Luís Rato's Techy thoughts: Windows Server 2008 RC1 available for download

Yesterday Microsoft released the Windows Server 2008 RC1. The new release candidate 1 adds the Group Policy Preferences feature, known as PolicyMaker Standard Edition and Policy Share Manager where you can control things like internet settings, control panel preferences, drive mappings, printer or network shares, this is a big step forward to configure user settings that were not available on the predecessor product.

As we are getting more closure to the final release this is a good opportunity for enterprise customers and 3rd party developers to evaluate potential bugs and issues with the product and compatibility with their applications.

Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate Evaluation Software
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/audsel.mspx

Overview
This time-limited release of Windows Server® 2008 Release Candidate will expire on June 30, 2008. After this time, you will need to uninstall the software or upgrade to a later release or a fully-licensed version of Windows Server® 2008.This product requires a valid product key for activation within 30 days of installation..If you have received a product key via email confirmation, you may use the key with the software you download from this site or with a DVD containing Windows Server® 2008 Release Candidate.

If you have not received a product key, you can obtain one by visiting one of the following sites:
Developers
IT Professionals

Some copies of this pre-release software do not include an updated "Privacy Information for Installation Features" document. The correct document can be read online here.

You can download each version of the Windows Server 2008 RC1 on the links below: