastructure by using new tools that provide a one-stop interface for server configuration and monitoring, as well as the ability to automate routine tasks.
· Streamlined installation and management of windows Server "Longhorn" by installing only the roles and features you need. The customization of the server configuration simplifies ongoing maintenance by minimizing the attack surface area and reducing the need for software updates.
· Effectively pinpointing and resolving trouble spots with powerful diagnostic tools that give you ongoing visibility into your server environment, both physical and virtual.
· Increased control over servers located in remote locations, such as the branch office. With optimized server administration and data replication, you can provide users with better service while reducing management headaches.
· Simplified Web server management with Internet Information Services 7.0, which is a powerful Web platform for applications and services. This modular platform provides a simplified, task-based management interface, greater cross-site control, security enhancements, and integrated health management for Web services.
· Increased control over your user settings with Expanded Group Policy

Greater Flexibility
windows Server "Longhorn" provides you with the flexibility to create an agile and dynamic datacenter to meet your changing business needs by providing:
· Built-in virtualization to virtualize multiple operating systems—Windows, Linux and others—on a single server. With virtualization built into the operating system and with simpler, more flexible licensing policies, its now easier than ever to take advantage of all the benefits and cost savings of virtualization.
· Centralized application access and seamless integration of remotely published applications. Improvements also add the ability to connect to remote applications across firewalls and without the use of a VPN, so you can quickly respond to the needs of your users, regardless of their location.
· New deployments options to provide the most suitable method for your environment.
· Flexible and comprehensive applications that connect users to each other and their data, enabling them to visualize, share, and act on information.
· Interoperability with your existing environment.
· Robust and vibrant technical community to provide a rich experience throughout the product life cycle

Increased Protection
windows Server "Longhorn" hardens the operating system and protects your environment to provide a solid foundation on which you can run and build your business. windows Server protects against failure and intrusion for servers, networks, data, and user accounts by providing:
· Protection of your server with security innovations that reduce attack surface area of the kernel, resulting in a more robust and secure server environment.
· Protection of your network access with Network Access Protection that gives you the power to isolate computers that dont comply with security policies you set. The ability to enforce security requirements is a powerful means of protecting your network.
· Enhanced solutions for intelligent rules and policies creation to increase control and protection over networking functions, allowing you to have a policy-driven network.
· Protection of your data to ensure it can only be accessed by users with the correct security context, and to make it available when hardware failures occur.
· Protection against malicious software with User Account Control with a new authentication architecture.
· Increased dependability with advanced reliability enhancements to reduce loss of access, work, time, data, and control


Windows Server "Longhorn" Technologies
More Control
Maintaining control of the servers on a network—and, more importantly, access to the servers on a network—is a fundamental priority for network administrators. To this end, windows Server "Longhorn" contains two new areas of functionality to help administrators extend and maximize their control over access to network servers: Network Access Protection and Internet Information Services 7.0.

Server Manager: A new feature that is included in windows Server "Longhorn." It is a "one-stop-shop" designed to guide Information Technology administrators through the end-to-end process of installing, configuring, and managing server roles and features that are part of windows Server "Longhorn." Server Manager replaces and consolidates a number of features from Microsoft windows Server 2003 such as Manage Your Server, Configure Your Server, and Add or Remove windows Components. You can use Server Manager to configure various "roles" and "features" on your machine.

Windows PowerShell: A new command-line shell with over 130 tools and an integrated scripting language. It enables administrator to more easily control and securely automate routine system administration tasks, especially across multiple servers. windows PowerShell does not require you to migrate your existing scripts, and it is ideally suited for automation of new windows Server "Longhorn" features. A new admin-focused scripting language, and consistent syntax and utilities, windows PowerShell accelerates automation of system administration tasks—such as Active Directory, Terminal Server, and Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0—and improves your organizations ability to address the unique system management problems of your environment.

windows PowerShell is easy to adopt, learn, and use, because it does not require a background in programming, and it works with your existing IT infrastructure, existing scripts, and existing command-line tools.

Internet Information Services 7.0: windows Server "Longhorn" delivers a unified platform for Web publishing that integrates Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0, ASP.NET, windows Communication Foundation, windows Workflow Foundation, and windows SharePoint Services 3.0. IIS 7.0 is a major enhancement to the existing windows Web server and plays a central role in integrating Web platform technologies. IIS 7.0 helps developers and administrators alike maximize their control over network/Internet interfaces through key functionality pillars that include delegated administration, enhanced security and a reduced attack surface area, integrated application and health management for Web services, and improved administration tools.

Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC): A new type of domain controller configuration in the windows Server "Longhorn" operating system that makes it possible for organizations to easily deploy a domain controller in locations where the physical security of a domain controller cannot be guaranteed. An RODC hosts a read-only replica of the Active Directory directory services database for a given domain. Prior to this release, users who had to authenticate with a domain controller, but were in a branch office that could not provide adequate physical security for a domain controller, had to authenticate over a wide area network (WAN). In many cases, this was not an efficient solution. By placing a read-only Active Directory database replica closer to branch users, these users can benefit from faster logon times and more efficient access to authentication resources on the network, even in environments with inadequate physical security to deploy a traditional domain controller.


Greater Flexibility
As business needs change, so do the demands that organizations place on their servers. At the same time, advances in the capabilities of server technology change the ways in which organizations and end users utilize them. windows Server "Longhorn" is designed so that you can modify your infrastructure to adapt to the changing needs of the business and still remain agile. For organizations that need domain controllers in physically less secure locations or strictly for use with line-of-business applications, windows Server "Longhorn" offers a new configuration option: the Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC). For organizations that have remote users, windows Server "Longhorn" adds exciting improvements and innovations to Terminal Services that facilitate seamless integration of remote and local applications on client computers, access to these same remote programs via Web browser, and a means to access remote terminals and applications across firewalls. For organizations that need to roll out several servers and PCs at the same time, windows Deployment Services helps to quickly and easily deploy new computers to the network using image-based deployments.

Server Core: Beginning with the Beta 2 release of windows Server "Longhorn," administrators can choose to install windows Server with only the services required to perform the DHCP, DNS, file server, or domain controller roles. This new installation option will not install non-essential services and applications and will provide base server functionality without any extra overhead. While the Server Core installation option is a fully functioning mode of the operating system supporting one of the designate roles, it does not include the server graphic user interface (GUI). Because Server Core installations include only what is required for the designated roles, a Server Core installation will typically require less maintenance and fewer updates as there are fewer components to manage. In other words, since there are fewer programs and components installed and running on the server, there are fewer attack vectors exposed to the network, resulting in a reduced attack surface. If a security flaw or vulnerability is discovered in a component that is not installed, a patch is not required.

Terminal Services: windows Server "Longhorn" introduces new functionality in Terminal Services to connect to remote computers and applications. Terminal Services Remote Programs completely integrates applications running on a remote terminal with users desktops such that they behave as if they were running on an individual users local computer; users can run programs from a remote location side-by-side with their local programs. Terminal Services Web Access permits this same flexibility of remote application access via Web browser, granting an even wider variety of ways user can access and use programs running on remote terminals. And Terminal Services Gateway allows user to access remote terminals and remote terminal programs in a firewall-friendly manner.

Windows Deployment Services (WDS): An updated and redesigned windows Server "Longhorn" version of Remote Installation Services (RIS), WDS assists with the rapid adoption and deployment of image-based windows operating systems. WDS allows network-based installation of windows Vista and windows Server "Longhorn" to "bare metal" computers (no operating system installed), and even supports mixed environments including Microsoft windows xp and Microsoft windows Server 2003. windows Deployment Services thus provides an end-to-end solution for deployment of windows operating systems to client and server computers and reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO) and complexity of windows Server "Longhorn" and windows Vista deployments.


Increased Protection
Network Access Protection (NAP): A new framework that allows an IT administrator to define health requirements for the network and to restrict computers that do not meet these requirements from communicating with the network. NAP enforces administrator-defined policies that describe the health requirements for the given organization. For example, health requirements may be defined to include all updates to the operating system be installed, or having antivirus or antispyware software installed and updated. In this way, network administrators can define the baseline level of protection all computers carry when connecting to the network.

Microsoft BitLocker provides additional security for your data through full volume encryption on multiple drives, even when the system is in unauthorized hands or running a different operating system time, data, and control.

Failover Clustering: Improvements are aimed to makes it easier to configure server clusters while providing protection and availability of your data and applications. By using the new Validate Tool in failover clusters, you can perform tests to determine whether your system, storage, and network configuration is suitable for a cluster. With failover clusters in windows Server "Longhorn," administrators can carry out setup and migration tasks, as well as management and operations tasks more easily. Improvements to the cluster infrastructure help administrators maximize availability of the services they provide to users, achieve better storage and network performance and improve security.


