MS intros Windows Server 2012

Microsoft has given its newest server software a name, Windows Server 2012, and said it would release the operating system this year, PC World writes.

During the opening keynote at the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2012, in Las Vegas, company officials slapped the name on the new software, which previously had been dubbed Windows Server 8, and announced it would ship before the end of the year.

Wired reports that Microsoft VP Brad Anderson told the audience that “nothing Microsoft has ever done has ever been as ambitious” as the features being incorporated into Windows Server 2012.

Microsoft principal product manager Jeff Woolsey walked through a few of those features, including Server 2012's storage pooling and the boosted capabilities of the Hyper-V virtual machine hypervisor.

According to PC Advisor, Windows Server 2012 is available now in beta - it has been since 1 March, the day after Microsoft released Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

However, the company did not detail additional dates, such as targets for "release candidate" (RC) or "release to manufacturing" (RTM), when the software is finished and ready to hand off for duplication and distribution to system makers.