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Windows Server 2025
| Version of Microsoft Windows | |
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 | |
| OS family | Windows 11 (NT 10.0) |
|---|---|
| Version | 24H2 |
| Semester | Germanium |
| Architecture | AMD64, ARM64 |
| Latest build | 10.0.26100.2314 |
| Release date | 2024-11-01 |
| Support end | 2034-10-10 |
| Client counterpart | |
| Windows 11 2024 Update | |
| Replaces | |
| Windows Server 2022 (LTSC) Windows Server, version 23H2 (AC) | |
Windows Server 2025 is the current long term servicing channel release of Windows Server, which was released on 1 November 2024.[1] The operating system was announced on 26 January 2024.[2]
Main changes[edit | edit source]
Active Directory[edit | edit source]
The functional levels for Active Directory domains and forests have been updated to level 10 to accommodate for an architectural overhaul in the Extensible Storage Engine that extends the overall database paging size to 32,768 pages and incorporates the use of 64-bit long value IDs, along with the addition of new attributes towards the Active Directory schema.
Windows Update[edit | edit source]
Hotpatching, a feature that allows system updates to be applied on top of a live system without the need for reboots, has been extended to support all applicable Windows Server editions rather than being limited to select releases such as Datacenter: Azure Edition and Azure Stack HCI.
Build upgrades through the Windows Update service (via the Unified Update Platform) are now supported; this also includes upgrades instituted via the Windows Insider Program.
Hyper-V[edit | edit source]
Virtual machines now support discrete device management, allowing the host machine to allocate graphics processing units to individual VMs for large workloads. GPU partitioning has been implemented into the operating system, allowing servers to reserve memory for one GPU across multiple virtual machines at once in a multi-GPU configuration.
File storage[edit | edit source]
Performance optimizations have been made to network-attached storage servers with NVMe 2.0 drives through the introduction of a TCP-based initiator. Native support for data compression in storage replicas and within the ReFS file system has been introduced, and thin disk provisioning support has been added to the Storage Spaces feature.
Server Message Block (SMB)[edit | edit source]
NTLM authentication requests can now be throttled over a set duration of time (via the Set-SmbServerConfiguration parameter -InvalidAuthenticationDelayTimeInMs) if a user sends a bad request. Server Message Block requests are now signed in all Windows releases by default in an effort to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, and new group policies for minimum and maximum SMB versions have also been added.
Deprecations[edit | edit source]
A number of features are part of a gradual phase-out process. The NTLM security protocol has been replaced by Kerberos to prevent further future pass the hash and SMBRelay attacks against existing user accounts. Remote mailslots (a dated and simple IPC method that is both unreliable and insecure) have also been deprecated, and are disabled by default, as is the WebDAV Redirector service. TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 have been deprecated by internet standards and regulatory bodies due to various security concerns. Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is no longer actively developed, however all the existing capabilities and content continue to be available.
The VBScript scripting engine is deprecated as of Windows Server 2025, following its deprecation in the client editions of Windows 11, however it is still installed by default. The Windows Management Instrumentation Command line (WMIC) tool has also been deprecated, and is not installed by default. Microsoft recommends migrating to PowerShell for programmatically querying WMI, automating tasks, custom actions, or scripts.
The Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine has been removed: applications, and components should be migrated to PowerShell 5.0+. The IIS 6.0 Management Console (Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console) has been removed after being no longer developed in Windows Server 2019. Microsoft recommends migrating from IIS 6.0 or earlier versions, to the latest version of IIS. The SMTP Server features has been removed from Windows Server 2025: Microsoft provide no replacement within the operating system, and recommends using Microsoft Exchange Server or a non-Microsoft SMTP server as an alternative.
WordPad has also been removed from Windows Server 2025. Microsoft recommends Microsoft Word for reading and editing rich text documents like .doc and .rtf.[3]
List of known builds[edit | edit source]
Available build Confirmed build Unconfirmed build Fake build Insider Preview[edit | edit source]
Gallium[edit | edit source]
Development of Gallium fluently transitioned into Germanium around build 25941 and did not enter a stabilization phase usually associated with the creation of release branches.
Germanium[edit | edit source]
Canary Channel[edit | edit source]
For builds from the
ge_prerelease branch, see Germanium.Preview[edit | edit source]
Preview Updates[edit | edit source]
General availability[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/windows-server-release-info
- ↑ Woolsey, Jeff. Introducing Windows Server 2025!, Windows Server News and Best Practices. 26 January 2024.
- ↑ Microsoft Corporation. Features removed or no longer developed starting with Windows Server 2025 (preview), Microsoft Learn. 21 September 2024, accessed 28 September 2024.
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