Windows Server 2025 Features, Updates, Issues and Fix
Latest Releases→ Windows Server 2025 (the newest LTSC release) became available in November 2024. It brings “security advancements and new hybrid cloud capabilities” on AI-ready platform
Microsoft highlights major improvements in virtualization, storage, and networking. for example, “major advancements across the board for Hyper-V, GPU integration, Storage Spaces Direct, software-defined networking, and clustering”
New features include Azure Arc hotpatching (apply security updates without reboot), up to 60% faster NVMe storage I/O than Server 2022, and expanded Active Directory capabilities (optional 32K-page database, AD object repair)
Security is tighter with Credential Guard on by default and hardened SMB (including SMB over QUIC) for secure file sharing, plus built-in DTrace for diagnostics. Common management tools (WinGet, Windows Terminal, modern Task Manager) and a Windows-11–style desktop shell are now standard in Server 2025, aligning its experience with the Windows 11 client OS.
Hybrid/Cloud focus – Windows Server 2025 supports hotpatching via Azure Arc (preview) and improved integration with Azure services. It also introduces SMB-over-QUIC (port flexibility for secure Internet file access) and Delegate MSA accounts (automated password management)
Performance gains – On identical hardware, Server 2025 can deliver much higher I/O rates (NVMe IOPS) and features like block cloning on ReFS, which accelerates file copy operations.
Hardware enablements (GPU support, single-root I/O virtualization via Accelerated Networking) are likewise expanded.
Deployment – Administrators can perform in-place upgrades directly from Server 2012 R2 or later to Server 2025. Microsoft offers a 180-day evaluation trial and Server 2025 is also available as an optional feature update for 2019/2022 (it must be manually approved, not auto-installed)
Known Issues & Workarounds
DHCP service freeze (June 2025 update): June 10, 2025 security update introduced a bug that can break the DHCP Server role on Windows Server 2016/2019/2022/2025. In affected environments the DHCP service “might intermittently stop responding” after the patch, causing IP lease renewals to fail and clients to lose connectivity.
Microsoft has acknowledged the issue and working on a fix. Currently the only workaround is to uninstall or block the problematic update, although this means foregoing other security fixes (Microsoft plans to release a standalone hotfix via Windows Update Catalog and include the fix in the next cumulative update)
Trusted Launch VM boot fail (July 2025 update): After July 2025 updates, some Azure Gen2 virtual machines without Trusted Launch enabled (but with VBS enabled) could fail to start and to mitigate the issue, Microsoft out-of-band update KB5064489 was released on July 13, 2025, which fixes the startup issue in Microsoft Server Operating System-24H2 and Windows 11 Version 24H2. As a safeguard, enabling Trusted Launch on those VMs also prevents the problem entirely.
Chinese IME bug (July 2025): Devices using the Microsoft Changjie input method for Traditional Chinese experienced input errors after the July updates. Symptoms included the inability to form characters or select phrases and an unresponsive spacebar. The recommended workaround is to enable the “Use previous version of Microsoft Changjie” option in Setting → Time & Language (so the old IME version is used) . Microsoft is working on a permanent fix for future updates.
Unexpected upgrades (mitigated): In late 2024, some environments saw Windows Server 2019/2022 automatically offered or even installed the Server 2025 feature update unintentionally. This turned out to be due to third-party update management interpreting the feature update metadata incorrectly. Microsoft mitigated this by pausing the Windows Update banner for 2025 installs. The advice remains: use official deployment methods (WSUS, SCCM, etc.) and group policy (target version hold) to control in-place upgrades.
Microsoft Windows 11 (Client OS)
Windows 11 Update (24H2) – Windows 11 “2024 Update” (version 24H2) was first released to Copilot & PCs in June 2024 and broadly rolled out to all users starting on October 1st, 2024. While some updates and fixes might have been released in mid-2025. Microsoft continues to roll out enhancements, many AI-driven. For example, recent Insider announcements include Markdown support in Notepad and a promise to simplify USB-C standards support (so that all USB-C ports on Windows devices will handle power, data, and video by default). A new optional update (KB5058499, released May 28, 2025) focused on AI features and gaming: it added improvements like Image Search and content extraction tools and fixed a bug where games could hang after the 24H2 upgrade. (A servicing stack update KB5059502 was also released to improve future update reliability.) Microsoft is preparing the next feature update (25H2.)
