Microsoft To Launch Renamed System Center Configuration Manager Next Year

System Center Configuration Manager, formerly known as Systems Management Server (SMS) V.4, is expected to ship in the first half of next year, and Microsoft aims to ship System Center Operation Manager 2007 by the end of this calendar year, though it may slip into 2007, sources said.

Microsoft also is preparing to release a feature pack for SMS 2003 that will handle operating system deployment and be compatible with new image formats in Windows Vista, the company’s next-generation operating system.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is slated to announce the news Tuesday at its Management Summit 2006 in San Diego, as well as talk up new management capabilities in Vista to be generally available early next year.

In other news from the show, Softricity rolled out Softricity Desktop 4.0 and SoftGrid 4.0. Version 4.0 offers tight links with Microsoft SMS, rapid virtualization via its new Sequencer technology, and more scalable centralized management and certification for VMware and Microsoft virtual machines.