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Admins will now get three additional years of Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for Windows Server 2012. What you need to know UPDATE: Microsoft recently announced that admins will get three additional years of Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for Windows Server 2012. Microsoft is ending support for Windows Server 2012 on October 10, 2023. Recommended next steps include transitioning to Windows Server 2022 or purchasing Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for Windows Server 2012. ESUs include three additional years of security updates, renewable annually until October 13, 2026. Admins that transition their databases and applications to Azure Virtual Machines will access free ESUs for three years after the end of the support date. UPDATE NOV. 11, 2023: A couple of months ago, Microsoft announced that it would cut support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 on October 10, 2023. However, the company recently announced that admins can get three additional years of Extended Security Updates (ESUs). According to Microsoft: The company is now providing users ample time to transition to Windows Server 2022. Microsoft's Poornima Priyadarshini cited, "If you've already moved to Azure to protect your Windows Server 2012 and R2 workloads, you might be enjoying free Extended Security Updates. If your organization is unable to migrate, you can purchase and seamlessly deploy Windows Server 2012 Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc on premises and in hosted environments without keys, directly from the Azure portal". The original article continues below. October is fast approaching, which will mark Microsoft ending its support for Windows Server 2012. This shouldn't be a surprise, as Microsoft had already issued a reminder at the beginning of this year. The statement explains that extended support for all Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 editions is set to end on October 10, 2023. Windows Server 2012 ended its mainstream support date in 2018. Still, Microsoft decided to carry the date forward to provide users ample time to transition to supported Windows Server versions. Microsoft will no longer provide security or non-security updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical content updates for these Windows Server versions after October 10. If you continue using these unsupported versions well beyond this point, you'll no longer receive technical support from Microsoft, which may have a negative impact on the stability of any outdated servers. Windows Server 2008/R2 Extended Security Updates (ESUs) hit its end-of-support date earlier this year, on January 10, 2023. Advice for server admins Following this change, Microsoft recommends transitioning to Windows Server 2022 or purchasing Extended Security Updates (ESUs). This will help admins keep their on-premises Windows Server 2012 servers running and ensure that they continue receiving technical support. Those who follow the Extended Security Updates route will get three more years of security updates support, renewable every year until October 13, 2026. Alternatively, users can transition their databases and applications to Azure Virtual Machines. This will allow the admins to access free ESUs for three years after the end of the support date. Source

As we start the month of October, one of Microsoft's longest-running Windows Server versions is finally coming to the end of its official support very soon. Windows Server 2012, and its Windows Server 2012 R2 update, with both reaching the end of their lifecycles on October 10, 2023. Microsoft's lifecycle support page states: After this date, these products will no longer receive security updates, non-security updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical content updates. The original Windows Server 2012, which was based on Windows 8, hit the RTM stage on August 1, 2012, and it officially launched to the general public on September 4, 2012. Ironically, Windows Server 2012 will end up lasting much longer than Windows 8, which reached its end of life in 2016. It even lasted longer than Windows 8.1. Microsoft ended its official support in January 2023. Microsoft had four different SKUs for Windows Server 2012. Essentials was the cheapest at $425, followed by Standard at $882, and then there was the Datacenter SKU at $4.809. There was another SKU, Foundation, that was made for OEM businesses and had no public price tag. Just like Microsoft quickly released Windows 8.1 a year after the launch of Windows 8, it also launched Windows Server 2021 R2 in the same time frame. It went gold on August 27, 2013, and officially launched on October 14, 2013. While official support for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 is ending in a few days, businesses who still need time to transition to a more recent version of the server OS do have options. One is they can access up to three years of extended security updates on Microsoft's Azure cloud services. Businesses who need on-site access to Windows Server 2012 can also get  Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for three years, until October 13, 2026, but that will cost an undisclosed amount of money. Finally, businesses can just update to the most current version of the OS, Windows Server 2022, which launched in September 2022. Source

Microsoft is ending support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 in October 2023. Just like the recently dropped operating systems Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 will not receive any more security updates, fixes and other updates after it reaches end of support. Enterprise customers have the option to extend support by up to three years by paying Microsoft the equivalent of a full licence price annually. Microsoft customers who are not eligible for the special treatment and those who don't want to pay Microsoft that much money for extending support may consider 0Patch's service instead. The company is also offering three years of extended support for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, similarly to how it is still supporting Windows Server 2008 R2 with important security updates. Unlike Microsoft, it is making no distinction between customers and offering the service to anyone. 0Patch will support Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 with critical security patches until at least October 2026. Support may be extended further if there is enough demand after October 2026. Both Pro and Enterprise plans will support Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2 from October onward. Pricing is 24.95 EUR plus taxes for a single-user license and 34.95 EUR plus taxes for a single-user Enterprise license per year. 0Patch monitors critical security patches for supported operating systems and creates micropatches to address these. A wide range of Microsoft products are supported currently, including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Office 2013. The patches are applied in memory, which means that files are not modified by the security patches. Another difference to Microsoft updates is that the patches may be enabled and disabled while the system is running. There is no need for restarting the system to apply patches or undo a patch. To get started using 0Patch to secure Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2 for at least three years, customers need to create an 0Patch account at the site, install the latest security updates for the operating systems that Microsoft released, and install the 0Patch Agent software on the server and link it to the 0Patch account. Additional information about 0Patch's support for supplying Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 with at least 3 years of security updates is available on the company's blog. Source