Windows Server 2012: Windows 8-based member of the Windows Server server operating systems line

It is the server version of Windows 8 and succeeds Windows Server 2008 R2. Two pre-release versions, a developer preview and a beta version, were released during development. The software was generally available to customers starting on September 4, 2012.It's mainstream support ended on October 9, 2018 and extended support ended on October 10, 2023. Windows Server 2012 is eligible for the paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) program (free for Azure Virtual Desktop users). It allows to purchase Security Updates for 3 years, in early installments. Security Updates are available for the operating system until October 13, 2026.

Windows Server 2012

Screenshot of Windows Server 2012. Login screen showing the windows user password and user image.
Developer	Microsoft
OS family	Windows Server
Source model	Proprietary software
Released to manufacturing	September 4, 2012
Latest release	6.2 (Build 9200) / August 1, 2012
Latest preview	R2 6.3 (Build 9600) / October 17, 2013
Kernel type	Hybrid kernel
Default user interface	Windows shell (GUI)
License	Commercial proprietary software
Preceded by	Windows Server 2008 R2 (2009)
Succeeded by	Windows Server 2012 R2 (2013)
Official website	Windows Server 2012 (archived at Wayback Machine))
Support status
Supported Start date: October 30, 2012. Mainstream support ended on October 9, 2018; Extended support ended on October 10, 2023; 6 months ago (2023-10-10) Windows Server 2012 is eligible for the paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) program (free for Azure Virtual Desktop users). It allows to purchase Security Updates for 3 years, in early installments. Security Updates are available for the operating system until October 13, 2026.

Unlike its predecessor, Windows Server 2012 has no support for Itanium-based computers, and has four editions. Various features were added or improved over Windows Server 2008 R2 (with many placing an emphasis on cloud computing), such as an updated version of Hyper-V, an IP address management role, a new version of Windows Task Manager, and ReFS, a new file system. Windows Server 2012 received generally good reviews in spite of having included the same controversial Metro-based user interface seen in Windows 8.

The successor to Windows Server 2012, called Windows Server 2012 R2, was released along with Windows 8.1 in October 2013. A service pack, formally designated Windows Server 2012 R2 Update, was released in April 2014.

Windows Server 2012, codenamed "Windows Server 8", is the sixth release of Windows Server family of operating systems developed concurrently with Windows 8. It was not until April 17, 2012 that the company announced that the final product name would be "Windows Server 2012".

Microsoft introduced Windows Server 2012 and its developer preview in the BUILD 2011 conference on September 9, 2011. However, unlike Windows 8, the developer preview of Windows Server 2012 was only made available to MSDN subscribers. It included a graphical user interface (GUI) based on Metro design language and a new Server Manager, a graphical application used for server management. On February 16, 2012, Microsoft released an update for developer preview build that extended its expiry date from April 8, 2012 to January 15, 2013.

Before Windows Server 2012 was finalized, two test builds were made public. A public beta version of Windows Server 2012 was released along with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview on February 29, 2012. The release candidate of Windows Server 2012 was released on May 31, 2012, along with the Windows 8 Release Preview.

The product was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012 and became generally available on September 4, 2012. However, not all editions of Windows Server 2012 were released at the same time. Windows Server 2012 Essentials was released to manufacturing on October 9, 2012 and was made generally available on November 1, 2012. As of September 23, 2012, all students subscribed to DreamSpark program can download Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter free of charge.