Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Microsoft Beefs Up Web Platform Tools

  • By Herb Torrens
  • 03/24/09

Developing and managing Web sites may have gotten a little easier with new tools announced by Microsoft last week as part of its MIX09 Web developer conference.

Those tools include Microsoft's Web Platform Installer (Web PI) 2.0 Beta, plus new or updated extensions to Microsoft's IIS 7 (Internet Information Services 7) Web server. Microsoft also made more general improvements in its Web platform, according to IIS Product Unit Manager Mai-lan Bukovec.

Bukovec said in a TechNet video that her team has been working on a "nuts and bolts rehaul" of Microsoft's Web platform for more than a year. She added that the new Web platform contains functionalities that make managing runtime requests, dynamic routing and database management "a whole lot easier."

Web PI 2.0 Beta, which can be downloaded here, has a new feature that lets users install various Web applications. Those applications include wikis, blogs and others available through Microsoft's Web Application Gallery. The installer's main function is to support Microsoft's Web platform components, including IIS 7, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, SQL Server 2008 Express Edition and the .NET Framework.

Some of the new IIS extensions that Microsoft announced this week include FTP Service 7.5, a Smooth Streaming Beta for Silverlight, an Advanced Logging Beta for client-side metrics and an IIS Administration Pack. The IIS Administration Pack provides a management user interface for ASP.NET authorization, request filtering and FastCGI setup. The IIS 7 extensions can be downloaded here.

Also announced on Wednesday were release candidate versions of the IIS 7 Web Deployment Tool and Database Manager, a beta of Application Request Routing V2, and Media Services 2.0.

Access to all of these new Web tools is facilitated through Microsoft's Web PI software.

About the Author

Herb Torrens is an award-winning freelance writer based in Southern California. He managed the MCSP program for a leading computer telephony integrator for more than five years and has worked with numerous solution providers including HP/Compaq, Nortel, and Microsoft in all forms of media. You can contact Herb here.

Featured

  • abstract quantum computing glowing circuits

    Nvidia Unveils 'Ising' Quantum AI Model

    Nvidia has announced a new family of open source AI models, dubbed "Ising," designed to accelerate quantum computing by improving calibration and error correction.

  • Dana Brunson facilitates a roundtable discussion with research and higher education IT leaders

    Internet2: Closing the Access Gap for Research Cyberinfrastructure

    Internet2's Research Engagement Team brings CIOs and other campus technology leadership together with research computing and data facilitators, forming a community that enables research cyberinfrastructure at institutions of all types and sizes.

  • Digital cyberspace with particles and Digital data

    Report: AI Is Moving Faster than Data Trust

    AI agents are already in use or pilot at most organizations, but data visibility, governance and precision recovery capabilities have not kept pace, according to Veeam's new Data & AI Trust Gap report.

  • Abstract futuristic digital network with glowing padlock icons

    Microsoft Intros New Agentic AI Security Multi-Model Defense System

    A new multi-model agentic AI security system built by Microsoft's Autonomous Code Security team helped researchers find 16 new vulnerabilities across the Windows networking and authentication stack, the company anounced in a recent security blog post.