XP SP2 delay causes domino effect for WUS |
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By Margie Semilof, Senior News Writer
15 Jul 2004 | SearchWinIT.com |
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TORONTO -- Delays in the release of Microsoft's new desktop client means that IT administrators will also have to wait a bit longer for the next version of a free Windows patch management utility.
Microsoft executives said this week that Windows Update Services (WUS), the successor to Software Update Services, won't be available until sometime in the first half of 2005. The long-awaited general beta program won't begin until late this year, company executives said at the Worldwide Partner Conference.
Steve Anderson, director of Microsoft's Windows Server Group, said the delay is due to the "chain" effect that happens when other products must be completed first. The technology depends on the availability of XP Service Pack 2, which will be released to manufacturing in August.
He also said the Microsoft is taking great
care to design the user interface for WUS, and that the engineering team has made more user interface enhancements than it originally expected.
More than 50,000 customers have signed up to be part of the beta program. "We know the demand is there, especially in the medium and simple IT environments," Anderson said.
Mark Ehr, research director at Enterprise Management Associates, in Boulder, Colo., said it was wise for Microsoft to take its time to get the interface right, since third-party developers will be making their own applications work with the new WUS interface.
"[WUS] will be a huge step forward from the existing Windows Update," Ehr said.
A customer at a partner conference session featuring Mike Nash, vice president of Microsoft's security business unit, implored Nash to get WUS out as soon as possible, "even if it's not fully ready."
"We are aware of the urgency," Nash said.
Editor Robyn Lorusso contributed to this report.
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