14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft originally planned to launch the next version of Exchange Server at some point in the second half of 2021, but as it’s obviously already, this target has already been missed.
The software giant says the security threats experienced by the on-premises Exchange servers kept the company busy, as the company just had to deal with the state sponsored threat actors again and again.
“We quickly responded to protect our customers, releasing out-of-band security updates, along with a one-click mitigation tool that later became part of Exchange Server as the Emergency Mitigation Service. We added AMSI integration in the June 2021 Cumulative Update (CU), enabled the Hybrid Management PowerShell module to work with MFA-enabled admin accounts, and released Security Updates (SUs) in April, May, July, October, and November of 2021, and in January, March and May of this year. We also updated our SU packaging to make installing SUs easier,” Microsoft explains.
When is the next version of Exchange Server coming?
As a result, the company has also pushed back the release date of the next Exchange Server. The company says the debut should happen in the second half of 2025.
At the same time, its EOL date will be moved beyond 2025, though the company says that the support dates of the current versions wouldn’t be changed.
“We have moved the release date for the next version of Exchange Server to the second half of 2025. The next version will require Server and CAL licenses and will be accessible only to customers with Software Assurance, similar to the SharePoint Server and Project Server Subscription Editions. We will provide more details on naming, features, requirements, and pricing in the first half of 2024,” Microsoft explained.
“We will maintain the current support dates for Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, and Exchange Server 2019; however, we plan to support the next version of Exchange Server beyond October 14, 2025. We are moving the next version of Exchange Server to our Modern Lifecycle Policy, which has no end of support dates. We plan on continuing to support Exchange Server as long as there is substantive market demand.”
Microsoft also says that TLS 1.3 in Exchange Server 2019 will be added at some point in 2023.