Windows Server 2025 Released
Microsoft’s Windows Server 2025 LTSC release brings hotpatching, stronger Active Directory and SMB security, hybrid cloud options, and a 180-day evaluation download.
Microsoft has released Windows Server 2025, the latest Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) build. If you run on-prem AD, file services, or hybrid workloads, this is the release cycle worth planning around.
The headline items are stronger Active Directory and SMB security, hotpatching for fewer reboot windows, and clearer hybrid deployment paths across on-premises and cloud. Microsoft positions it as a security-forward LTSC with better storage and networking performance than Server 2022.
What’s new?
There are quite a few new and improved features with this release, and Microsoft will likely continue to add more over the next few years:
- Hotpatching: Apply software updates with minimal disruption by patching without requiring reboots.
- Active Directory improvements: Larger database page size (32k) and updated cryptographic support.
- SMB over QUIC: Secure access to file shares over the internet, with hardened firewall defaults and protections against various attacks.
- Delegated Managed Service Accounts (dMSA): Simplifies password management by automatically handling service account passwords.
- Accelerated Networking (AccelNet): Reduces latency, jitter, and CPU utilization for VMs using high-performance SR-IOV data paths.
- Block cloning support: Improves copy performance by using the ReFS file system format.
- Credential Guard: Protects NTLM password hashes, Kerberos Ticket Granting Tickets, and credentials stored by apps from theft.
- GPU partitioning: Better utilization of GPU resources for AI and machine learning tasks.
- Improved storage performance: Up to 60% more storage IOPS compared to Windows Server 2022.
- DTrace: A native tool for monitoring and troubleshooting system performance.
Read the official release notes before you commit production workloads. LTSC means a long support window, not “install and forget patching.”
Downloading
You can download a 180-day evaluation of Windows Server 2025 (ISO or VHD) from Microsoft’s Evaluation Center:
If you have volume or perpetual licensing, follow the steps in the documentation provided with those licensing services.