3 ms·

Ah, LTSC ... never has one of my hunch-based technical decisions kept paying off again and again. if only I knew the right people instead of having to get lice

Ah, LTSC ... never has one of my hunch-based technical decisions kept paying off again and again. if only I knew the right people instead of having to get licenses in very sketchy ways.

jabroni_salad 6y ago
Just get yourself a volume license and talk to a distributor. You do not need any crazy volume. I was able to get it in place, legitimately, for a metal fabricator that has maybe 20 computers total not including their operational technology (CNC devices) that they wanted LTSC for. https://www.cdw.com/search/?key=ltsc&searchscope=all&sr=1 https://www.cdw.com/search/?key=ltsc&searchscope=all&sr=1
- at_a_remove 6y ago
  As just a guy? Not so easy. I'm not a company, I'm just a person.
  - throwanem 6y ago
    It looks like CDW, at least, sells by the individual license, to judge from the search results at that link. Top one is "Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 - upgrade license - 1 license".
    - mjcl 6y ago
      That link is for an Open License. The MS Open License program allows you to purchase volume licenses individually, but the initial MS Open License order must be for at least 5 licenses (of something).
      - EvanAnderson 6y ago
        CDW will happily sell you once license of LTSC and 4 of the cheapest SKU in the catalog (I don't know what that is, currently-- in the past it has been stuff like $5 DVD playback licenses) to get you over the minimum purchase qty.
        fl0wenol 6y ago
        I did exactly this with PC Connection and got into the Open license program. What's great is that you get 50 activations out of the box, so while it's a bit of money up front, it effectively allows you to use a bunch of systems and VMs internally without worry. No one is going to say anything about this especially if it's for personal use. If you were supporting multiple users in a small business environment definitely make sure you buy as many Windows SKUs as you have end users to be compliant, however. All of this becomes moot once you have >25 clients; then you can transition to using volume licensing and it's essentially unlimited. It still tracks it though and Microsoft can ask to look at it, especially if you change from Open to Select or some other volume pricing agreement, so keep that in mind.
        EvanAnderson 6y ago
        I've had a sharp increase in the number of license compliance audits coming from Microsoft in the last couple years. A couple of my Customers have been targeted annually 3 years in a row. The most recent round of audits included probing questions that were clearly looking for SaaS sales opportunities.
- ShamelessC 6y ago
  "Just", as if it were so easy. What kind of suggestion is this? None of us are trying to provide an operating system for a whole company. We need exactly one license.
gruez 6y ago
>if only I knew the right people instead of having to get licenses in very sketchy ways. You can buy it off the shelf. It's going to set you back $300+ dollars, but it's not hard. https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2167558-explicit-instructions-for-purchasing-a-windows-10-ltsc-license https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2167558-explicit-inst...
- at_a_remove 6y ago
  Crazy that this information is so ... obscured. I had actually contacted Microsoft a year ago trying to do things the up-and-up way, only to get crickets in return. And still, bafflingly, what you found? That's an upgrade license. It's as if the idea of people putting together their own PCs just never occurs to Microsoft.
  - techdevangelist 6y ago
    The target demo of those buying licenses wouldn’t be building workstations, they are buying prebuilt whatever and upgrading the entitlements from there. MS very explicitly doesn’t target these releases to consumers, it’s entirely possible to do it by adding the 4 x useless products to get over the 5 x volume requirement. It’s sad, but not shocking they didn’t cover the edge case of a custom builder. If you were a firm building machines, you’d again get a special setup and do provisioning and key burning into bios etc.
    - at_a_remove 6y ago
      It is a shame. I maintain my own PCs and the computers for a handful of people who are not technically ept (a friend who is rubbish with computers, my mother, and an eighty-seven year old woman who reacts poorly to the random UX changes Microsoft likes to push out). I cannot help but think that there are a lot of "dark matter" sysadmins plunking away like me, just maintaining machines for friends or tiny businesses, and that we're underserved as a market segment.
Scramblejams 6y ago
LTSC's the best of the Windows options, for sure. But LTSC 2019 is too out-of-date to run the upcoming MSFS. :-( LTSC 2022 here I come!
- bserge 6y ago
  MSFS? The flight sim? Will it really not work with an older Windows version? I kinda remember running newer games on XP or Vista with some simple tweaks. It's not like Win10 changed that much for the past year or so.
  - Scramblejams 6y ago
    MSFS system requirements say 1909 is required[0]. LTSC 2019 is on 1809. I don't believe it's possible to upgrade LTSC 2019 to 1909. Happy to be wrong, though. [0] https://www.techspot.com/news/84931-microsoft-flight-simulator-system-requirements-revealed.html https://www.techspot.com/news/84931-microsoft-flight-simulat...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

