In Pictures: Top 25 network and IT industry stories of 2012

New Look Windows

Microsoft’s huge year for new products included the rollout of Windows 8 for servers and clients, Windows Phone 8 for smartphones, the Surface tablet, Office 2013 and Cloud OS, to name the major ones. Microsoft hasn’t been shy about promoting the technologies either, with speculation that it shelled out $1 billion-plus to push Win8, even working it into the storyline of a TV sitcom. While Microsoft rolled out lots of new software, CEO Steve Ballmer is now calling Microsoft a “devices and services” company. Meanwhile, the product overhauls weren’t without drama: Win8 chief Steve Sinofsky left Microsoft shortly after the revamped Windows debuted.