Microsoft revealed on Wednesday details of the next version of its Windows OS for small businesses and formally introduced a new product line aimed at

Microsoft revealed on Wednesday details of the next version of its Windows OS for small businesses and formally introduced a new product line aimed at SMBs.

Microsoft Windows SBS (Small Business Server) 2008, formally code-named “Cougar,” is one of two software bundles in Microsoft’s new Windows Essential Server Solutions line; it also includes Windows Essential Business Server 2008, formerly code-named “Centro” and aimed at mid-sized companies. Both products are based on the same code as Windows Server 2008, the next version of Microsoft’s enterprise server OS.

The products in the Essential line bundle a server OS with other software products that Microsoft deems necessary to running a business — such as Microsoft’s messaging software, Exchange Server, and security products — to provide what Microsoft describes as an all-in-one, easy-to-install software stack for companies that may only have a small IT support staff.

SBS 2008 is aimed at companies with up to 50 PCs and includes one-year trial subscriptions to Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server Small Business Edition and Windows Live OneCare for Server.

The software also provides integration with Microsoft’s Web-based service, Microsoft Office Live Small Business, to help companies set up and manage Web sites and Web-based collaboration workspaces for employees. Support for Windows Mobile devices, so employees can access business information and e-mail remotely, also is bundled in.

According to Microsoft, it designed SBS 2008 for simplified deployment, set-up, and administration from one management console that administrators can access remotely. The software also comes in a premium edition for companies that need more heavy lifting from their business software.

SBS 2008 will be demonstrated on hardware from Dell at Microsoft’s Feb. 27 event in Los Angeles, in which Microsoft will highlight a triptych of releases — Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and SQL Server 2008. Both SBS 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008 are scheduled to be available in the second half of 2008.

Windows Essential Business Server 2008, which Microsoft has previously discussed, also is intended to make it simpler for businesses with limited IT management resources to install and control critical software tools. The product is aimed at businesses with 25 to 250 PCs and is currently in beta.

Like SBS 2008, Windows Essential Business Server 2008 also has a single management console for administrators. However, unlike SBS 2008, third parties can integrate their products into the console so they can be managed from it as well. In fact, Microsoft has already said that Symantec, Citrix, CA, Trend Micro, FullArmor, McAfee, and Quest are among the companies that will integrate products with the software.

“Based on our conversations with customers and partners, we felt the mid-market IT is a much different customer than a small-business owner, so we wanted to respect that in the way we designed the management UI for each product,” said Steven VanRoekel, senior director in the server and tools division at Microsoft.

The clock is ticking for Windows XP

The clock is ticking for Windows XP, the tried-and-true Microsoft operating system that millions of businesses and individuals depend on. Soon, the only Windows option will be Vista, an operating system that businesses as well as individuals have disliked and often avoided. The lackluster changes to Vista, coupled with the high costs of switching tens of millions of computers to it, have convinced InfoWorld that XP should not be retired as planned on June 30.

“Over the past year, CIOs and CTOs have consistently told me they see no significant benefits to Vista, and really don’t want to spend the time and money to update all their computers, retrain their users, and deal with application incompatibilities for a cosmetic upgrade,” said Galen Gruman, executive editor at InfoWorld.

Already, due to customer resistance to Vista, Microsoft has granted XP a stay of execution, delaying its scheduled demise from December 31, 2007, to June 30, 2008. But that’s not enough. InfoWorld’s editors believe Microsoft should make XP available indefinitely. Therefore, InfoWorld has launched a petition drive aimed at convincing Microsoft to not only stay XP’s execution but to take it off Death Row.

“We encourage IT and business staff alike to sign the petition today and to ask their friends and colleagues to do the same,” said Eric Knorr, editor in chief at InfoWorld. “In the past, Microsoft has responded to customer dissatisfaction and changed its plans, so there’s reason to believe it will listen today if the message is loud enough,” he added.

Under Microsoft’s current plans, June 30 is the last day that Microsoft will have XP available for sale as shrink-wrapped software, as well as available from computer makers as an installation option on new computers. Makers of white-box computers can sell XP until December 31.