Skype for Business Server 2019 Public Preview, What's New, What's Gone?

Sep 30, 2023

Good news, Skype for Business Server 2019 Public Preview is here. The final generally available release is due before the end of the year. This release is for lab testing, not production.

Download Link: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/0/9/209372AB-F64F-4F04-8BDA-FBAB1C685BA3/W17_2044.76_Eval.iso

Documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/SkypeForBusiness/whats-new?branch=SkypeServer2019

Exchange Server 2019 public preview was also released

The following features are gone:

The following tools will not be available for use at the initial release of Skype for Business Server 2019:

The following tools are not supported with Skype for Business Server 2019:

Office 2019 commercial prices will increase 10 percent over current on-premises pricing. The price increase will include Office client, Enterprise CAL, Core CAL, and server products. So all the Office 2019 Server products, not just Skype for Business Server.

Announcing price adjustments for on-premises and cloud products

Standard Edition: 6-core, 2.4 gigahertz / 32 GB RAM / 8 or more 10000 RPM disks or SSD / Gig NIC

SfBS Enterprise Edition Front End: 6-core, 2.4 gigahertz / 64GB RAM / 8 or more 10000 RPM disks or SSD / Gig NIC – big bump in recommended RAM, it's not really clear why.

Edge Servers, standalone Mediation Servers, and Director: 6-core, 2.4 gigahertz / 16GB RAM / 8 or more 10000 RPM disks or SSD / Gig NIC/ dual Gig NIC for Edge

Windows Server 2016 (no older OS's supported), no sign of support for Windows Server 2019 yet

Microsoft SQL Server 2016/2017 Enterprise (64-bit edition), and you must run with the latest updates, and with AlwaysOn availability groups.

domain functional level: 2012 or higher

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/SkypeForBusiness/plan/system-requirements

Deploying in your lab? Be sure to use Pat Richards Set-CsFeatures.ps1 for the prereqs– Use the -skype4b2019 option https://www.ucunleashed.com/3600

Links

Microsoft Official blog post: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Skype-for-Business-Blog/Announcing-the-Skype-for-Business-Server-2019-Preview/ba-p/218435

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/SkypeForBusiness/deprecated

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/SkypeForBusiness/whats-new

Dedicated Tech Forum for the preview: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Skype-for-Business-Server-2019/bd-p/SkypeforBusinessServer2019