It was announced today on the Windows Server Team Blog that Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 will return to being available via a separate download for Windows Server 2008 customers. In early betas, WSS 3.0 was included as a component in the Windows Server 2008 configuration. This decision was made to allow more flexibility in the WSS development process, while still allowing customers to conveniently obtain the technology.
WSS will still remain a free component for Windows Server customers. More coverage on this important announcement in on both the SharePoint Team Blog and Windows Server Team Blog.