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[Neon]

Microsoft executives will highlight the roadmaps for Windows Vista, Longhorn Server and Office 2007 at the upcoming annual hardware-engineering conference in Seattle.

"We're turning the corner on all three of our core products. We are heading toward delivery."
That's going to be Microsoft's message to the 3,000 attendees of the annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), which kicks off on May 23 in Seattle, said Mike Burk, product manager with the Windows group.

Microsoft will use the show to highlight advances it has made in its core trio of Windows Vista, Longhorn Server and Office 2007, Burk said, and will demonstrate to attendees how those three offerings can be "combined into a single platform."

Testers are expecting Microsoft to deliver refreshed test versions of all three products next week, a development about which Burk declined to comment. Testers are expecting the "Consumer" Community Technology Preview (CTP), also known as "Beta 2," the second beta release of Longhorn Server; and the second beta of Office 2007 all to hit some time during the week of May 22.

This week, in anticipation of WinHEC, Microsoft released the final hardware requirements for Windows Vista, which grouped new and existing systems into "Vista-Capable" and "Vista-Premium" categories. Microsoft also released a software utility, the Windows Upgrade Advisor, which allows potential Vista customers to check whether their systems are powerful enough to run Vista before installing it.

According to Microsoft's timetables, the final versions of Vista and Office 2007 are slated to be released to manufacturing this summer/fall. Office 2007 will be available to business customers covered by volume license agreements in October; Vista will be available to the same audience in November, according to Microsoft. The official launch and wide-scale availability of the pair is still on track for January 2007, Microsoft officials said. Longhorn Server, meanwhile, is slated to ship in calendar 2007.

"Within the next twelve months, we'll have the biggest innovation pipeline in our history," said Burk. "That will be a key focus at the (WinHEC) show."

Burk also said to expect Microsoft to show off a range of form factors, including PCs, laptops, Tablet/ultramobile PCs, music players, mobile phones and data-center servers, at the conference. In addition to talking about the long-term future of Windows and Office on these platforms, Microsoft will focus on more "near-term" scenarios enabled by its software than it typically does at WinHEC conferences, he said.
Microsoft also will discuss its strategy for new markets, especially emerging markets, as well as new business models, enabled by Vista, Longhorn Server and Office 2007 at the three-day confab, Burk said.

"The show will focus on the business benefits of the integrated (Windows-Office) platform," he said.

Virtualization will be a key theme at the show, as well, with many conference tracks dedicated to the topic. Microsoft is expected to offer updates on its Hypervisor virtualization technology, as well as further details on its virtualization manager offering, code-named "Carmine."