Microsoft plans to brand Longhorn Server with the official name Windows Server 2008 at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Los Angeles this week, according to reports from ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley and News.com’s Ina Fried.

All reports and rumors seem to indicate that Microsoft is still planning to release Windows Server 2008 to manufacting before the end of the year and then do the official launch in early 2008. There have also been reports that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 will launch at the same time, but that is unconfirmed. 

In case you missed it, TechRepublic has 54 screenshots of Longhorn Server Beta 3, which Microsoft released in April.