Microsoft plans to cut web server licensing restrictions from Windows Server 2008 to better compete against open-source alternatives, according to CRN (http://www.crn.com/software/205207950).

The pub cites an unspecified internal Microsoft document revealing that Windows Web Server 2008 will run any type of database software and won't restrict the number of users running the database if used as an internet-facing front-end server. Web Server 2003 limited the number of users to 50 and contained certain database restrictions.

Microsoft would likely be freeing up the client access license to woo more customers from Apache, which has become synonymous with Web 2.0 as the all-important vowel in the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) software stack.

That's not to say Microsoft customers would be completely free from careful study of the intricate and perplexing licensing codex that is the Windows Server platform. But such a move could certainly provide a small sliver of relief to leery server admins. ®

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