Windows Server 2012 Editions

Microsoft announced the new four simplified versions of Windows Server 2012. The editions include a Datacenter, Standard, Essentials and Foundation which are for different scenarios. Microsoft with kill the Windows Server Enterprise edition which was available other versions of Windows Server such was Windows Server 2008 R2.

Also interesting is that there is no difference between functionality in the Datacenter and the Standard edition. In former versions of Windows Server Standard edition the Failover Cluster feature and some other parts were missing.

Editions Overview

Edition	Ideal for…	High Level Feature Comparison	Licensing Model	Pricing Open NL (US$)
Datacenter	Highly virtualized private & hybrid cloud environments	Full Windows Server functionality with unlimited virtual instances	Processor + CAL*	$4,809**
Standard	Low density or non- virtualized environments	Full Windows Server functionality with two virtual instances	Processor + CAL*	$882**
Essentials	Small business environments	Simpler interface, pre-configured connectivity to cloud based services; no virtualization rights	Server (25 User Account Limit)	$425**
Foundation	Economical general purpose server	General purpose server functionality with no virtualization rights	Server (15 User Account Limit)	OEM Only

Here you can get more information about the new Windows Server 2012 editions.

And don’t for get there will be still a free edition of Hyper-V Server.