Microsoft’s promise to add new Hyper-V capabilities to its upcoming Windows Server 2016 edition is generating the most excitement among IT pros, but very few will rush into making any deployments, according to a new study from app maker Spiceworks Inc.

Although Windows Server 2016 is still at the preview stage, Spiceworks decided that people already know enough about it to ‘test the waters’ and survey 300 IT pros to see what they’re planning. The results were complied in this blog post.

According to Spiceworks, some 31 percent of respondents said the new Hyper-V capabilities of Windows Server 2016 are what they’re most interested in. Besides Hyper-V, other new capabilities that attracted interest were PowerShell 5.0 functionality (20 percent), enhanced security (19 percent), and software-defined storage (18 percent). Curiously though, two of the items that Microsoft has been especially vocal about – Docker support and Nano Server – attracted less interest at just 12 percent each, while integration with Azure was cited by just seven percent.

When it comes to deployment plans, there are no big surprises. Unfortunately for Microsoft, most enterprises won’t be rushed into things. Just four percent of respondents said they plan to deploy Windows Server 2016 as soon as possible, while 27 percent said they were planning for a deployment one-to-two years after its release.

The main reason for this delay is that server migrations are tricky at the best of times. Indeed, some 59 percent of IT pros admitted they’re still running Windows Server 2003, even though Microsoft ended support earlier this year. The good news though, is that 32 percent of respondents said they’re looking to get off Windows Server 2003 within the next year. As for other implementations, a massive 80 percent of respondents are still using Windows Server 2008, while nine percent are still running Windows Server 2000 (gulp!).

Spiceworks’ survey comes despite the fact that Microsoft hasn’t yet finalized a release date for Windows Server 2016, though at least one expert has picked April 2016 as a likely date. Microsoft released its latest preview build of Windows Server 2016 just last month, introducing new software-defined data center and Nano Server capabilities, together with a preview of Hyper-V Containers.

The final edition will eventually incorporate both Hyper-V Containers and Windows Server Containers. The Hyper-V Containers bring advantages including more isolation for security reasons, and a “nested virtualization” feature that Microsoft recommends for development and testing scenarios.

Main image: Microsoft