It’s the end of the Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel era. Microsoft has announced the retirement of the Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel. The Windows server SAC product will no longer receive security updates after 9th August 2022.
The only supported Server OS release channel for now onwards is Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC). Is this kind of announcement going to happen with Windows Client OS release channel as well?
Microsoft announced the End of servicing for Windows Server 20H2 on August 9, 2022. The cumulative patch released on 9th Aug 2022 would be the last security patches delivered to Server 20H2.
The Windows Server 20H2 won’t receive monthly security and quality updates containing protection from the latest security threats. As per Microsoft, the customers using Windows Server SAC must move to Azure Stack HCI.
End of Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel Era
This is the end of the Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel era. As mentioned above, the only supported Server OS release channel is LTSC. The users are entitled to 5 years of mainstream support and 5 years of extended support.
Microsoft also made clear that all the major Server OS releases will happen only every 2-3 years from now on. This 2-3 years timeline is also aligned with Windows Client OS release cycle.
Windows Server Life Cycle
Let’s understand Windows Server Life Cycle in detail. As you can see below, I have already strikethrough for the Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel. So it’s the end of the Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel era.
As per Microsoft – “There will be no future Semi-Annual Channel releases of Windows Server. Customers using the SAC should move to Azure Stack HCI where the same release cadence and rapid innovation continues with features such as Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI.”
- Windows Server current versions by servicing option -> Latest Update from Microsoft docs.
| Windows Server release | Servicing option | Availability | Build | Mainstream support end date | Extended support end date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2022 | Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) | 2021-08-18 | 20348.169 | 2026-10-13 | 2031-10-14 |
| Windows Server 2019 (version 1809) | Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) | 2018-11-13 | 17763.107 | 2024-01-09 | 2029-01-09 |
| Windows Server 2016 (version 1607) | Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) | 2016-10-15 | 14393.0 | End of servicing | 2027-01-11 |
Author
Anoop C Nair is Microsoft MVP! He is a Device Management Admin with more than 20 years of experience (calculation done in 2021) in IT. He is Blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group HTMD Community leader. His main focus is on Device Management technologies like SCCM 2012, Current Branch, and Intune. He writes about ConfigMgr, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure AD, Microsoft Intune, Windows 365, AVD, etc.