The most recent Windows Server 2025 improvements include a host of security, performance, and flexibility enhancements. With a strong foundation established by its predecessor, this latest Windows Server version offers faster storage options, hybrid cloud environment integration, and a better infrastructure management experience.
The main Win Server 2025 developments are in the following areas: desktop experience, advanced multilayer security, Hyper-V, AI, and performance, storage, Azure Arc and hybrid configurations, Software-Defined Networking, and Windows container portability.
Now let’s review these improvement areas and highlight the main novelties in each.
Version 2025 Upgrade Options
With Windows Server 2025, Microsoft allows an in-place upgrade of up to four versions at a time, i.e. you can upgrade to Windows Server 2025 from Windows Server 2012 R2 or later. If you have Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022 devices, you can upgrade your version directly to Server 2025 through Windows Update in Settings.
Windows Server 2025 Desktop Features
The desktop shell experience now mirrors the style of Windows 11 upon initial sign-in. Other general improvements include:
- Bluetooth connectivity: In Windows Server 2025, mice, keyboards, headsets, and other devices can be connected via Bluetooth.
- DTrace Tool: A powerful monitoring and troubleshooting tool allowing real-time performance evaluation without modifying code.
- Improved Email & Account Settings: The Email & Accounts section now supports adding Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft account, and work or school account types.
- Feedback Hub: Windows Feedback Hub facilitates user submissions for feedback and issue reporting.
- File Compression & Pinned Apps: The new compression feature supports ZIP, 7z, and TAR formats; Added option to customise your experience by pinning the most used apps in the Start menu.
- Wi-Fi improvement: Wi-Fi setup is improved as the Wireless LAN Service feature is installed by default.
- Windows Terminal: Addition of Windows Terminal, a multishell command-line application for command-line users.
Win Server 2025 Enhanced Multilayered Security Features
- Hotpatch (preview): This new functionality allows security updates to be applied without system restart when connected to Azure Arc (in the preview stage).
- Credential Guard: Default-enabled feature on devices meeting the requirements to enhance security measures.
- Delegated Managed Service Account: This new account type enables migration from a service account to a delegated Managed Service Account.
- Windows Local Administrator Password Solution: Several new features introduce new automatic account management, a new passphrase feature and an improved readability password dictionary among others.
- OpenSSH tool is now installed by default.
- Virtualisation-based security enclaves & key protection: VBS enclaves enable sensitive workload isolation from the host application and the rest of the system. VBS key protection is designed to thwart exfiltration attacks initiated by any attacker with admin-level access.
New Active Directory Services functionalities and capabilities
- Database Page Size: A 32k database page size is introduced to improve scalability and functionality.
- Schema Updates: Three new log database files extending the Active Directory schema.
- Object Repair & Channel Binding: New object repair options and audit support for LDAP channel binding.
- Improved algorithms for Name/SID Lookups & DC-location.
- Improved security for confidential attributes and default machine account passwords: Active Directory now uses randomly generated default computer account passwords. LDAP can add, search, and modify operations involving confidential attributes in encrypted connections.
Secured connectivity
- SMB over QUIC: This server feature, previously only available in Windows Server Azure Edition, is now added in both Windows Server Standard and Windows Server Datacenter editions. Administrators have the option to disable the SMB over QUIC client using either Group Policy or PowerShell.
- SMB alternative ports: Connect to alternative TCP, QUIC, and RDMA ports.
- SMB encryption: The update is enabled for all outbound SMB client connections.
- SMB authentication rate limiter restricts the number of authentication attempts within a certain period.
- SMB signing is now mandatory by default for all outbound SMB connections.
MS Win Server 2025 Hyper-V, AI, and Performance Improvements
- Accelerated Networking: AccelNet simplifies the single root I/O virtualisation (SR-IOV) management for virtual machines hosted on Windows Server 2025 clusters.
- Hypervisor-enforced paging translation: HVPT is a security enhancement that enforces the integrity of linear address translations.
- GPU partitioning: You can share a physical GPU device with multiple virtual machines by using GPU partitioning instead of allocating the entire GPU to a single VM.
- The dynamic processor compatibility mode is updated to benefit from the new processor capabilities in a clustered environment. Dynamic processor compatibility takes advantage of the full range of processor features that are available across all servers in a cluster. The mode improves performance.
- Scalability: With Windows Server 2025, Hyper-V supports up to 4 petabytes of memory and 2,048 logical processors per host for greater virtualised workload performance and scalability. Windows Server 2025 can support a maximum of 240 TB of RAM and up to 2,048 virtual CPUs for generation 2 virtual machines.
Microsoft Windows Server 2025 Storage
- Dev Drive and Block Cloning Support: Starting with Windows 11 24H2 and Windows Server 2025, Dev Drive supports block cloning thus providing significant performance benefits.
- NVMe, the new standard for high-speed solid-state drives, is now available for Windows Server 2025, delivering optimised NVMe storage performance.
- ReFS native storage deduplication and compression: These techniques optimise storage efficiency for static and active workloads, such as file servers or virtual desktops.
- Storage Replica compression: This reduces the amount of data transferred over the network during replication.
Windows Server 2025 Azure Arc and hybrid configurations
- Azure Arc Setup: A user-friendly wizard interface and a system tray icon in the taskbar help to facilitate the process of adding servers to Azure Arc.
- Windows Server Management enabled by Azure Arc offers new benefits to customers having Windows Server licences with active Software Assurance or Windows Server active subscription licences.
Microsoft Win Server 2025 Software-Defined Networking
- Network Controller: The actual host computers are now directly hosting this SDN control plane as Failover Cluster services. Using a cluster role eliminates the need to deploy virtual machines.
- Default network policies: These policies bring Azure-like protection options to NSGs for workloads deployed through the Windows Admin Center. They ensure that workload VMs are secured from the point of creation.
- Enhanced performance of SDN layer 3 gateways.
Server 2025 Windows Containers portability
Portability is a feature of Windows Server that enables users to transfer container images and their related data across various hosts or environments without needing any changes. Users can create a container image on one host and then deploy it on another without worrying about compatibility issues.
To sum up:
In conclusion, Windows Server 2025 is not just a mere upgrade but a significant step forward in providing users with enhanced functionalities, seamless integration with modern technologies, better scalability, and robust security features. Upgrading to Windows Server 2025 is highly recommended, especially for organisations that rely on Active Directory or file services.
Still haven’t made this crucial upgrade? Contact us and fetch your Windows Server 2025 offer at the best possible terms.
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