Server Core: Windows Without Windows

[Update] MS is saying that this puppy will still need a gig of drive space.  Yes, drive space is cheap, but what the heck are they cramming into a gig of space for a CLI only version of Windows since according to the article there are minimal drivers and no .Net framework?  Hmmm. 

Everyone and their grandmother is no doubt aware that Vista RC2 was released earlier today (public download point is located here, and it probably won't be available for public consumption too much longer); what many may not know is that Microsoft is also starting to release news about a pared down version of Vista Server: Vista Core Server which is essentially a CLI only version of their server OS:

One of the most innovative features coming in Windows "Longhorn" Server isn't really a feature as much as a whole new version of Windows. It's called Server Core, and it will only take one-sixth of the disk space of a normal Longhorn installation. It's not expected to need anywhere near as many patches and hotfixes as Windows 2000. It's a version of Windows that does not, in fact, use windows. It's breaking Microsoft's long-standing reliance on graphical interfaces and shaking things up in several of Microsoft's product groups.

More interestingly from the "Managing The Beast" section of the article:

Forget about logging onto a Server Core console and managing it from there. Sure, you can do it. There's no GUI on the server, though, and there's no point making the trip to the datacenter or even firing up the Remote Desktop console. You can do everything you need remotely. Just use the Microsoft Management Console snap-ins you always have for administering DHCP, DNS or Active Directory.

So basically this will be Microsoft's first truly headless OS, and as mentioned in the article should be on par with what other server-centric OS's (Novell, *nix) have been doing for years.  And finally, what we as developers are asking is "what about the .Net framework?"  Nicely summed up by the following:

There's also no Microsoft .NET Framework. This means you can't run any managed code on Server Core. Mason says his development team wants to add the .NET Framework to Server Core, but they first need the Framework team to modularize the code so they can add just the essentials. The Framework's absence in Server Core is significant. For example, you can't run Windows PowerShell, Microsoft's vaunted new management shell, on Server Core. That doesn't mean you're out of remote management options, however.

So I guess how the framework will actually manifest itself on Core Server remains to be seen, but aside from that this looks like a very promising offering from MS.  I look forward to seeing what other "roles" they come up with as progression on this product takes place.