- AI and Copilot: Windows 11’s Copilot and AI integrations are expanding (e.g. image/video creation via Bing/Sora). The new Windows Copilot for IT service (launched in 2025) lets admins build customized Copilot bots using enterprise data. Insider builds also hint at more AI experiences (e.g. generative wallpaper)
- Regional compliance: In EU/EEA, Windows 11 is getting changes to comply with the Digital Markets Act. For instance, it will stop nagging users to set Edge as default, and it will auto-pin a user’s chosen default browser to the taskbar. These changes are rolling out in preview builds now.
- Side-by-side Windows 10: For completeness, Windows 10 21H2/22H2 systems are still supported in some factor . Microsoft has clarified that Extended Security Updates (ESU) will continue even if users upgrade some devices to Windows 11. Tools like new free “Stay on Windows 10” ESU tool are available for organizations wanting to keep 10 with full updates.
Common Issues & Workarounds
Print-to-PDF broken: Windows 11 users found that the June 2025 update caused the Microsoft Print to PDF feature to disappear on some PCs (especially enterprise machines). In affected systems the PDF printer no longer appears in Settings, and attempts to re-enable it failed with error 0x800f0922. Microsoft released fix patch KB5060829 (OS Build 26100.4484) Preview in cumulative update (late June 2025); this patch (or the regular July 2025 update) restores the Print-to-PDF function. Until then, a workaround is to manually toggle the feature off and on via Windows Features or via following PowerShell command: (Run PowerShell as Administrator)
Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Printing-PrintToPDFServices-Features
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Printing-PrintToPDFServices-Features
(However disabling and enabling it to fix as a workaround) Once KB5060829 is applied, Print-to-PDF works normally again.
Easy Anti-Cheat BSOD: Many gamers reported that after the June 2025 update, launching games (Fortnite, Apex Legends, etc.) caused Windows 11 to crash with a blue screen (IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL), due to an Easy Anti-Cheat incompatibility. Microsoft released an emergency fix patch on June 12 (KB5063060) specifically targeting this issue for Windows 11 24H2. The patch auto-installs on machines with EAC and prevents the crash (it “addresses an incompatibility issue where Windows might restart unexpectedly when opening games that use Easy Anti-Cheat”). Users who already experienced the BSOD should make sure they have this update installed in device.
Update delays (timestamp bug): In enterprise environments using deferral policies (Windows Update for Business), administrators saw that, the June 2025 updates were arriving later than expected. The cause was an incorrect metadata timestamp: the update was released June 10 but stamped June 20, so PCs set to defer updates by X days got held up extra 10 days. Microsoft’s guidance is to expedite deployment (create a “quality update expedite” policy) or temporarily shorten deferral periods to ensure the June patches apply on schedule. Note that this bug only affected timing, not the security content of the update.
Benign firewall errors: After some June updates, Windows 11 started logging error events related to Windows Firewall in Event Viewer. Microsoft clarified that these log entries “do not reflect an issue with Windows Firewall” and can be safely ignored. (No action is required; the system’s firewall functionality is unaffected.)
WSUS delivery issue (May 2025): In May 2025 Microsoft fixed a separate bug that had been preventing Windows 11 24H2 feature updates from being delivered via WSUS after the April patches. Organizations using WSUS or Configuration Manager should ensure they have installed the configuration update (KB5062324) so that feature updates flow normally.
Other known issues: Microsoft’s release health pages list other quirks (some only affecting specific scenarios). For example, certain wallpaper-editing tools were briefly held for compatibility, and on some devices using CJK fonts (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) at 100% scaling there were blurry text issues due to new Noto fonts (workaround: increase DPI). Explore Microsoft’s official known-issues documentation for the latest details and workarounds (e.g. update affected apps, enable fallback features, or pause updates on affected machines).
Conclusion:
Staying informed about the latest updates, issues, and fixes is essential for all who manages modern infrastructure. As seen in the recent updates for Windows Server 2019, 2022, and the newly released 2025 version, Microsoft continues to focus on enhanced security, hybrid cloud integration, and performance optimization. Meanwhile, Windows 11 24H2 is pushing boundaries with AI-powered features and user-centric improvements, By keeping track of known issues, applying timely workarounds, and leveraging official Microsoft guidance, we can ensure a more stable and secure computing environment.
Official Source: Microsoft
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