Windows Server 2016 leaks reveal Nano Server, protected VM role plans

[Brink]

Microsoft's decision against releasing an expected January test build of its next version of Windows Server hasn't stopped the bits or information about the coming release from leaking.

Over the weekend, both the January build of Windows Server 2016 and a slide deck about some of the plans for the coming server release leaked to the Web thanks to WZor.

The slide deck, entitled "Nano Server: The Future of Windows Server Starts Now," describes Nano Server as a "new headless deployment option for Windows Server."

Before delving into the slide deck, here's a quick refresher as to what Microsoft has said and implied lately about Windows Server 2016 -- as well as Azure's coming platform-as-a-service (PaaS) components.

Microsoft recently pushed back the delivery date for its next version of Windows Server to calendar 2016, claiming officials wanted and needed more customer feedback. The next test build of server is now due some time this spring.

There are a lot of moving parts, including built-in container support, coming in Windows Server 2016.

Read more: Windows Server 2016 leaks reveal Nano Server, protected VM role plans | ZDNet