Microsoft releases new high compatibility containerized version of Windows Server image

­at Build 2018 earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it would create a third container base image for applications that current Nano Server or Windows Server Core cannot meet their API dependencies. Recently, the new version of Windows Server, named "Windows", has been released as a container image, and Windows Insiders channels can be used first.

­as to why a new container image is needed, Microsoft Hyper-V project manager Lars Iwer explained that when talking to developers, they found that they wanted more than the current Nano Server or Windows Server Core can provide. Many customers want to be able to migrate their legacy applications to containers to benefit from container orchestration and management technologies such as Kubernetes. However, not all applications can be easily containerized, and in some cases they cannot be implemented due to the lack of components that are not included in the Windows Server Core. Others want to use containers to run automated UI tests during their CI / CD processes, or to use other graphical features that are not available in the previous two container images.

­the new Windows container image provides a third option, which can be selected according to the requirements of the workload. The image is designed as headless (no remote desktop), but is built using Windows API Sets, so you can use API such as GDI to provide greater compatibility.

­currently, the image can be quickly obtained in Windows Insiders through the docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/windows-insider:10.0.17704.1000 command.