in my opinion they are finally doing things right
Server-wise, yes, very right indeed. 2012 R2 is fantastic in many respects, but this is rather ruined by the massive cockup of EOLing Win 8.1 / Server 2012 R2 RTM. Unless you install the "update" (i.e. service pack) in the next 3 weeks, you're cut off from any future patches, including critical security patches.
A small concession is that the "update" security-related patche are available seperately for this month.
And if that isn't bad enough, this "update" isn't even available through WSUS yet, even though it's been out for a week.
This is only a mild pain in the ass for my small company with ~10 servers, but I dread to think what it's like for companies like HP with workstation numbers in the 6 figure range, or even worse, those who are currently mid-deployment.
And, if you experience problems with this "update" you're then left to fend for yourself. At least those who experience troubles with 8 to 8.1 (and there are plenty) can roll back and still get security patches (if not IE11)