Product Editions
Windows Server "Longhorn" Standard Edition
This edition of windows Server "Longhorn" provides key server functionality across most server roles and features. It includes both full and Server Core installation options.

Windows Server "Longhorn" Enterprise Edition
This edition builds on windows Server "Longhorn" Standard Edition to provide greater scalability and availability, and adds enterprise technologies such as Failover Clustering and Active Directory Federation Services.

Windows Server "Longhorn" Datacenter Edition
This edition offers the same functionality as windows Server "Longhorn" Enterprise Edition with support for additional memory and processors, and unlimited virtual image use rights.

Windows Web Server "Longhorn"
This edition is designed specifically for use as a web and applications server. Other server roles and the Server Core installation option are not available in this edition.

Windows Server "Longhorn" for Itanium-based Systems
This edition is designed for use with Intel Itanium 64-bit processors to provide web and applications server functionality on that platform. Other server roles and features may not be available

This product requires a valid product key for activation – you may install the product without activation, but if you do not enter a valid product key and activate within 30 days of installation, the software will cease to function. During installation you will be asked to select the edition of windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 3 you wish to install. You must ensure you choose the edition of windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 3 for which you have obtained a product key or you will not be able to activate the product.


Here are some key features of "Windows Longhorn":

· Maintenance is greatly simplified by the use of a single model for updates and service packs across client and server.
· Client computers can monitor for specific events and forward to windows Server "Longhorn" for centralized monitoring and reporting.
· windows Deployment Services provides much faster and more reliable operating system deployment.
· Network Access Protection features on windows Server "Longhorn" ensure that windows Vista clients connecting to the network are compliant with security policies and restricted from accessing network resources if not. The reliability, scalability, and overall responsiveness of the infrastructure are greatly increased by improvements made to both windows Vista and windows Server "Longhorn."
· Clients can render print jobs locally before sending them to print servers to reduce the load on the server and increase its availability.
· Server resources are cached locally so that they are available even if the server is not, with copies automatically updating when the client and server are reconnected.
· Applications or scripts that need to run on both client and server can take advantage of the Transactional File System to reduce the risk of error during file and registry operations and roll back to a known good state in the event of failure or cancellation.
· Policies can be created to ensure greater Quality of Service for certain applications or services that require prioritization of network bandwidth between client and server. windows Vista clients connecting to networks where windows Server "Longhorn" has been deployed can experience greatly improved communication speeds and reliability.
· Searching windows Server "Longhorn" servers from a windows Vista client avails of enhanced indexing and caching technologies on both to provide huge performance gains across the enterprise.
· Native IPv6 support across all client and server services creates a more scalable and reliable network, while the rewritten TCP/IP stack makes network communication much faster and more efficient.
· The new Server Message Block 2.0 protocol provides a number of communication enhancements, including greater performance when connecting to file shares over high-latency links and better security through the use of mutual authentication and message signing.
· Terminal Services on windows Server "Longhorn" have many improvements, including providing windows Vista clients with remote access to internal resources through an HTTP gateway and seamless remote applications that run as if on the local desktop.

You can use Debugging Tools for windows to easily debug drivers, applications and services on systems running windows NT 4.0, windows 2000, windows XP, windows Server 2003, windows Vista, and windows Server codename "Longhorn," as well as for debugging the OS itself.

Versions of the Debugging Tools for windows package are available for 32-bit x86, native Intel Itanium and native x64 platforms.

The 64-bit versions of Debugging Tools for windows allow you to debug both 32-bit and 64-bit user-mode applications running on 64-bit processors. Use this package to debug both the application and the WOW64 emulator.

This frame let you create appealing visual styles to your applications in all windows versions.

All new default styles (XP, xp dark, Longhorn, Office 2003 and Media Player 10) and themes are supported (blue, olive, silver).

My Frame enables you to customize the appearance of your applications to suit your individual needs.Source Code available for purchase.

All new default styles (XP, xp dark, Longhorn, Office 2003 and Media Player 10) and themes are supported (blue, olive, silver).

My Frame enables you to customize the appearance of your applications to suit your individual needs. Source Code available for purchase.

Whats New in This Release:

· FIXED: when frame was disabled, the inside controls were disable but not gray.


Whats New in This Release:

· ADDED: Now rounded corners are really transparent, you can display picture in your background form.
· ADDED: windows Vista frame appearance (Longhorn frame is always available).
· ADDED: xp 3D frame appearance.
· ADDED: Royal Theme is now available.
· ADDED: Support Unicode text on NT/2000/XP and higher.
· ADDED: When no themes are availables , you can now choose a default one between all standard themes and an . appearance xp 3D.

