Windows Server? – What Windows Server?

In a comment to one of my previous posts Dmitry asked:

“I'd like to find details about different versions of Microsoft Windows like Server 2008, HPC Server 2008 and HPC Server 2008 R2. What is the difference between them? It's very hard to find a table which would give such comparison.

Is R2 just an update of existing version or this is redesigned version?

What is the difference from applications' point of view? …”

Thanks for your questions! There’s lots of pages you find detailed information about all different flavors of Windows Server. I want to point out 3 pages I find particularly informative.

The first page “New and Updated Features in Windows Server 2008 R2” seems to be exactly what you are looking for Dmitry. It contains a summarized version of all new and updated features for Windows Server 2008 R2 and which edition they are supported on.

The second one is called “Overview of Editions”.

This page does a good job listing the different SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) of Windows Server and their key benefits. Clicking on the individual images on that pages leads to more in-depth information about the editions.

Did you know there’s a Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium based Systems edition? Of course you did. Find out about the key scenarios about Windows Server on IA64 by clicking the image.

The third page, named “Differentiated Feature Comparison by Edition” is awesome. It lists OS features and which Windows Server edition has it and which doesn’t.

Regardless which one you choose, make sure you check out the navigation bar on the right side of the page. It says “Editions Information” in bold.

There’s much more comparison info available via the links in this box.

Enjoy!