Beyond acknowledging that Microsoft doesn't plan to deliver the next version of Windows Server until some time in 2016, company officials haven't said much lately about Microsoft's future plans for Windows Server.

That silence was broken last week during Microsoft's TechDays Online event, where Distinguished Engineer Jeffrey Snover talked a bit more about Microsoft's thinking regarding Windows Server Next, a k a Windows Server 2016.

I read Redmond Magazine's write-up of Snover's 30-minute talk on Microsoft's "Server Journey," and then watched the Channel 9 recording of it myself.

Snover said Microsoft is "deeply refactoring" the next version of Windows Server so that it will be a "cloud-optimized server."What does that mean, exactly? Isn't Windows Server already cloud-optimized, given it's what Azure itself runs on?

Snover said Microsoft is building a server that will include two "largely compatible" application profiles. One will target the existing set of Windows Server application programming interfaces (APIs) and the second, just the APIs that are "cloud optimized." Users will be able to "take just the components you need," he said.

Read more: What's next for Microsoft's Windows Server 2016 | ZDNet

Posted By: Brink
09 Feb 2015