

(There are also differences around locks and limits that are not in the scope of this blog.)

The key difference regarding the deployment is that in Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, the role is pre-enabled and the configuration wizard is configured to pop up automatically when a user logs on to the computer. From a technical perspective, features are packaged into the Windows Server Essentials Experience role in exactly the same way. We use a consistent architecture across the following editions: Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, and Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard and Datacenter. , the features in Windows Server Essentials are being released in both Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and as the Windows Server Essentials Experience server role in Windows Server 2012 R2. In the Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials release, we’ve made major investments into making our deployment available as a server role. Previously, we heard a lot of feedback that users want rich features in Windows Server Essentials to be available more broadly beyond the Windows Server Essentials edition. I’m honored today to introduce the new deployment story for Windows Server Essentials. My name is Mike Chen, a program manager working on the Windows Server Essentials Deployment team. First published on TechNet on Sep 16, 2013
