As you may have heard already, Microsoft released the Beta for Windows Server 2008 R2. This is the first operating system platform that will be 64-bit only.

I believe this is long overdue. 32-bit processors have been off the market for almost 2 years now, most third party vendors have developed 64-bit versions of their software, and there are so many advantages to 64-bit computing that it’s time to say goodbye to 32-bit Windows Server.

The Microsoft Windows Server Division maintains a blog, where they posted their announcement of the Beta release. The blog entry can be read here.

The 64-bit only Windows Server 2008 R2 platform will introduce additional complexity when it comes to determining the supported upgrade path. Microsoft has published an article that includes great information on the supported upgrade paths. Here is an excerpt of the article:

Supported upgrade paths

The table below shows which Windows operating systems can be upgraded to which editions of this release of Windows Server 2008 R2.

Note the following general guidelines for supported paths:

• In-place upgrades from 32-bit to 64-bit architectures are not supported. All editions of Windows Server 2008 R2 are 64-bit only.
• In-place upgrades from one language to another are not supported.
• In-place upgrades from one build type (fre to chk, for example) are not supported.
• If you do not see your current version in the left column, upgrade to this release of Windows Server 2008 R2 is not supported.

If you are running:	You can upgrade to this edition:
Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition	Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with SP2 or Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition	Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition with SP2 or Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition	Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 Standard with or without SP2	Server Core installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with or without SP2	Server Core installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise or Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 Datacenter	Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
Server Core installation of Windows Web Server 2008 with or without SP2	Server Core installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Windows Web Server 2008 R2
Full installation of Windows Server 2008 Standard with or without SP2	Full installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Full installation of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with or without SP2	Full installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise or Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
Full installation of Windows Server 2008 Datacenter with or without SP2	Full installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
Full installation of Windows Web Server 2008 with or without SP2	Full installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Windows Web Server 2008 R2
Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard	Server Core installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (repair in place) or Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise	Server Core installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise (repair in place) or Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter	Server Core installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter (repair in place)
Server Core installation of Windows Web Server 2008 R2	Server Core installation of either Windows Web Server 2008 R2 (repair in place) or Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard
Full installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard	Full installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (repair in place) or Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Full installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise	Full installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise (repair in place) or Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
Full installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter	Full installation of either Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter (repair in place)
Full installation of Windows Web Server 2008 R2	Full installation of either Windows Web Server 2008 R2 (repair in place) or Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard