Today, Microsoft released Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview build 20292. Naturally, there"s no blog post for it just yet, although once there is, it will show up in the Windows Server Insiders Tech Community. One thing that you"ll notice is that it"s officially called Windows Server 2022 now, something that there were hints of inside of the OS but Microsoft hadn"t said openly. The change actually appeared before the build was released.
I somehow missed this https://t.co/kUGiac9qiJ anyways now it"s pretty safe to say it"s not a placeholder but the next one will be branded as Windows Server 2022 pic.twitter.com/8bEsQB1YKQ
— Tero Alhonen (@teroalhonen) February 10, 2021
It"s not uncommon for these things to appear once every three years or so. In the Windows 10 era, we"ve seen Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2016, so it"s not clear why Microsoft wouldn"t be more forthcoming about the next Long-Term Servicing Channel release being Windows Server 2022. Naturally, the Semi-Annual Channel will continue to just be called Windows Server.
Another product that we know is coming but hasn"t been named yet is the next perpetual license version of Office. That"s slated to arrive in late 2021, and once again follows that general three-year cycle, following Office 2016 and Office 2019. And again, Microsoft 365 subscribers just get Office.
The changes come as Microsoft is continuing to push businesses to the cloud, although without forcing them. As long as there"s demand for LTSC releases of Windows Server and perpetual licenses for Office, these things will continue to exist.
The new Windows Server Insider Preview build comes alongside Windows 10 SDK Preview build 20292 and Windows Driver Kit Preview build 20292. If you want to check out today"s Windows Server build, you can find it here.