Here you find a quick overview over the available editions
| Edition | Purpose | Features | POSE Instances | VOSE Instances | Retail | Volume Licensing | OEM | Licensing | RAM-Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2012 Foundation | Small companies, which do not want to use virtualization technology and only need basic funtionality | Basic server functionality. No virtualization. | 1 | 0 | No | No | Yes | Server which is limited to 15 user accounts | 32 GB RAM |
| Windows Server 2012 Essentials | Small companies | Easy GUI, some prededfined connectivity to Microsoft cloud solutions. No virtualization, but can be runed virtualizised. | 1 (POSE or VOSE) | 1 (POSE or VOSE) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Server which is limited to 25 user accounts | 64 GB RAM |
| Windows Server 2012 Standard | Companies which want to use a “little” virtualization | Complete functionality with two virtual instances | 1 | 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Server & cal needed | 4 TB RAM |
| Windows Server 2012 Datacenter | High virtualizised private & hybrid cloud | Complete functionality with any virtual instances | 1 | Unlimited | No | Yes | Yes | Server & cal needed | 4 TB RAM |
POSE – Physical operating system environment
VOSE – Virtual operating system environment