Windows Server is a brand name for a group of server operating systems

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

 released by Microsoft Corporation. All are part of Microsoft Servers.

Members

This brand includes the following software:

• Windows 2000 Server
• Windows Server 2003
  Windows Server 2003
  Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...
  
  
• Windows Server 2008
  • Windows HPC Server 2008
    Windows HPC Server 2008
    Windows HPC Server 2008, released by Microsoft on 22 September 2008, is the successor product to Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003. Like WCCS, Windows HPC Server 2008 is designed for high-end applications that require high performance computing clusters . This version of the server software is...
    
    
• Windows Server 2008 R2
  Windows Server 2008 R2
  Windows Server 2008 R2 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and launched on October 22, 2009. According to the Windows Server Team blog, the retail availability was September 14, 2009. It is built on Windows NT 6.1, the same core...
  
  
• Windows Server 8 (codename) (future release)

Microsoft has also produced Windows Small Business Server and Windows Essential Business Server

Windows Essential Business Server

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 was Microsoft's server offering for mid-size businesses . It was released to manufacturing on 16 September 2008 and was officially launched on the 12 December 2008...

 (discontinued), software bundles which includes a Windows Server operating system and some other Microsoft Servers products.

Other server operating systems

The following operating systems are not part of Windows Server family but are designed for operating on server computers.

• Windows Home Server
  Windows Home Server
  Windows Home Server, code-named Quattro, is a home server operating system from Microsoft. Announced on 7 January 2007, at the Consumer Electronics Show by Bill Gates, Windows Home Server is intended to be a solution for homes with multiple connected PCs to offer file sharing, automated backups,...
  
  , a home server operating system for file sharing and streaming, automated backups, and remote access
  • Windows Home Server 2011
• Windows MultiPoint Server, an operating system that allows multiple simultaneous local users to connect to one computer