Windows Server (formerly Windows NT Server) is a group of
serveroperating systems (OS) that has been developed by
Microsoft since 1993. The first OS that was released for this platform is
Windows NT 3.1 Advanced Server, an edition of Windows NT 3.1. With the release of
Windows Server 2003, Microsoft started releasing new versions under the name Windows Server. The latest release of Windows Server is
Windows Server 2022, which was released in 2021.
Windows NT 3.1 Advanced Server was released on July 27, 1993[citation needed] as an edition of Windows NT 3.1, an operating system aimed towards business and server use. As with its Workstation counterpart, Windows NT 3.1 Advanced Server was a 32 bit rewrite of the Windows kernel that retained a similar use interface to Windows 3.1. Unlike the latter, however, Windows NT 3.1 Advanced Server was a complete operating system that did not need to be run from
DOS. Windows NT 3.1 Advanced Server, like its Workstation counterpart, featured new features such as
multiuser support and
preemptive multitasking.[3]
In 1994, Microsoft released Windows NT Server 3.5. It introduced
TCP/IP and
Winsock support integrated into the operating system, alongside the ability to use
FTP. It also supported VFAT.[citation needed]
In 1995, Microsoft released Windows NT Server 3.51, an update to Windows NT Server 3.5, which added NTFS compression and support for the
PowerPC architecture.[citation needed]
In 1996, Microsoft released Windows NT Server 4.0. It added the new user interface introduced in
Windows 95 the previous year. In addition, it dropped support for the PowerPC, Alpha, and MIPS architectures. Microsoft updated Winsock to version 2 and IIS 2.0 and FrontPage are included.[citation needed]
Traditionally, Microsoft supports Windows Server for 10 years, with five years of mainstream support and an additional five years of extended support. These releases also offer a complete
desktop experience. Starting with Windows Server 2008, Server Core and Nano Server configurations were made available to reduce the OS footprint.[13][14] Between 2015 and 2021, Microsoft referred to these releases as "
long-term support" releases to set them apart from semi-annual releases (see below.)
For sixteen years, Microsoft released a major version of Windows Server every four years, with one minor version released two years after a major release. The minor versions had an "R2" suffix in their names. In October 2018, Microsoft broke this tradition with the release of Windows Server 2019, which should have been "Windows Server 2016 R2". Windows Server 2022 is also a minor upgrade over its predecessor.[15][16]
Branded releases
Certain editions of Windows Server have a customized name:
Windows Storage Server (editions of Windows Server 2003 through 2016; editions of Windows Server IoT 2019 and its successors)[17][18][19]
Azure Stack
HCI (an edition of Windows Server 2019 and later)[25]
Semi-Annual releases (discontinued)
Following the release of Windows Server 2016, Microsoft attempted to mirror the lifecycle of Windows 10 in the Windows Server family, releasing new versions twice a year which were supported for 18 months. These semi-annual versions were only available as part of Microsoft subscription services, including Software Assurance, Azure Marketplace, and
Visual Studio subscriptions,[26] until their discontinuation in July 2021.[27][26]
The semi-annual releases do not include any desktop environments. Instead, they are restricted to the Nano Server configuration installed in a
Dockercontainer,[14][26] and the Server Core configuration, licensed only to serve as a container host.[14][26]
Windows Server, version 1709 (unsupported as of April 9, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-04-09))
Windows Server, version 1803 (unsupported as of November 12, 2019; 4 years ago (2019-11-12))
Windows Server, version 1809 (unsupported as of November 10, 2020; 3 years ago (2020-11-10))
Windows Server, version 1903 (unsupported as of December 8, 2020; 3 years ago (2020-12-08))
Windows Server, version 1909 (unsupported as of May 11, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-05-11))
Windows Server, version 2004 (unsupported as of December 14, 2021; 2 years ago (2021-12-14))
Windows Server, version 20H2 (unsupported as of August 9, 2022; 22 months ago (2022-08-09))[29][30][31][32]
Annual releases
The Annual Channel was first announced on July 2023, with the first version being released on September the same year. Unlike the Semi-Annual releases, each Annual Channel release would receive six months of extended support in addition to the 18 months of regular support. Annual releases are made available every twelve months, hence the name. Datacenter is the only edition available.
^"Announcing Windows Server Preview Build 26212". Microsoft Tech Community. May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024. when reporting issues please refer to "VNext" rather than Windows Server 2022 which is currently in market.