Microsoft Renames Windows 8 Server to Windows Server 2012

What’s in a name? Unless you’re Shakespeare, you have bigger things to worry about, which is why Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced the new name for its server edition of Windows 8 (hold your breath): Windows Server 2012.

At the Microsoft Management Summit 2012, April 16-20 in Las Vegas, Corporate VP Brad Anderson spilled the beans on the company’s cloud-optimized OS, following up a Windows 8 blog earlier this week detailing Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT — the three different flavors of the client version of Windows 8 available later this year.

According to the post, the first two versions, Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro, are designed for PCs and tablets powered by x86 processors (both 32-bit and 64-bit) and include an updated Windows Explorer and Task Manager, better multimonitor support and the ability to switch languages on the fly (Sprechen sie Deutsche, Microsoft?). The Pro version, meanwhile, offers features for encryption, virtualization, PC management and domain connectivity. Windows Media Center will be available as an “media pack” add-on to the Pro edition.

The newest member of the Windows family, RT — also known as Windows on ARM, or WOA — includes touch-optimized desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, and these applications have been architected for both touch and minimized power consumption.

Interested in checking out a preview of Windows 8? Microsoft invites users to download it at their leisure.