Core Operating System Collection

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Core Operating System Collection

The Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating systems contain core technologies that provide basic functionality such as printing, device management, data recovery and troubleshooting.

Recovery and Reliability

Recovery and reliability technologies help you to prevent problems such as data loss and system instability during all phases of operation — from startup through shutdown. In the event of a problem, these technologies help you to recover and repair your data and operating system.

Device Management Technologies

Device management provides a way for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 to uniformly notify all applications and system components of changes that may affect their operation or access to resources.

Applications and system components use and process device messages between the operating system and devices to take advantage of new resources when they become available and to prevent loss of data when existing resources become unavailable. Device messages notify applications of device change events, such as the removal of a hardware device; power messages notify applications of power management events. Applications and device drivers can also define and use custom messages to enable notification of other types of events.

Printing Technologies

Network printing is the collection of software components in the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating systems that provide network printing services for client computers. In addition to providing services to clients running versions of the Windows operating system, Windows Server 2003 can provide network printing services to client computers running other operating systems when the appropriate components are installed.

In some small offices, it might be practical to have a printer attached to every computer, but in an organization consisting of more than a few computers, sharing printing resources is desirable. Larger organizations with many users might be spread out over a large area and consist of multiple computing platforms. Windows Server 2003 gives you options for printing to remote printers in a variety of network configurations and from a variety of computing platforms.