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Exploring Windows Server 2025: What's New and What's Changed - Part 1

·689 words·4 mins

Last month, Microsoft released Windows Server Insider build 26040, the first preview branded as Windows Server 2025. I wanted to look at what’s new and what’s changed in this release.

In this Part 1, I’ll deploy the new build, compare the available Windows Features and Roles against Windows Server 2022, and check for changes to the in-box PowerShell modules.

Windows Server 2025 Installation
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Firing up the WinPE installer, the changes are immediately obvious. The UI now resembles the Windows client installers more than it used to. The old “Microsoft Server Operating System Setup” label is gone, replaced with “Windows Server Setup”, and the keyboard input selection screen has been removed.

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The installation or repair decision now takes center stage too, with three options: Install, Repair, or switch to the legacy installer. I find this more intuitive than the previous design, where “Repair your computer” was tucked away in the bottom left corner.

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I won’t cover every screen of the installation process, but these changes suggest Windows Server 2025 is heading in a good direction.

Comparing Windows Features and Roles
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After fresh installs of both OS versions, I compared the available features. Using Get-WindowsFeature, I pulled the feature lists from each and used Compare-Object to find the differences.

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NetworkATC arrives on Windows Server
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The standout addition in Windows Server 2025 is NetworkATC, a feature previously exclusive to Azure Stack HCI. NetworkATC simplifies networking deployment by applying Microsoft’s best practices and reducing configuration errors. You define network intents (for example storage-only, VM traffic, or shared management), with the option to override individual settings. It isn’t limited to a single host either, you can apply it across an entire cluster for consistent network configuration and automatic drift correction.

Hyper-V users on Windows Server now get the same networking experience that Azure Stack HCI has had for a while.

Features removed in Windows Server 2025
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Every new Windows release drops a few features, and Windows Server 2025 is no different. Here’s what’s gone:

  • Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP): Security teams have recommended disabling and removing PNRP for a while, given its exposure to attacks like DDoS. It’s now gone from Windows Server entirely.
  • SMTP Server and supporting tools: On the chopping block since Windows Server 2012, the SMTP Server role and its tools have finally been removed. Managing SMTP through the IIS6 console (still present in Windows Server 2022) was never a great experience, and most people have already moved to alternatives like Azure Communication Services, SendGrid, or a Postfix relay on Linux.
  • Azure Arc Setup feature: Introduced in Windows Server 2022 through a controversial Windows Update, this feature is now gone too. The taskbar icon sticks around even after the feature is removed though, if you want it gone, delete the AzureArcSetup entry from HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run in the registry. The feature existed to simplify Azure Arc onboarding by letting you install the agent and connect to Azure directly from Windows Server.
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Changes to in-box PowerShell modules
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There are a handful of new and updated PowerShell modules in this build, but no removals:

  • New modules:
    • DefenderPerformance: troubleshoot and optimize Defender scanning performance, and identify files that slow scans down.
    • LanguagePackManagement: manage OS language packs.
    • Microsoft.ReFsDedup.Commands: manage the new ReFS deduplication and compression engine.
    • Microsoft.Windows.Bcd.Cmdlets: manage BCD entries natively from PowerShell.
    • Provisioning: manage provisioning packages.
  • Changed modules:
    • Get-NetView: updated to a newer version.
    • Defender: added a rollback command.
    • Appx: added MSIX commands.
    • Dism: added commands for app provisioning, likely APPX/MSIX related.
    • International: copy international settings from user to system.
    • NetSecurity: added commands for managing firewall rules for WSLv2 containers.
    • SmbShare: added commands for SMB over QUIC.
    • Storage: added Convert-PhysicalDisk, which appears to convert existing disks into Storage Spaces volumes.

You can see the full diff of PowerShell module changes in this GitHub repository I set up.

What’s Next
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Windows Server 2025 brings a mix of new capability (NetworkATC, the refreshed installer) and cleanup (PNRP, SMTP, Azure Arc Setup). The PowerShell module changes point at where Microsoft’s investing next, particularly around ReFS dedup and provisioning.

In a future article, I’ll look at the additional Hyper-V capabilities coming in this release.

Ben Thomas
Author
Ben Thomas

Ben Thomas is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Veeam with a deep passion for community, virtualization, and cloud technologies.

Prior to joining Veeam, he spent over 13 years at Datacom, where he progressed from the service desk to a senior advisory role specializing in Hybrid and Private Cloud solutions. His long-standing contributions to the tech community have been recognized with both the Microsoft MVP and Veeam Vanguard awards.

It was his passion as a Vanguard that ultimately led him to his role at Veeam, allowing him to work on the technology he advocates for every day. This blog is where Ben shares his hands-on experiences and real-world solutions from his work and home lab.

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