First published on CloudBlogs on Aug, 14 2013
As some of you may have
already noticed
, earlier this morning Microsoft announced that Windows 8.1 will be available to consumers and businesses worldwide on
October 18, 2013
.
But before you start your 8.1 party (with a DJ in a data center,
for example
), there’s
even more
good news:
I'm excited to announce that, on the
same
day, eligible customers will be able to download
Windows Server 2012 R2
and
System Center 2012 R2
, as well as the latest update to
Windows Intune
! We’ll make evaluation versions available through the
TechNet Evaluation Center
, and these products will be available for new purchases when they hit the price list on November 1st.
Is it a coincidence that this will be
501st anniversary
of Michelangelo exhibiting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the first time? If you love great works of art, then it’s up to you to decide.
Just a few weeks ago I wrote about the
common planning efforts and engineering milestones
we shared during the development of this R2 wave – and seeing these products and services become generally available on the same day (with all their integrated scenarios!) is the ultimate benefit!
I encourage you to keep learning about the 2012 R2 releases via our “
What’s New in 2012 R2
” series on this blog, and also download the
preview bits
if you haven’t already done it.
