Microsoft will release the first beta of BizTalk Server 2006 in the next two weeks, a Microsoft product manager said Monday.

Microsoft had targeted summer 2005 as the time frame for the beta, and Steven Martin, group product manager for the business process and integration division, confirmed to the IDG News Service Tuesday that the beta would be ready within two weeks.

Microsoft plans to provide support for SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and Virtual Server 2005. Additionally, there will be a BizTalk Server 2006 for systems with x86 processors with 64-bit extensions, as well as increased integration with SharePoint Services.

BizTalk also will include a new workflow engine that Microsoft probably will leverage across other infrastructure software. Microsoft also plans to simplify deployment and installation of the product.

The BizTalk group is working on a set of workflow technologies called Windows Workflow Services, but he would not say whether those services will be available in BizTalk Server 2006. Also confirmed, Microsoft will make deployment of BizTalk applications "quite a bit easier" with the next release.

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