This week at Microsoft: Windows 8, Windows Phone, and Windows Server 2012

It’s been Windows Week this past seven days, with a plethora of Microsoft products that share that title making the news. I hope that you are ready for a very firm dose of Windows.

Now, like every week, I encourage you to hit the archives for a full look at what Microsoft has been up to; we write about the company so often that containing the news into this one post is impossible. Finally, ensure that you are following TNW Microsoft on Twitter, and Facebook, and let’s get into the milieu.

Windows 8

If you were hoping that Microsoft intended on keeping Windows 8’s SKU list short, be disappointed. Yesterday the company detailed the coming ‘Enterprise’ version of the operating system. There will be at least five versions of the code, including an ARM edition, along with a localized edition that will be placed in emerging markets.

However, don’t worry too much, consumers shouldn’t get too confused:

[C]onsumers will only have one choice: Pro or not, as RT will be on certain devices and not others, so it won’t be something that can be selected, effectively. Still, the Pro/not distinction is a good one. Home Premium was a simply horrific name, and one that I can’t believe made it into the market.

With its Windows XP names now back in style, it really does feel like Vista never happened, doesn’t it?

Windows Phone

There are two things that you need know in regards to Windows Phone this week: Your current handset might not get Apollo, and sales are continuing apace.

First up, Apollo. A Microsoft dude said that like all dogs go to heaven, all Windows Phone handsets were going to make it to Windows Phone 8, codenamed Apollo. But then things went south, as conflicting reports came out to the contrary. Now no one really knows what is going down.

Microsoft responded with an anemic: “We have stated publicly that all apps in our marketplace today will run on the next version of Windows Phone. Beyond that, we have nothing to share about future releases.”

And finally, Windows Phone handsets are selling, but not at an iPhone pace. We wrote that things are still, you guessed, too early to tell. Nokia isn’t dead folks, it has too much cash.

Windows Server 2012

And finally, Windows Server 8 really is Windows Server 2012, as you probably guessed. What does it do? Glad that you asked:

Windows Server 8, in case you have forgotten, contains a new version of Hyper-V, which supports multi-tenant capabilities for cloud computing. The Azure team is sure to love that. [And] Resilient File System, or ReFS, which will grant new power to manage huge amounts of data, protecting it from corruption and other deleterious fates. In the age of Big Data, it’s an important add.

Final note: it’s coming out in calendar 2012. So you will be able to use it this year. It’s going to be a huge end of the year, as every Windows product mentioned in this post is having a major refresh before we see 2013. I’m very excited to see what ends up in the market.