ANNOUNCING THE AVAILABILITY OF WINDOWS SBS 7 PREVIEW:

I am very pleased to announce that Windows Small Business Server 7 (SBS7) Public Preview is available for download.

Built on Windows Server 2008 R2, this exciting new edition of the all-in-one solution server for small businesses will include Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1, Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010, and Windows Software Update Services. Small business customers will find significant security and management enhancements over previous versions, as well as much richer features for providing file-and-print, email and Internet services to employees.

Together with Windows SBS code name Aurora, SBS7 is dedicated to providing small business customers with a highly manageable, low complexity solution to help cut costs, save time and be more efficient. SBS7 offers on premise email and collaboration suite functionalities that Auroras customers can add through online services.

SBS7 also offers a great opportunity for small businesses with prior versions to upgrade their servers and to simultaneously take advantage of the advancements in security, reliability, and connectivity technology. For this reason, SBS7 offers enhanced migration tools, extensive pre-migration checks, and prescriptive guidance included in the software.

Furthermore, with SBS7, small businesses gain the freedom to securely access all of their communications from virtually any Web-browser or mobile device -- getting more done wherever they are with the integrated Exchange Server 2010 and Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) capabilities.

Customers using SBS7 will also have the opportunity to view, edit, and share Microsoft Office documents online with SharePoint Foundation 2010 and Microsoft Office Web Apps. As the online companion to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel(R), Microsoft PowerPoint(R), and Microsoft OneNote(R), Office Web Apps gives users the freedom to access documents from virtually anywhere.

To learn more about Windows Small Business Server 7, you can visit our SBS site.