Microsoft is adding even more features to Windows Server to diversify and strengthen its support for virtualization and containerization on its platform.

The next Windows Server will include an even more stripped down, lightweight install mode called Nano Server. Windows Server already has a shrunk install option, Server Core, that omits various features to reduce the memory and disk footprint and to shrink its exposure to security flaws. Nano Server strips back the operating system further still, dropping things like the GUI stack, 32-bit Win32 support, local logins, and remote desktop support.

Nano Server is designed for two kinds of workload: cloud apps built on runtimes such as .NET, Java, Node.js, or Python, and cloud infrastructure, such as hosting Hyper-V virtual machines. Compared to the full Server install, Microsoft claims that Nano Server shrinks the disk footprint by 93 percent, the number of critical security bulletins by 92 percent, and the number of reboots by 80 percent.

Management of Nano Server will depend on WMI and PowerShell and a new set of Web-based tools that Microsoft is developing.

The company also announced a new container feature that'll be in the next Windows Server. The company has already promised support for containers in the next Windows version, using Docker for management and deployment. These containers, similar to their counterparts on Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, and other platforms, will provide isolated, resource controlled application environments to be deployed on Windows. Unlike virtual machines, however, containers still expose the underlying operating system version and capabilities.

To these, Microsoft is adding what it calls Hyper-V Containers. These are a blend of features from a Hyper-V virtual machine and a Windows Container. Like a VM, it provides isolation from the underlying operating system, but like a container it uses a virtualized filesystem for deploying single apps and is managed by Docker.

We still don't know much about how the Windows containers will work or how they'll compare to other systems. We expect to learn more about them at Build at the end of the month and Ignite, the replacement for TechEd, in early May.