Advertisement

Windows Server releases will now receive 10 years of support; Semi-Annual Channel deprecated

Microsoft deprecates the Semi-Annual Channel of Windows Server releases. The change goes live with Windows Server 2022, which will exist in the Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) only, and will be supported for 10 years.

Microsoft expects to make Windows Server 2022 available as an LTSC version in the second half of 2021. The software is technically complete, but the company is testing it with OEM partners and customers who have chosen to evaluate the product.

Windows Server will stop receiving Semi-Annual Channel updates with version 20H2, which was released in October 2020. The previous releases, namely Windows Server 1909 and 2004 won't receive extended support as well. However, Windows Server 2016 and Server 2019 are Long-Term Servicing Channel releases. Microsoft plans to support them on the following schedule:

  • Windows Server 2016 will receive updates till 2027
  • Windows Server 2019 will receive updates till 2029

The Semi-Annual Channel hosts more recent releases with new features, which the Software giant issues twice a year. The new Long-Term Servicing Channel is a different thing. It won't receive new functionality and drastic changes. These releases will only get security and non-security updates.

With the Long-Term Servicing Channel, a new major version of Windows Server is released every 2-3 years, says the official documentation. Releases will have 5 years of mainstream support and 5 years of extended support.

The following table contains the actual support dates, provided by Microsoft.

Windows Server Support Dates

Support us

Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:

If you like this article, please share it using the buttons below. It won't take a lot from you, but it will help us grow. Thanks for your support!

Advertisеment

Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

css.php
Using Telegram? Subscribe to the blog channel!
Hello. Add your message here.