Windows Server 2012, codenamed ”Windows Server 8", is the sixth version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It is the server version of Windows based on Windows 8 and succeeds Windows Server 2008 R2, which is derived from the Windows 7 codebase, released nearly three years earlier. Two pre-release versions, a developer preview and a beta version, were released during development. The software was officially launched on September 4, 2012, which was the month before the release of Windows 8. A successor was released on October 18, 2013, entitled Windows Server 2012 R2. Its mainstream support ended on October 9, 2018, and extended support will end on October 10, 2023. Windows Server 2012 is eligible for the paid Extended