Anyone remember some of those early builds of Windows 2000? Clumpsy, slow, ugly. Or those early builds of XP which seemed more or less just like Windows 2000? Well, recalling how greatly these products improved by their final release builds, one would do well to apply that same axiom to Windows .Net Server 2003. What we have seen so far looks more or less just like Windows 2000 Advanced Server with the XP interface.... But wait... there is more comming!

Listed improvements include a lot of reworking of the kernel, the scheduler and also improvements in security which is a touchy subject for the company at the moment. Also clustering and cross-forrest trusts are being vastly improved on.

But note that support for Windows 95 and pre-service pack 3 NT4 clients will likely be going out of the "windows" .

Whilst we might not be seeing the kind of quantum leaps that characterised the move from NT4 to 2000, methinks there will still be some surprises.

More here.