you have just finally finished figuring out the relationship between the various versions of operating systems coming out from Microsoft over the past couple of years, get ready to be challenged once again. The successor line to the server versions of the Windows 2000 operating system is called .NET Server and is currently available as a Beta 3 release to MSDN subscribers and other beta testers. It was originally called Whistler Server, but after the Beta 2 release it acquired a new name (despite an interim announcement that Whistler Server would be released as Windows 2002 Server). In this article I'll try to summarize what is new and exciting in this new release.