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Content type: Announcements
![a woman sitting at a table using a laptop computer](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Person-working-on-a-Surface-laptop-2-300x164.webp)
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Windows Server 2012 R2 Available October 18th
Today we are pleased to make several important announcements. We are extremely excited that on October 18th, eligible customers will able to download Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2, and use the latest update to Windows Intune. Also on October 18th, Windows 8.1 will be available to consumers and businesses worldwide. To find![a person standing in front of a whiteboard](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IT-Pro-portrait-in-modern-office-300x164.jpg)
Transform Your Datacenter with System Center 2012 SP1
There is an African proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child”. So it is with IT. As great an OS as Windows Server 2012 is (and it really is great!), few customers will use it by itself to deliver IT services or run a cloud. The OS is a critical component,![a person standing in front of a computer](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Developer-portrait-at-desk_Julian_01-300x164.jpg)
InfoWorld Recognizes Windows Server 2012 and Windows PowerShell in 2013 Technology of the Year Awards
Windows Server 2012 and Windows PowerShell have made IDG’s InfoWorld 2013 Technology of the Year Awards list, which recognizes the best products evaluated by the InfoWorld Test Center over the past year. InfoWorld recognizes Windows Server 2012 for “innovative capabilities” across storage, virtualization, and management, as well as improved hardware support, which make the product![a woman sitting at a desk](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IT-Professional-working-in-front-of-a-desktop-computer-300x164.jpg)
Windows Server 2012 Essentials reaches general availability!
Microsoft has just announced that Windows Server 2012 Essentials is generally available for purchase through volume licensing, retail and reseller channels. This is a great opportunity for Microsoft partners to deliver a solution designed to meet the needs of their small business customers by offering the following benefits: Protect and secure your business Access your![a group of people in a room](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Conference-room-meeting_Julian_05-300x164.jpg)
Windows Server 2012 is here — and so is the Cloud OS
Today’s launch of Windows Server 2012 puts a spotlight on the transformational shift underway across the entire IT ecosystem. This transformation is being driven by an exponential growth of devices used for smarter, more personalized applications, which in turn create an explosion of data and the need for more computing power. It is a world![a man sitting at a table using a laptop in front of a window](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Person-working-on-a-Surface-laptop-300x164.webp)
Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate Essentials available now
Great news! We reached another important milestone on the road to the final release of Windows Server 2012 Essentials: the Release Candidate (RC) is available now for download and evaluation. If you haven’t started exploring the product yet, this new pre-release version is an ideal time to begin. You can find more information about this![a man standing in front of a window](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Conference-room-meeting_Colin_02-300x164.jpg)
Windows Server 2012 released to manufacturing!
Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for. I’m proud to announce that Windows Server 2012 has been released to manufacturing. That means the final code is complete and we are delivering it to our hardware and software vendor partners this week. We will also make the software available to our volume licensing customers![a group of people looking at a laptop](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Team-meeting-2-300x164.webp)
Download the beta release of Windows Server 2012 Essentials today!
What an exciting time to be part of the Windows Server team! Earlier this week we announced the RTM and general availability of Windows Server 2012 in conjunction with the Windows 8 team’s announcement of their dates. Since then we’ve seen a steady stream of exciting news coming out of Toronto where the 2012 World![a person sitting in a chair talking on the phone](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Person-working-on-a-desktop-3-300x164.webp)
Windows Server 2012 final release timing
Today Microsoft is kicking off an exciting week at our Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto. Windows Server 2012 will be a focus of attention at the event, of course, and it is nearing final release. In fact, at the conference we are announcing that Windows Server 2012 will be released to manufacturing in the first![a man sitting in a chair talking on a cell phone](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Two-people-on-a-tablet-3-1-300x164.webp)
Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate available now
Great news! We reached another important milestone on the road to the final release of the cloud optimized OS: Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate (RC) is available now for download and evaluation. If you haven’t yet started exploring the wide range of new features and capabilities, this new pre-release version is an ideal time to![a person standing in front of a whiteboard](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IT-Pro-portrait-in-modern-office-300x164.jpg)