News
BackOffice Server Conforms to the 2000 Naming Convention
- By Scott Bekker
- 04/03/2000
In a surprise to no one, Microsoft Corp. today officially
revealed that the next version of BackOffice Server would be called BackOffice
Server 2000.
The move follows decisions by Microsoft (www.microsoft.com ) to slap 2000 on the
end of every new release of existing products such as Windows (NT), SQL Server,
and Exchange Server; redesigned products such as Host Integration Server; and
brand new products such as Application Center.
Microsoft says BackOffice Server 2000 won’t be available
until “toward the end of 2000.”
The projected release date could be ambitious given that few
components of BackOffice Server 2000 have been released yet. While Windows 2000
Server has been out for 1 ½ months, Microsoft still must deliver Exchange
Server 2000, SQL Server 2000, Host Integration Server 2000, the next release of
Proxy Server, and Service Pack 2 for Systems Management Server 2.0.
Microsoft also seems to be ramping up to push the Active
Directory hard with BackOffice Server 2000. Published materials from Microsoft
say BackOffice Server 2000 is built for the Active Directory. If Microsoft
manages to deliver BackOffice Server 2000 late this year or early next year, it
might coincide with actual deployments of the Active Directory among real
customers as opposed to the Joint Development Program and Rapid Deployment
Program customers currently implementing Active Directory-based networks.
The current release of BackOffice Server is version 4.5.
Microsoft won’t reveal pricing for BackOffice Server 2000 until the product is
released. – Scott Bekker
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.