PowerGadgets application is a data visualization, reporting, and monitoring product that utilizes windows PowerShell, Microsofts new scripting shell, to allow the creation of Gadgets in windows XP, windows Vista, windows Server 2003, and windows Server "Longhorn".

PowerGadgets requires no complex development environments, servers, or browsers to run real-time, enterprise based Gadgets such as charts, gauges, and maps on your windows desktop or in the windows Vista sidebar.

longhorn Transformation Pack To the Ultimate Transforming description
Update your windows xp with longhorn gui by adding some themes and patch system files Want to change the looks of your windows xp and make it look like the upcoming Microsoft Longhorn?

This is another brand new release of the one and only longhorn Transformation Pack.

This small piece of software will transform your windows xp (and SP2) or windows Server 2003 into the best looking longhorn port that is available right now, without any extra software!

Requirements:
windows xp (SP1/SP2) or windows 2003

Whats New in This Release:

-Added "Automatic Transformation" and "I dont want to perform system files transforming" transforming mode options (Safemode required)
-Added Norton Antivirus 2005 compatibility support
-Added Uninstallation Mode like Transformation Mode for better way to handle each case
-Added windows xp Service Pack 2 with Pre-SP3 uxtheme.dll hotfix patching support
-Fixed "Manual Transformation" to run in safe mode only
-Fixed invalid boot screen resources
-Fixed SideBar to have no transparency by default
-Removed obsolete 64-bit patched uxtheme.dll file
-Updated Aero Style 2.0 visual style
|-Fixed incorrent font name
|-Fixed wrong shellstyle folder name for Aero Style (Glass - Thin TaskBar)
|-Updated Aero Style (Glass)
||-5059 elements from WinHEC 2005 as listed below
|||-CaptionButton
|||-StartButton
|||-StartPanel
|||-TaskBarBackground
|||-TaskBarButton
||-Updated FrameMaximized to read CaptionText easier

windows NT Backup Restore Utility description
Utility for restoring backups made on windows xp and windows Server 2003 to computers running windows Vista and Longhorn windows NT Backup - Restore Utility was developed to run only for Vista and the "Longhorn" server and will easily restore older backups made using the "Windows NT Backup" application on windows xp or windows Server 2003. windows NT Backup has been replaced in windows Vista or windows Server Codename "Longhorn" with different applications, which are not compatible with the .bkf files that NT Backup created.

You can use this utility if you made a backup using an older version of Windows, and now want to restore files from that backup on to a computer running windows Vista or windows Server Codename "Longhorn". The utility requires that you also enable the Removable Storage Manager feature

Instructions
Before you install and run windows NT Backup - Restore Utility, you need to turn on or install the Removable Storage Management feature.

Note: An NTSMAPI.dll error may occur if Removable Storage Management is not turned on or installed.

To turn on Removable Storage Management in windows Vista:
· Click the Start button, click Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Turn windows Features on or off. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
· Select the check box next to Removable Storage Management to turn the feature on, and then click OK.

To install Removable Storage Management on windows Server Codename "Longhorn":
· Click Control Panel and then click Administrative Tools.
· Open Server Manager, navigate to the Features Summary section, and click Add features.
· Select the check box next to Removable Storage Manager, click Next, and then click Install.

Requirements:

· Supported Operating Systems: longhorn (Windows Code Name) ; windows Vista; windows Vista Business; windows Vista Business 64-bit edition; windows Vista Business N; windows Vista Enterprise; windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit edition; windows Vista Home Basic; windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit edition; windows Vista Home Basic N; windows Vista Home Premium; windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition; windows Vista Ultimate; windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition

This frame let you create appealing visual styles to your applications in all windows versions. All new default styles (XP, xp dark, Longhorn, Office 2003 and Media Player 10) and themes are supported (blue, olive, silver).My Frame enables you to customize the appearance of your applications to suit your individual needs.Source Code available for purchase.

With this ActiveX component developers get some exciting new controls that act like windows XP. We have included:

CommandXP
A windows xp commandbutton with different styles.

GroupXP
A windows xp groupbox.

RadiobuttonXP
A windows xp radiobutton.

CheckboxXP
A windows xp checkbox.

FormXP
A windows xp form.

TopbuttonsXP
The windows xp close, restore, maximize and minimize buttons.