Microsoft has announced the general availability (GA) of Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016. Customers can now broadly acquire the server operating system that accelerates innovation and security of both traditional and cloud-native applications.

As a cloud-ready OS, Windows Server 2016 inherently enables hybrid cloud. It was forged in Microsofts own Azure datacenters, learning from the rigorous requirements of a global, public cloud, and includes software-defined capabilities that are fundamental to fast-paced cloud innovation. Windows Server 2016 also offers seamless portability across datacenter, private and public cloud environments via virtual machine and new container formats that can be reliably deployed wherever the business requires. Microsoft says that they will further enabled portability to Microsoft Azure with the Azure Hybrid Use Benefit that allows Windows Server VMs to be run in Azure at a discounted rate.

Customers can now broadly acquire the server operating system that accelerates innovation and security of both traditional and cloud-native applications with the general availability of Windows Server 2016, along with System Center 2016.

“As a cloud-ready OS, Windows Server 2016 inherently enables hybrid cloud. It was forged in our own Azure datacenters, learning from the rigorous requirements of a global, public cloud, and includes software-defined capabilities that are fundamental to fast-paced cloud innovation,” writes Mark Jewett, senior director of product marketing for Microsoft’s Cloud Platform.

Head over to the Hybrid Cloud blog to find out more about this general release and tune into the Oct. 13 webcast to hear the team behind Windows Server discuss and demo the new security, application and datacenter innovations found in Windows Server 2016.