Microsoft today confirmed that the upcoming server version for Windows “7″ will not be a major release, but instead will be a minor release.

This move is somewhat surprising, given that in the past, Microsoft has used the R2 moniker to signify a product with a few new features, as opposed to major changes to a product.

According to a Microsoft spokesman the server version of Windows “7″ is scheduled for release sometime in 2010.

This move also brings the question of just how different Windows “7″ will be from Windows Vista on client side. Steven Sinofsky, the head of development for the desktop version of Windows, has said that Microsoft will not make major changes to things like the kernel and driver model, but insists that the client version of Windows “7″ will be a major release of Windows.

Microsoft has said that the client version of Windows “7″ would include a new multi-touch platform, but has not talked about any other features.

Microsoft describes it’s minor, or update releases on its server roadmap page this way:

Update releases integrate the previous major release with the latest service pack, selected feature packs, and new functionality. Because an update release is based on the previous major release, customers can incorporate it into their environment without any additional testing beyond what would be required for a typical service pack. Any additional functionality provided by an update would be optional and thus not affect application compatibility or require customers to recertify or retest applications.

One of the biggest questions is, if Windows “7″ Server needs no more testing than a service pack, is it really possible to add enough features to the client versions of Windows “7″ to make Windows “7″ a big improvement upon Windows Vista?

I guess all we can do is wait until Microsoft shares more details at it’s Professional Developers Conference in late October in Los Angeles.

Microsoft has quietly said that it plans to flip the switch and turn on automatic updates for Windows XP SP3.

Microsoft will release the update to Windows Update at 10 a.m. Pacific Time Thursday. At that time users who have left the operating system’s update service at it’s default "Automatic (recommended)" setting will be able to obtain SP3 via Windows Update.

"Updated applicability rules and updated metadata to target the update to Automatic Update channel," read a Microsoft support document revised today after the company unveiled its monthly security patches.

"The Automatic Update change will be published at 10:00 A.M. on July 10." Yesterday, a Microsoft manager said only that XP SP3 would be automatically downloaded and installed "shortly," but did not specify a date.

Microsoft has delayed the distribution of Windows XP SP3 twice this spring, nevertheless, the July 10 date seems firm.

I n this Internet Explorer 8 series, we will examine the upcoming security improvements and enhancements coming to Internet Explorer 8.

In August, Microsoft will ship Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, the second major milestone of it’s upcoming Web browser. Whereas the current Beta 1 release in March was focused on developer features. However, Microsoft has made plenty of progress, the upcoming Beta 2 release (scheduled to ship in August) will be all about the end user.

Microsoft is now talking about the new and improved security features that will debut in the upcoming Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 release. These features constitute the the majority of work Microsoft is doing around security in IE 8.

A look back at recent Internet Explorer security advances

As a major release of the browser, Microsoft included a number of security enhancements, such as Protected Mode (Windows Vista only), ActiveX Opt-in, international domain spoofing protection and more. There were also related enhancements around the Manage Add-ons user interface.

In Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, Microsoft added a few security enhancements as well. The most obvious was domain highlighting. Microsoft also  implemented a few of the other security enhancements in Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1, I’ll describe those below. But they’re only now discussing these changes, and of course Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 will complete the picture. Let’s take a look at where Microsoft is headed with Internet Explorer 8 security.

Security Improvements In Internet Explorer 8

In terms of security, Internet Explorer 7 is already and excellent product, especially on Windows Vista, where you can take advantage of Protected Mode. But with online threats evolving, Microsoft is taking steps to hinder new types of attacks in Internet Explorer 8. Here’s what the company is doing.

SmartScreen® Filter

In Internet Explorer 7 Microsoft introduced the Phishing Filter, a dynamic security feature designed to warn users when they attempt to visit known-phishing site. Now, with Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft built upon the success of the Phishing Filter feature (which blocks over a million phishing attacks weekly) to develop the SmartScreen® Filter, a replacement that improves upon the Phishing Filter in a number of important ways:

• Improved user interface
• Faster performance
• New heuristics & enhanced telemetry
• Anti-Malware support
• Improved Group Policy support

I’ll describe each of these in the sections that follow.

Improved User Interface

In Internet Explorer 8 Microsoft is introducing an improved, and simplified opt-in experience for the SmartScreen Filter, integrating the option in to the first-run experience. After first-run, you later change your preferences.

The new SmartScreen blocking page offers clear language and guidance to help you avoid known-unsafe websites (Figure 1).

The “Go to my homepage” link enables you easily to navigate away from the unsafe website to start browsing from a trusted location. If you instead choose to ignore the SmartScreen warning by clicking the “Disregard and continue” link, the address bar remains red as a persistent warning as long as you are on the unsafe site.

If you uncover a new phishing site, you can submit it for analysis using the “Report Unsafe Website” option on the Tools menu. In the unlikely event of a false-positive, you can provide feedback using the “Report that this is not an unsafe website” link on the blocking page or by clicking the “Unsafe Website” flyout in the address bar.

Improved Performance

As a part of Microsoft’s overall investment in improving performance across Internet Explorer, they’ve made several performance tweaks to the SmartScreen Filter to improve its speed and lower its impact on browser performance. Detection of unsafe sites happens in parallel with navigation, so you can confidently surf the web without being forced to make a tradeoff between speed and safety.

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