Mary-Jo Foley reports that Microsoft has begun providing selected testers with access to alpha versions of its Office 14 server wares.

Testers are going to being provided with early versions of the next release of SharePoint Server 14 — along with the promised Office Web apps (Webified versions of some of Microsoft’s key Office apps) which are tied to SharePoint 14. They are also getting SharePoint Services 14; Search Server 14; and Project Server 14. Microsoft also is providing the alpha testers with an early version of its identity server, codenamed “Geneva,” which the company is telling testers must be installed as a prerequisite for Office 14.

Select testers get Office 14 alpha release