Microsoft recalled all of the faulty media and shipped new, audited, totally final versions out -- they're now all where they should be, in stores and other venues, and have been since September 2006. If you purchased SBS 2003 from July through early September from a reseller, and haven't yet gotten in touch with it about this recall, do so now.

My verdict

I have personally always been fond of SBS. It's struck me many times that small and even midsize businesses often neglect their IT needs and do not take the time to determine how effective computing can really make them more efficient and increase their profitability.

SBS has always been about bringing the "big guns" -- the industrial-strength, Fortune 500 servers and their feature sets -- to smaller outfits, and SBS 2003 R2 is no exception. With R2, businesses no longer have to shell out significant amounts of cash to have consultants come to their sites every time Patch Tuesday rolls around. They get the database tools to run a full-fledged e-commerce site or modest data-mining outfit, and the collaborative and groupware capabilities are better than they ever have been.

The value of upgrading from SBS 2003 to SBS 2003 R2 is less clear to me, considering the expense, particularly for organizations that aren't running up against the product's boundaries or limitations. But for new businesses, R2 is a great way to go.