Windows Server 2016 available!

Microsoft released Windows Server 2016 at the start of Ignite in Atlanta. So far, however, the new server operating system can only be downloaded as a demo version (evaluation version):

Windows Server 2016 Evaluation

The evaluation version is 5 GB in size and is also available in German. As of today, no version is available in MSDN. But I don't think it will be long now.

Windows Server 2016 will be available to buy from October.

Information on what's new with Windows Server 2016 can be found here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/windows-server

Here you can find information on the system requirements:

https://technet.microsoft.com/windows-server-docs/get-started/system-requirements–and-installation

Note: The evaluation versions are only intended for testing and trying out, not for productive operation.

I'm already starting to test, so here are a few screenshots of the installation:

Windows Server 2016 will be available in 3 editions:

• Standard
• Data center
• Essentials (maximum 25 users)

After installation, Server 2016 is indistinguishable from Windows 10 at first glance:

After logging in, the familiar Server Manager appears:

Updates are already available:

So while I update my test VM, here is some information about the editions, here are the feature differences:

I think it's a bit of a shame that the new storage features are only available in the Datacenter Edition.

Important to know: The licensing model changes with Windows Server 2016. From now on, CPU cores must be licensed:

CPUs with more than 8 cores require extra licenses:

I will be presenting the new features in more detail soon. I'm installing a small test environment first, so that will take some time. Exchange Server 2016 CU3 is also supported on Server 2016, so I'll probably try that out first.