At Microsoft Ignite, we announced that Windows Server 2022 was in preview. This new version of Windows Server includes some exciting new capabilities such as advanced multi-layer security, which includes bringing Secured-Core to Windows Server to secure system running applications and services on Windows Server 2022. This release also includes more hybrid capabilities with Azure Arc and improvements to Storage Migration Services. Furthermore, it packs in significant improvements to the Windows container runtime such as cross-version compatibility and containerization tools for .NET, ASP.NET, and Internet Information Services (IIS) applications. You can read in more detail about these capabilities in the Windows Server 2022 announcement blog.
Since we announced the availability of the Windows Server 2022 preview on Insiders, thousands of customers have downloaded or tried it on Azure, and we received lots of helpful feedback. Many customers have indicated that they would like to start validating the new Windows Server 2022 release sooner. As a result, we decided to make the Windows Server 2022 preview also available on Azure.
We are happy to share that the preview of Windows Server is now available on the Evaluation Center and our partners and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) ecosystem can access it for validation. Whether you are planning to implement Windows Server in Azure, in your datacenter, or through a Microsoft partner, we encourage you to try this preview and leverage the innovation we have included in Windows Server 2022.
More importantly, customers with Software Assurance (SA) get more from their existing Windows Server deployments and have upgrade rights to the latest release. That way they can begin taking advantage of all that is best of breed in Windows Server 2022. Additionally, if they’re thinking about moving workloads to the cloud, SA also gets them access to Azure Hybrid Benefit where they can bring Windows Server and SQL Server on-premises licenses to Azure. We would like to encourage customers to take advantage of the current preview to accelerate deployments in their environments when Windows Server 2022 is generally available later this calendar year.
Note that we do not recommend deploying the Windows Sever 2022 preview for production workloads. Secondly, all Insider’s customers can use Windows Server 2022 and access it on the Evaluation Center.
Windows Server 2025 builds on our mission to deliver a secure and high-performance Windows Server platform tailored to meet customers’ diverse needs.
We are excited to announce that Windows Server 2025 is available in public preview and ready for you to download in the Evaluation Center.
Learn how Microsoft has been using Hotpatch with Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition to substantially reduce downtime for SQL Server databases.
