It's a modern-style desktop application that gives you an overview of running services from its dashboard, as well as launching the familiar Windows Server management tools and handling role and feature installation.

Windows Server 2012 R2 is configured, like Server 2012, via Server Manager. That shouldn't be surprising Microsoft has been talking about Windows Server as a key component in its Cloud OS for some time, and those are the key features needed to build and run a cloud service on Windows Server. The real changes are under the surface, with significant enhancements to Hyper-V, Storage Spaces and to Active Directory. When it comes to the user interface, there's little difference between Windows Server 2012 R2 and its predecessor. It's only when you start to delve into the details that you find just how many changes there are. Windows Server 2012 R2 looks very like its predecessor. Although we've found that a Surface RT's 1366-by-768 screen is just the right size for working with a remote Windows Server 2012 R2, not everyone has the option of using the touch features Microsoft has put into its server. You can also turn off hot corner support for Windows 8-style navigation, a feature that comes in handy if you're using a non-touch-enabled monitor or a remote desktop.

Server 2012 R2 boots to the Start Screen, although there's the option of choosing boot to desktop. We were able to get up and running in just a few minutes, only needing to choose keyboard and language options. Like Windows Server 2012, R2 has two installation options: a full GUI and the command-line-only Server Core. Although that meant we were unable to look at some of the new Hyper-V features in R2, it gave us a good picture of what you'll need to know when setting up Microsoft's latest server. Microsoft recently released a preview build of Windows Server 2012 R2, and we installed it as a Hyper-V virtual machine running on a Windows Server 2012 system.

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