Microsoft to announce IIS 4.0 next week

Microsoft will officially announce Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0next week at Internet World, the next version of its award-winning Webbrowser for Windows NT. IIS 4.0 is the centerpiece of the Windows NT 4.0Option Pack, a free suite of Internet server utilities that will becomeavailable in release form by the end of the year. The product is currentlyin the post-beta "release candidate" stage. The Option Pack consists ofIIS 4.0, Message Queue Server 1.0, Certificate Server 1.0, Index Server2.0, Site Server Express, and Internet Explorer 4.0. It also includes otherutilities such as remote access services for virtual private networks andthe latest Windows NT Service Pack.

IIS 4.0 uses the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) as its user-interface.The MMC will be a central component of Windows NT 5.0, now expected in thethird quarter of 1998. For remote administration, IIS 4.0 also supports aWeb-based interface.

“With any Web browser that supports frames and JavaScript, Navigator andIE 3.0 or later, you can manage 100% of the functionality through thebrowser,” said Jonathan Perera, lead product manager for IIS 4.0