PHP Code:
Longhorn Beta 1
May 25, 2005
Longhorn Beta 2
October 12, 2005
Longhorn Client Release Candidate 0 (RC0)
February 22, 2006
Longhorn Client Release Candidate 1 (RC1)
April 2006
Longhorn Client release to manufacturing (RTM)
May 24, 2006
Longhorn Launch (widespread public availability)
Summer 2006 to October 2006, depending on release schedules for other Longhorn wave products.
Longhorn Server RTM/Longhorn Client SP1 RTM
Second half of 2006/first half of 2007 (Client RTM + 6 months)
Longhorn Beta 1
Longhorn Beta 1 will be targeted at Microsoft's select group of beta testers, most of whom previously beta tested Windows XP/2000 and Windows Server 2003. Unlike the alpha releases, which were designed primarily for developers, Longhorn Beta 1 will be accessible to Microsoft's PC maker, hardware, and software partners, Microsoft MVPs, and the like. It will also be made available to users through MSDN Professional and up, TechNet, and potentially to attendees of developer-oriented trade shows such as WinHEC 2005, TechEd, and/or Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2005.
Longhorn Beta 1 will be distributed on DVD (and not CD), and will be downloadable by testers in ISO format. Only the Longhorn Premium Edition will be made available to testers in the Beta 1 timeframe, Microsoft reports. English, German, and Japanese languages will be available.
Longhorn Beta 2
Longhorn Beta 2 will be more widely distributed than Beta 1. At this time, enthusiasts and other users will be able to download a public beta version through the Customer Preview Program (CPP).
Longhorn RC0+
The Customer Preview Program will continue throughout the release candidate phase, and Microsoft expects more general customers to begin evaluating.
Also, The hardware req.
Desktop CPU: 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor with HyperThreading Technology 530 (or higher) or 3 GHz Intel Xeon processor with 2 MB L2 cache, or AMD Athlon 64, Sempron, or Opteron 100, 200, or 800 processor, single or dual-core versions.
Mobile CPU: 1.86 GHz Intel Pentium M processor 750 (or higher), or AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology, Mobile Sempron, or Mobile Athlon 64 processor.
RAM: 512 MB of RAM or more, all platforms.