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Microsoft’s Small Business Server 2008 public preview is now available, the company reports in one of its corporate blogs. The actual site where you can check it out is located here.

This is the long-awaited and long-overdue update to the 2003 version of Windows Small Business Server. Pricing and specs are available here. http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2008/05/13/8500555.aspx

Dell‘s channel business is on a $12 billion dollar run rate, CEO Michael Dell told analysts during the company’s earnings conference call this week. The company has added 3,500 solution provider partners since Q4, he said.  Accounts of the earnings call are all over the web including The VAR Guy’s take on it here and ChannnelWeb’s account here.

Finally, as the weekend arrives, the question is: will your Blackberry still be beeping on Saturday night. A report in eWEEK notes that IT workers are having a harder time taking disconnected vacations.  And then a follow up story offers some advice to those who dream of unplugging.