Even though there are many security issues still in the cloud, Microsoft appears confident about taking all of their products into it. They implemented a lot from Windows Azure, their public cloud to new Windows Server 2012, and those two together with additional Windows Server hosted by providers presents the marrow of the Cloud OS. Microsoft implemented their “Metro-style” (we mean Modern Style) interface in the Essentials version, but it's pretty stripped down and is a lot more business-like. This version is the successor to Windows Server 2008 R2, and it runs on standard Intel-style processors with support for Itanium processors by HP.

Perhaps the biggest impact on customers is it will have a decent price drop for offices that won’t need all of the fancy features. Prices are ranging from $425 for Essentials edition to  $4,809 for Datacenter, of course Datacenter provides Highly virtualized private and hybrid environment, so that price is justified. Hundreds of new features will help users to work faster and have more flexibility in expanding their data centers and applications. For standard PC users this could also serve as a small insight into how new Windows 8 will look and operate, but for testing it for real we will have to wait a bit more.

[Ed – We have a Windows Server 2012 system running in a virtual environment, but have not attempted to integrate it with our existing 2008 R2 domain which includes many of the 2010 servers such as SharePoint, Exchange, Project, and even a CRM system. The problem that the new push to the cloud brings is that there is simply no means to secure it properly. Although it makes great sense for predictable and continuous revenue stream is puts Microsoft users at a high level of risk. Microsoft’s Windows has, due to its large install base, is a very big target for malware and attacks. Bringing the back end servers and applications into the cloud opens up even more threats and takes many of the safeguards out of the hands of the individual businesses. We will continue to work with Server 2012 as we as the new version of Microsoft’s office servers systems to see how they work one their own and integrated into an existing network]

http://www.windows-server-launch.com/

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