Microsoft releases 3 System Center products and SQL Server 2008 CTP

In addition to the Windows Server 2008 version menu revealed at TechEd IT Forum 2007, Microsoft also announced the general availability of three System Center products and the November CTP for SQL Server 2008. The System Center releases are:

• System Center Configuration Manager 2007
• System Center Data Protection Manager 2007
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007

As for SQL Server 2008:

Microsoft SQL Server Community Technology Preview. The November Community Technology Preview (CTP) for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is available for customer download this month. It features a significant amount of new functionality, including compatibility with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 as well as new features such as Resource Governor, Backup Compression and Transparent Data Encryption. This CTP also includes new business intelligence enhancements such as Design Alerts, Block Computation, Enhanced Report Designer with new visualizations and integration with the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

This also is the first CTP to help customers store and consume any type of data, including new FileStream data types for unstructured documents, and to provide spatial data support for location intelligence technologies.

I don’t see the November CTP on Windows Connect yet, but presumably it will be available shortly.