Windows Server 2008 Gets Raves

While Windows Vista languished in 2008, its server-side brethren Windows Server 2008 quietly flourished.

Microsoft's server operating system, released in February, received accolades for performance, reliability and new features. (It shares the same code base as Vista SP1, which did much to improve Vista.)

The were positive across the board. In addition to having praised features such as unified scripting tool PowerShell, a Windows Firewall that enables by default and a new security technology called NAP (Network Access Protection), Microsoft followed through on its promise with Windows Server 2008 to go greener with the release in June of its virtualization hypervisor, Hyper-V.

Hyper-V sets the stage for a server virtualization slugfest with VMware and Citrix in the coming year as more IT managers try to save money in a weak economy by consolidating data on fewer physical servers through virtualization.