
Microsoft has released a pdf comparison chart, outlining the feature differences between the various editions of Server 2012. In place of integrated Exchange, Essentials offers "integrated management" of an existing Exchange environment (on-premise or hosted, including Office365 hosted-Exchange).Įven without the included SQL, SharePoint or Exchange products, Server Essentials is a significantly different platform than the Standard or Datacenter editions of Server 2012. Previous versions of Small Business Server were available with integrated versions of other products Microsoft offered commercially (MS SQL server, SharePoint and Exchange), and the required licenses included, however, this practice has been discontinued with Server Essentials 2012.


First off, Windows Server Essentials is the replacement for Windows Small Business Server, which was discontinued/renamed with the release of Windows Server 2012.
