Microsoft released Windows Server 2003 R2 to manufacturing this week. The RTM event means that R2 will be coming to users in early 2006. The natural question to ask is, “With Longhorn Server scheduled for 2007, how much meat does R2 really contain?” The answer is that R2 is somwhat beefy, but not very flashy. The biggest improvements involve management of remote offices and storage management. For a look of what’s in R2, Microsoft has a recently-posted rundown of the new features.