IPv6 is the future Internet standard for TCP/IP networking, and it allows multicasting of IP addresses. Why is this important? Because the standard Internet numbering scheme used with the current Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is running out of address space, and future Internet communications will need an expanded address space, which IPv6 provides. IPv6 supports IPv4 addressing, allowing organizations to use dual IP addressing or configurations that use both IPv4 and IPv6 addressing. IPv6 also supports dynamic addressing and Internet Protocol Security (IPSec).

The IETF maintains a set of standards governing communications, protocols, and security. Although versions of the Windows operating system previously supported both proprietary security protocols and Internet security protocols, this is the first time Microsoft has fully supported the IETF security standards. Windows Server 2003 gains the added security benefits from trusted industry standards for security.

Microsoft's .NET initiative is built around XML and such enabling technologies as SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL. Windows Server 2003 supports the related standards for these technologies and also supports XML Web services standards for creating and hosting dynamic Web services.