The client tier uses Web services for communication with applications; in the box are links to Visual Studio 2005 (of course), Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office Project, Internet Explorer, and the Team Foundation client, a lightweight standalone management tool.

The boss can use any or all of these to manage the project, depending on his or her level of hands-on responsibility. For example, a team lead can add tasks using Project or Excel, or work within the server's interface to define rules that determine whether code is ready to be checked in (it must have cleanly compiled, for example).

Very cool. But let's count up the resources you need for this kind of coolness. You need your data tier, consisting of SQL Server 2005, running on a suitable Windows Server 2003. You need your application tier, also on a suitable server. The product currently requires that the data and application tiers live on different servers; the client tier can share with the application tier. Ideally that server includes IIS and SharePoint Services to provide the team portals. And, you need the Team Foundation Server to pull all of the development resources together. Microsoft expects the system to scale to 1,000 users, and to handle code bases akin to the ones it manages internally, which could mean substantial licensing and hardware dollars.

Then, you need people to install, configure and manage this boss-friendly environment, which shoves the price up into the budget realm of the large shop.

There is, you see, no free lunch. Even for the boss.

Beta 3 of Team Foundation Server will include a Go Live license, and will be released in September, along with Release Candidate 1 of Visual Studio 2005. While Visual Studio will launch in November, the server component is expected to ship in early 2006. Microsoft promises that the released product will migrate from Beta 3 "seamlessly and in place".

For more information of Visual Studio Team System, have a look here.