As I'm sure you've already heard, Windows 7 will become generally available on October 22nd this year, which is a good three months before Microsoft set their public milestone, but a couple months later than I personally had predicted. Win some, lose some.

From the CIO perspective, however, the more interesting news is that Windows Server 2008 R2, tied inextricably with Windows 7, will become available on the same date.

Server Operating System adoption tends to occur even more slowly than that at the desktop so it's a good bet that many organizations haven't even been considering moving up to Server 2008 yet. To the extent that such moves are not obviated by the same factors that reduce upgrade pressures at the desktop, R2 might be a good entry point for businesses planning to stick with their Windows servers for some time yet (in the same way that Windows 7 is probably the best option for anyone who is still planning to be running Windows on the desktop in ten years). In a similar fashion to 7, R2 isn't a spectacular new product, but it promises to be a workman-like release that should work suitably for businesses to rely on for the years to come.