Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Now Available

Microsoft on Tuesday released Windows Server 2012 and with it a simplified licensing agreemente.

Customers can choose between four OS types that include the Datacenter, Standard, Essentials, and Foundation.

Each segment of the Server 2012 software arrives with its own training on new software features along with a 90-day trial period for Microsoft’s Azure cloud service.

According to Mike Schutz, Microsoft’s Windows Server general marketing manager:

“One of the things we tried to do for this launch was simplifying the licensing. We’ve simplified it to two core SKUs: Datacenter edition and Standard edition. We used to have multiple licensing models — some were per server, some were per processor — and the feature differentiation was spread through the editions. We got feedback that sometimes it was too complex for customers to choose which version.”

The main edition of Windows Server 2012 includes the Datacenter and Standard editions of the software. Virtualization is also supported with the software costing $4,809.

Customers seeking out the standard edition on its own will pay $882 per license with each license able to run two virtual machines each.

Each Datacenter or Standard license requires one license per pair of processor chips.

Replacing the Small Business Server product will be the Essentials package which arrives later in the year at a more small business friendly price of $501. Essentials offers a 25 users limit per license.

The Windows server 2012 Foundation edition in the meantime will only be available to 15 concurrent users and only on pre-installed machines.

Do you plan on installing Windows Server 2012 on your company machines?