Microsoft roadmap covers practical and wishful technology

Some administrators crave details about any and all tech that spills from the Microsoft enterprise roadmap. Others in IT care only for the general availability release dates for Windows Server or Exchange Server.

Microsoft has two jobs. It must accommodate its traditional customer -- the ones who prefer the comfort of a predictable product release schedule. At the same time, the company tries to address the needs of more advanced users who require the flexibility of the cloud and containers.

This slideshow looks at the lineup of Microsoft future products -- from new versions of popular offerings to a new form of computing that, if successful, could solve complex problems in a few hours that would take years for the computers of today.

Companies with no plans to move to the cloud will see updates to perennial on-premises offerings, namely Exchange Server and Office. For the DevOps crowd, Microsoft tailored an offshoot of Windows Server to accelerate application development.

Keep reading to see what Microsoft has in store for its enterprise users.