If you've been under a rock for the past few days, you may have missed the news: October 18th was a big

day, with three major Microsoft products officially becoming generally available: Windows 8.1, Windows

Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2.

As the Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform team explain on their blog, these releases will help IT pros achieve

the goal of people-centric IT. Click here to find out more about how these products can help you achieve this goal.

It is worth pointing out as well that a new Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform website has been launched,

featuring entirely redesigned pages focused on R2 - give it a look if you haven't yet!

As always, full featured evaluations are available, so head to the TechNet Evaluation Center to give

them a spin!

Hi everyone,

Am happy to share that TechNet LIVE, our free online training for IT pros is back in November!

While Jeff and Macca hit the road around the country, we’ve invited some guest
speakers in to take over the mic for a little while.

Coming up first next Friday morning from 11am-12.30pm is Shashank Pawar and 
James Crashaw’s session Cloud OS for Databases – Technical Overview.

If you missed these guys at TechEd, or weren’t able to attend, this is a great chance to
catch up from the comfort of your home or office via Lync.

In this session, Shashank and James will take you through how the new technologies
in SQL Server, Windows Server, and Microsoft System Center work together to 
enable customers to run demanding SQL server workloads, consolidate sprawl,
and reduce costs. They will review key data platform scenarios, benefits and latest
best practices of running a Windows Server based private cloud. You will walk out with
with a deep understanding of how to use these product combinations as a whole.

We hope to have you join us! Register now to attend.