Microsoft has announced the general availability of Windows Server 2025, the latest iteration in our Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) releases. Building on the robust foundation of its predecessors, Windows Server 2025 introduces advanced security features, improved performance, and enhanced cloud agility. With a focus on safeguarding your data and infrastructure, this release includes multilayered security enhancements, such as fortified Active Directory capabilities and SMB hardening. Additionally, Windows Server 2025 offers seamless hybrid cloud integration, enabling flexible deployment across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments. Experience fewer disruptions with hotpatching capabilities and enjoy a modernized server experience tailored to meet your diverse needs.
What's New?
There are quite a few new and improved features with this release of Windows Server and Microsoft will likely continue to add more over the next few years.
Hotpatching: Enables seamless software updates with minimal disruption by applying patches without requiring reboots.
Enhanced Active Directory: Improved scalability and security with a 32k database page size and new cryptographic support.
SMB over QUIC: Provides secure access to file shares over the internet with hardened firewall defaults and protections against various attacks.
Delegate Managed Service Accounts (dMSA): Simplifies password management by allowing automatic handling of service account passwords.
Accelerated Networking (AccelNet): Reduces latency, jitter, and CPU utilization for virtual machines by using high-performance SR-IOV data paths.
Block Cloning Support: Enhances performance when copying files by leveraging the ReFS file system format.
Credential Guard: Protects NTLM password hashes, Kerberos Ticket Granting Tickets, and credentials stored by apps from theft.
GPU Partitioning: Allows for better utilization of GPU resources for AI and machine learning tasks.
Improved Storage Performance: Delivers up to 60% more storage IOPs performance compared to Windows Server 2022.
DTrace: A native tool for monitoring and troubleshooting system performance.
These features aim to enhance security, performance, and flexibility, making Windows Server 2025 a robust platform for modern IT infrastructure.
Downloading
You can download a 180 day evaluation for Windows Server 2025 ISO or VHD from the official Microsoft website at:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-2025
If you have volume or perpetual licensing you will need to follow the steps provided in the relevant documentation provided with these services.
