Longhorn beta 3 shows the beef

Microsoft’s wide open beta testing paradigm, which combines unfettered interaction between Microsoft developers and customers and a formal system of gathering feedback from public testers, brings a whole new meaning to the word “beta.” Nowhere is proof of the vendor’s commitment to the program more evident than in the third beta release of Windows Server “Longhorn,” which looks like it’s been hit with a mega-dose of growth hormone since beta 2. And I mean that in a good way.

Longhorn beta 3 is distinguished not only by the strengthening of features that were wobbly in prior prereleases, but also by the addition of significant new functionality across the board. The new functionality is the focus of this preview.

Topping Microsoft’s list, and mine, is Microsoft’s fresh focus on the good, old-fashioned command line, starting with the addition of PowerShell to all Longhorn editions. PowerShell is Microsoft’s first scriptable command-line shell. Yes, there is the “DOS box” and the .bat file, both of which are among the last remaining cave paintings left behind by MS-DOS. PowerShell surpasses the expectations of, but will not be familiar to, those facile with Unix shells. It unlocks the entire .Net language suite to use for building PowerShell commands, and it promises an end to the need for command-line executables to parse untyped data sets with Unix tools such as sed, awk, and Perl. Developers can dream of being able to read scripts written by others.

In my estimation, PowerShell would be useless if it had only the inadequate command-line vocabulary of the DOS box. PowerShell has some 130 commands of its own, and Microsoft has added a command-line version of the GUI-only Server Manager, which is the master control console at the center of every Windows Server. Longhorn beta 3 also ushers in a variety of protected mechanisms for executing commands on remote systems, and IIS-style isolation can be applied to all scripted code, not just server-side scripts for Web sites. And the retro, green screen beat goes on. “Server Core” — a subset of Windows Server that’s been stripped of its GUI — is one of Windows Server Longhorn’s least celebrated but most welcome additions.

Out of the box security is still a Microsoft priority in this age of endless exploits. Contact with the world beyond your server is largely belayed until roles are defined and switches permitting network access are thrown, but a middle ground between shut-in and running naked on the Net has been struck with Longhorn’s sensible default firewall configuration. At install, Longhorn’s firewall, which sports a clearer and more flexible configuration interface in beta 3, is enabled and placed in a mode that opens ports only for services that are activated. This obviates the need for the little black book that admins carry to remind them of which TCP and UDP ports are used by commands and services.

I’ll close with a subject ever dear to my heart, namely centralized computing, or virtualization in the many guises that will be offered by Microsoft. Some of these will be part of Longhorn and some will not, and I confess that I don’t know where many of the lines are drawn among Longhorn editions. Let’s just assume that everything’s optional and we’re bound to be pleasantly surprised.

Actually, I do know one flavor of virtualization that’s sure to be in Longhorn. Microsoft has furthered its commanding lead in OS-intrinsic GUI timesharing by adding load balancing, 32-bit color support (finally, 10 Gigabit Ethernet has a purpose!), and the long-awaited ability to cut/copy/paste between a Terminal Server session and the local host. These are seemingly small things, but each makes some group of InfoWorld readers think, “Finally, I can ditch those desktops!” Longhorn Server’s new TCP/IP stack, with its support for hardware acceleration/offloading and automatic performance tuning, will really boost the scalability of chatty, encrypted Terminal Services. The new stack promises to get things cooking on the LAN, but it will also work wonders with streaming and other broadband services.

The hardware-assisted (AMD-V or Intel-VT) virtualization hypervisor in Longhorn is neat, but not news — although this beta may be some users’ first brush with it. Microsoft has taken away more of VMware’s gloating rights with Longhorn beta 3’s support for 64-bit guest OSes, support for a flexible mix of physical and virtual processors/cores, dynamic allocation of system resources (add virtual CPU cores, memory, or network cards at runtime), and the big enchilada: live migration of running OS instances to other machines.

I had hoped to see Microsoft’s brightest acquisition since the Western hemisphere, SoftGrid, rolled into some Longhorn editions, but instead, it’s been productized as Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance. In combination with the Longhorn hypervisor, Terminal Services, and Virtual Server, SoftGrid gives Microsoft a genuinely unbeatable centralized computing story.

Microsoft Windows Server Longhorn beta 3 answers most of the criticisms I’ve leveled at Windows Server since 3.51. One criticism that I don’t expect the final release of Longhorn to address is Windows’ exorbitant base pricing and “gotcha” client and device licenses. But those inclined to complain about the cost of Windows are not those whom Microsoft is trying to reach with Windows Server Longhorn, at least with regard to those elevated editions that include the features I’ve admired here.

Longhorn will go where money is no object. And from what I’ve seen of it in beta 3, it will sweep Linux off the table in some of those well-moneyed places where the heavy lifting is done, and will continue to be done, by unsinkable big iron Unix, but where job opportunities for servers that stand closer to users are always available. To snag one of those gigs, a server’s resume has to include scalability, security, manageability, and extensibility, and Longhorn has a far better story on these fronts than Microsoft’s ever had. Wonders will never cease.