Software update: Microsoft Windows Server version 1903

Microsoft has released Windows Server version 1903. If you are surprised by the version number, it is best this page read from Microsoft. It comes down to the two different channels in which Windows Server is available today. The first is the long-term servicing channel, ltsc for short, with the well-known year as the version number, which will receive ten years of support, of which five years are mainstream and five years extended. These versions have a gui and can also be used without a gui. The second is the semi-annual channel, sac for short, with an indication of the release period as the version number, these receive eighteen months of support and do not contain a gui. The announcement of Windows Server version 1903 looks like this:

Windows Server version 1903 now generally available

Last month, we gave everyone a detailed sneak peek into new capabilities we are releasing with Windows Server, version 1903. Today, we are excited to announce that this release is now generally available.

Windows Server, version 1903 brings innovation to areas that matter to you, such as Containers, Edge Computing and Hybrid. You can see these capabilities enabled across our suite of server products.

Windows Server containers
We’ve introduced several new capabilities of Windows Server containers, most notably, the support of Windows Server containers in Kubernetes. Not only that, we are also bringing that support in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Check out the preview for more details.

Other enhancements include GPU Acceleration in Windows containers, and scalability improvements in the latest release of Flannel and Kubernetes v1.14.

Windows Admin Center
The latest Windows Admin Center release continues to build on hybrid cloud capabilities that make it easier than ever to leverage the benefits of the cloud from your Windows Servers. For example, you can seamlessly migrate Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 file shares to Azure, using Storage Migration Service and Azure File Sync integration in Windows Admin Center.

Check out the Windows Admin Center blog for other new capabilities.

Application Compatibility in Server Core
Server Core is the recommended Server OS for production. Server Core App Compatibility Feature on Demand (FOD) augments for improved application compatibility. The two additions to FOD this release are Task Scheduler and Hyper-V Manager.

Learn more
Refer to what’s new in Windows Server version 1903 in Windows Server docs.

Get Windows Server version 1903:

• Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC): Volume-licensed customers with Software Assurance can obtain the release by going to the Volume Licensing Service Center and clicking Sign In. Then click Downloads and Keys and search for this release.
• Visual Studio Subscriptions: Visual Studio Subscribers can obtain Windows Server, version 1903 by downloading it from the Visual Studio Subscriber download page. Releases obtained through Visual Studio Subscriptions are for development and testing only.