Windows Server 2003 R2 (the official name of the next ‘update’ of the server operating system). It’s currently at the R2 Beta 2 level, and only available to a private testing group, but according to this post (Julius Sinkevicius, Senior Product Manager in the Windows Server Group)it’ll be coming out on the main Windows Server page soon for everybody else to test soon. Some of the key features in R2:

• Active Directory Federation Services
• Rights Management Server
• SharePoint Portal Services Version 2
• File Server Migration Toolkit
• Network File System (NFS) support
• Services for Unix
• Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM)
• ‘Corral’ Storage Resource Management

There’s lot’s to look forward to there, but my favourite is the built-in SFU support which marks yet another noticeable change in the way Microsoft are approaching the Unix masses. First SFU was an expensive component, then it was a freee downloadable edition, and now it looks like it’s going to be a standard part of the server OS; a useful addition for an OS that wants to be used within, rather than instead of, alternatives.