Microsoft has led a volatile life on the popularity boards, and Windows 8 did not help its cause, but the latest advancements and upgrades to Windows 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 show a clear understanding of how the market is evolving and what the business needs to thrive, not survive, in a challenging economic climate.
"Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system wasn't greeted with a round of applause; it was too complex and demanded that the business learn a new set of skills in order to get the most out of its depth of features," says Andrew Firman, product manager at Tarsus Technologies. "The software giant's answer was to build solutions to these issues into Windows 8.1, the next generation and a free upgrade. Microsoft has also ensured it works seamlessly with Windows 2012 R2, which has been developed to cope with the demands of the modern data centre."
Gartner released its predictions (1) regarding the state of the data centre through to 2014, pointing out that "the importance, role and functionality of data centres will change over the next five years, leaving many organisations unclear on how to plan their future data centre architectures".
The amendments to Windows 2012 R2 would not be amiss in a top-five list of advantages to the enterprise, especially bearing the above report in mind. This software now offers connectivity to Azure Cloud services and third-party providers, along with Oracle and VMware, to ensure a broader landscape of interoperability with legacy systems and more structural efficiency within the flow of the data centre itself. And Linux constructs are also supported by this latest incarnation. Only the most popular are there, but they are supported nonetheless.
"Microsoft has spent considerable time ensuring these upgrades fit the market and the challenges facing the organisation in 2014," says Firman. "Microsoft has paid attention to the fact that bring your own device (BYOD) is not a rare occurrence, and has ensured that Windows 2012 R2 has powerful storage, hypervisor, networking and management capabilities. In fact, both Windows 8.1 and Windows 2012 R2 have made sure they both achieve one definitive - goal ease of use."
The market needs technology that offers instant and secure interactions without hassle. To date, the Windows 8 operating system has struggled to fulfil that remit and has not had the uptake enjoyed by some of its predecessors.
Windows 8.1 is faster and finally boasts the desktop interactions of old, those that have almost become a part of genetic memory they have been around for so long. This is a huge step towards providing a solution that the channel can put to the enterprise market as an alternative to the aging Windows 7.
"The advantage of the Windows 8.1 reboot is that it gives the enterprise a level of ubiquity," concludes Firman. "They can use it on their mobile devices as easily as they can on their desktop machines, and it fits very neatly into the growing demand for adaptable technology solutions that can be securely managed and still offer the flexibility of BYOD."
Sources:
1. http://www.gartner.com/resId=2621815.
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