Windows Server 2019 Goes Into Preview With WSL, Better Kubernetes Support

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, the eventual Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, and other 2018 Linux distributions will now be running up against Microsoft Windows Server 2019 that the company plans to release in the second half of the year but is available today in preview form.

Microsoft's Windows Server team today lifted the lid on Windows Server 2019, which they are seeking to do a GA release the second half of 2018 but can be obtained immediately through the Windows Insiders program.

To little surprise, Windows Server 2019 is focusing heavily on cloud improvements and in particular on hybrid cloud deployments. Among the changes are better Azure integration, security improvements, embedding Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, and more.

But of interest to us is the continued Linux attention by Microsoft... Last year Microsoft made Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) available to Windows Server Insider users while Windows Server 2019 appears to promote that to a general availability state. It will be interesting to see if they can improve the performance of WSL for I/O workloads by the Windows Server 2019 debut.

Microsoft also has Kubernetes support currently in beta and that will be another area the Windows Server developers have been improving upon to promote its capabilities for this next server OS release.

Like with forthcoming Windows 10 updates, Windows Server 2019 will also have support for OpenSSH, Curl, Tar, and other common Unix/Linux commands.

Those wishing to learn more about the initial features being talked about today for Windows Server 2019 can find the details on the Windows Server blog.

When Windows Server 2019 is ready, I'll certainly take it through some paces against various enterprise Linux distribution options -- especially with PTS' brand new Windows support overhaul.