Windows 10 Enterprise updates turn consumers into guinea pigs

CB users will get their updates first as part of Microsoft's defined update strategy. They'll receive security patches, new features and bug fixes before LTSB and CBB users. However, the cost to being early is that if the update isn't stable, CB users will have to go through the growing pains with Microsoft.

In effect, CB users are late-stage beta testers. If something goes wrong, Microsoft will learn from the experience and fix the problems before the updates are deployed for business customers.

The middle ground

Somewhere in the middle of immediate updates available to CB customers and delays of up to 10 years for LTSB customers is CBB. CBB customers will have about eight months to deploy Windows Update after Microsoft makes it available to business branches.

Professional, Education and Enterprise customers on Windows 10 in CBB will get new features on Windows Update four months after they're declared business-ready. Enterprise customers on Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) will have eight months to install the updates.

If IT managers cannot deploy the update within the timeframe, they won't be able to install future updates or security patches. In this event, IT managers will have to switch to LTSB and perform an in-place upgrade. Likely, the enforcement will help Microsoft defragment the Windows 10 ecosystem and ensure that users are protected from attacks with the most up-to-date security fixes.

Windows 10 requirements for enterprise

Microsoft promises that Windows 10 will work on systems that are compatible with Windows 7, and that's the minimum hardware requirement needed to upgrade.

To upgrade, there will be two paths provided to IT managers. A full wipe and load will allow systems to start fresh with a clean install of Windows 10. There will also be in-place upgrades available to migrate Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 customers to Windows 10 in the event that a full wipe is not needed or desired.

Additionally, for customers who rely on Windows Store apps – also referred to as Metro apps or Modern UI apps for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 users – Microsoft guarantees app compatibility moving forward to Windows 10.

When we learned that Edge won't arrive for LTSB customers, there was speculation that fragmentation may occur with compatibility of Store apps on Windows 10, but it looks like Microsoft is laying to rest those concerns.

Even though Windows 10 Home and Pro versions will be available on July 29, Microsoft has not announced when Windows 10 Enterprise will be available.

Source: Windows IT Pro