Windows Server 2025 – New Active Directory

Nowadays the new upcoming Windows Server is a controversial subject. So we decided to discuss Windows Server 2025, its release date, its features, and the new Active Directory which has lots of improvements. Based on the latest preview release of the new upcoming server, which is expected to be Windows Server 2025, we want to take a brief look at Windows Server 2025.

Introduce Windows Server 2025 – New Active Directory and New Features

Currently, Windows Server 2022 is the latest version and it will supported until October 14, 2031. But there is an upcoming server version that is considered to be the next supported version which is Windows Server 2025.

Windows Server 2025 Release Date

As you may know, the Windows server has been released every 2 or 3 years. So it is expected that Windows Server 2025 will come out in 2024. However, there is no information published on the official site. With the latest insider preview release, we expect that Windows Server 2025 will come soon.

When you look at the server version release date, it is considered you have Windows Server 2025 in 2024.

As you saw, from Windows Server 2016, every 2 or 3 years, the new version is released. So it is expected to have Windows Server 2025 in 2024.

At this point, we want to discuss the new features and improvements in this upcoming version.

New Active Directory in Windows Server 2025

As you may know, Microsoft introduced some of the new features in the Windows Server Insider Preview for Active Directory. Now we want to discuss some improvements in the New active directory. Let’s begin with the functional levels in the AD.

AD Functional Levels

• Forest Functional Level

Support for the new forest functional level is introduced and it is also suitable for Active Directory Lightweight Domain Services. These levels are for general support including the support of the 32K database.

There is no functional level planned for Windows Server 2019 and 2022. Windows Server 2016 has DomainLevel 7 and ForestLevel 7. It is considered that Windows Server 2025 has DomainLevel 10 and ForestLevel 10.

• Minimum Requirements

These functional levels must work at a minimum functional level of Windows Server 2016.

• AD Schema Updates

In the new active directory schema, two additional LFD files including sch89.ldf and sch90.ldf, extend the schema. Also, the MS-ADAM-Upgrade3.ldf applies equivalent updates for AD LDS.

• Improve Scaling and Performance

One of the best improvements is to upgrade the 8k to 32k database page size. This will circumvent the previous limitation. After the installation, new domain controllers will employ a 32k page database and utilize 64-bit Long Value IDs, maintaining compatibility through an “8k page mode”.

• Supportability

At this point, the performance controllers are used for different functions monitoring and troubleshooting for the client and server-specific counters.

• Improve Security Features

In the new active directory, security advanced features are introduced in LDAP support, cryptographic upgrades in Kerberos, and other security-related enhancements.

These are the features introduced in the preview builder, but there is no official information about Windows Server 2025. Microsoft tries to provide a new improved server with cloud solutions, advanced command-line utilities, and enhanced storage solutions.

Will there be Windows Server 2025?

We expected the new server version to come soon according to the preview release. It is assumed that we have Windows Server 2025 in 2024.

What is the last version of Windows Server?

Currently, Windows Server 2022 is the latest version of the popular server operating system developed by Microsoft. You can get Windows Server 2022 guides and articles, by visiting the Windows Server Tutorials.

How often is Windows Server released?

Typically, a new version of the server is released every 2 or 3 years. So we expected to have the new version in 2024.

Conclusion

At this point, we try to discuss the upcoming new Windows server which is considered to be Windows Server 2025, and explain the New Active Directory improvements and features. We can’t say anything exactly until the official site introduces the new version and its features. Stay in touch and every time we get the new information we will share it with you. Hope you enjoy it.

Also, there is a discussion on a new Windows Client which is considered to be Windows 12. You can visit this guide on Windows 12 Introduction – Release Date and Features to get information about it.