If I had to pick the one sweet spot in Server 2012 that not only is a major impetus for organizations already running Windows to upgrade to Server 2012, but also has the potential to attract new Windows Server 2012 deployments, it would be Hyper-V.

Server 2012 introduces the latest version of Hyper-V: Hyper-V R3. Hyper-V R3 is bundled with Server 2012 and is also available as a free, standalone product.

Microsoft’s virtualization solution Hyper-V has gotten many new features and enhancements since Server 2008 R2’s release—so much so that Hyper-V has finally evolved into a sophisticated enough virtualization solution to make it a deadly threat for market share against dominant VMware.

Here’s a little background on the virtualization space. There are three major players in the virtualization market: Citrix, VMware, and Microsoft. The three have offerings targeted to both SMB (small- to medium-size business) and enterprise. VMware currently has the edge in market share. Microsoft, however, has been persistently making headway, and industry analysts report that Hyper-V is the second most widely used virtualization platform.