Updated: July 9, 2020 (February 4, 2008)

Editions, Requirements, Activation, Upgrades

Michael analyzed and wrote about Microsoft's operating systems, including the Windows client OS, as well as compliance and governance. Michael... more

Windows Server 2008 is available in five editions:

Windows Server 2008 Standard includes most features of Windows Server 2008 but cannot be used for some roles, such as Active Directory Federation Services
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise is the main edition of the product and supports all features
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter is a high-end edition of Windows Server and is intended for large-scale applications running on servers with up to 64 processors
Windows Web Server 2008 Web is a single-purpose edition designed to support ASP.NET Web sites (that is, sites that are not candidates for Windows Server core mode because they need the .NET Framework)
Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems is intended for databases and line-of-business applications and does not run all of the features of Windows Server (such as Terminal Services or Rights Management Services).

In addition, three Windows Server 2008 stock-keeping units (SKUs) for Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions do not include Hyper-V, and their estimated retail prices will be US$28 less than the corresponding SKUs with Hyper-V.

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