Microsoft Reaches RTM Milestone With Availability Slated for October 18th

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Yesterday Microsoft announced that they had achieved a great milestone: Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 had been released to manufacturing (RTM).  This provides final software to Microsoft's hardware partners for them to complete their final system validations and in turn is the final step before putting the next generation of Windows Server in your hands. This 2012 R2 release wave is particularly exciting because so much was delivered in such a short amount of time including new features covering virtualization, storage, networking, management, access, information protection, and much more.

As you may have noticed, this release is being handled a bit differently than years past.  In previous years, Microsoft provided early access to the RTM bits to partners.  This time around, the release was built and delivered at a much faster pace than past products  To ensure that the very highest quality was achieved, Microsoft made the decision to complete the final validation phases prior to distributing the release.  This is important to us to ensure the best possible experience using R2 to build your private and hybrid cloud infrastructure is made available.

To add the next update to Windows Intune will also be available at the time of general availability inline with the release of System Center 2012 R2 bringing new inovations

Get started early to learn about the new additions to the 2012 R2 line by downloading the preview bits now: 

Also, be sure to follow @CANITPRO, Pierre Roman @PierreRoman and myself @WirelessLife for all the latest news on these upcoming releases.