Microsoft published a couple of new step-by-step guides for Windows Server 2008. At least it seems so if you take the publishing date on the download page seriously (3/18/2008). However, many of them were already published in 2007 when Server 2008 was still in beta. This wouldn’t be a problem if the contents of the papers are still valid. This seems not always to be the case, though.

I skimmed over the Server Manager step-by-step-guide. In this manual, they still talk about “Windows Server Virtualization (wsv)” even though wsv was already renamed to Hyper-V in November. It seems as if even Microsoft’s own employees can’t keep up with the pace by which their marketing renames their products. Even worse is that this paper doesn’t mention that Hyper-V is still in beta. I wonder, if the author of this paper was aware of this fact. Of course, the reader is also kept in the dark that meanwhile there is an update of Hyper-V which has to be downloaded separately.

I did not search for other outdated information in those guides, but I think there is a high probability that the above case is not the only one. There is nothing more annoying than following an inaccurate step-by-step guide. If something doesn’t work as it is supposed to be, you can waste a lot of time only to find out later that the guide is incorrect.

I mentioned before on this blog that it seems like Microsoft can’t cope anymore with the complexity of all its products. I think, instead of trying to enter the Internet advertising market at all costs, they should focus on their core products and adapt them to the online world. If the Yahoo! deal is really successful, I expect more confusion around Microsoft’s products. It is all getting too big.

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