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Windows Server 2025
Microsoft's current-generation server OS, adding hotpatching (install security updates without a reboot), expanded Storage/Hyper-V performance work, and further secured-core hardening over Server 2022.
Platform
Windows
Released
November 2024
Support ends
Still supported
System requirements
1.4 GHz 64-bit CPU, 512MB RAM (2GB for Server with Desktop Experience), 32GB storage minimum.
Windows Server 2025 is the current flagship release, with hotpatching as its most operationally significant addition -- the ability to apply many security updates without a full server reboot, directly addressing one of the most disruptive parts of running a fleet of production servers. It also extends secured-core protections, adds performance improvements to Storage Spaces Direct and Hyper-V, and continues Microsoft's Azure Arc hybrid-management integration. It's the recommended target for new server deployments and for organizations planning their migration off Server 2012 R2/2016, whose support windows have already closed or are closing soon.
Release dates, support windows, and system requirements come from Microsoft's and Apple's own published lifecycle pages (linked above) — always confirm there before relying on this for a production/enterprise deployment decision, since support policies occasionally change.