Microsoft Discontinues Fast ESP Support For Linux, Unix Platforms

Microsoft Corp. said it will stop developing Linux and Unix core search versions of FAST Enterprise Service Platform (ESP) core, which the software maker snapped up in 2008, following the release of its Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 software suites later this year.

The company is integrating FAST ESP core with the forthcoming SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010, and will be developing the Windows only iteration of the FAST core search engine.

The information was revealed by Bjorn Olstad, chief technology officer for FAST, who said that FAST’s next line-up of Windows-based products, expected to arrive in few months, will be the last to incorporate a search core that functions on Unix and Linux.

“Many of our customers run FAST ESP on Linux and UNIX today, and we recognize that our future focus on Windows means change. To ease the transition, we're investing in interoperability between Windows and other operating systems, reaffirming our commitment to 10 years of support for our non-Windows products”, Olstad wrote in a blog post.

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He further noted that the FAST core search service currently interoperates with many non-Windows systems both on the front and back end, and that the company is rolling out a new Customer Upgrade Program to help the users in assessing the company’s Windows-based deployment.