Ah, LTSC ... never has one of my hunch-based technical decisions kept paying off again and again. if only I knew the right people instead of having to get licenses in very sketchy ways.

jabroni_salad 6y ago

Just get yourself a volume license and talk to a distributor. You do not need any crazy volume. I was able to get it in place, legitimately, for a metal fabricator that has maybe 20 computers total not including their operational technology (CNC devices) that they wanted LTSC for. https://www.cdw.com/search/?key=ltsc&searchscope=all&sr=1 https://www.cdw.com/search/?key=ltsc&searchscope=all&sr=1

at_a_remove 6y ago
As just a guy? Not so easy. I'm not a company, I'm just a person.
- throwanem 6y ago
  It looks like CDW, at least, sells by the individual license, to judge from the search results at that link. Top one is "Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 - upgrade license - 1 license".
  - mjcl 6y ago
    That link is for an Open License. The MS Open License program allows you to purchase volume licenses individually, but the initial MS Open License order must be for at least 5 licenses (of something).
    - EvanAnderson 6y ago
      CDW will happily sell you once license of LTSC and 4 of the cheapest SKU in the catalog (I don't know what that is, currently-- in the past it has been stuff like $5 DVD playback licenses) to get you over the minimum purchase qty.
      - fl0wenol 6y ago
        I did exactly this with PC Connection and got into the Open license program. What's great is that you get 50 activations out of the box, so while it's a bit of money up front, it effectively allows you to use a bunch of systems and VMs internally without worry. No one is going to say anything about this especially if it's for personal use. If you were supporting multiple users in a small business environment definitely make sure you buy as many Windows SKUs as you have end users to be compliant, however. All of this becomes moot once you have >25 clients; then you can transition to using volume licensing and it's essentially unlimited. It still tracks it though and Microsoft can ask to look at it, especially if you change from Open to Select or some other volume pricing agreement, so keep that in mind.
        EvanAnderson 6y ago
        I've had a sharp increase in the number of license compliance audits coming from Microsoft in the last couple years. A couple of my Customers have been targeted annually 3 years in a row. The most recent round of audits included probing questions that were clearly looking for SaaS sales opportunities.
ShamelessC 6y ago
"Just", as if it were so easy. What kind of suggestion is this? None of us are trying to provide an operating system for a whole company. We need exactly one license.

gruez 6y ago

>if only I knew the right people instead of having to get licenses in very sketchy ways. You can buy it off the shelf. It's going to set you back $300+ dollars, but it's not hard. https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2167558-explicit-instructions-for-purchasing-a-windows-10-ltsc-license https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2167558-explicit-inst...

at_a_remove 6y ago
Crazy that this information is so ... obscured. I had actually contacted Microsoft a year ago trying to do things the up-and-up way, only to get crickets in return. And still, bafflingly, what you found? That's an upgrade license. It's as if the idea of people putting together their own PCs just never occurs to Microsoft.
- techdevangelist 6y ago
  The target demo of those buying licenses wouldn’t be building workstations, they are buying prebuilt whatever and upgrading the entitlements from there. MS very explicitly doesn’t target these releases to consumers, it’s entirely possible to do it by adding the 4 x useless products to get over the 5 x volume requirement. It’s sad, but not shocking they didn’t cover the edge case of a custom builder. If you were a firm building machines, you’d again get a special setup and do provisioning and key burning into bios etc.
  - at_a_remove 6y ago
    It is a shame. I maintain my own PCs and the computers for a handful of people who are not technically ept (a friend who is rubbish with computers, my mother, and an eighty-seven year old woman who reacts poorly to the random UX changes Microsoft likes to push out). I cannot help but think that there are a lot of "dark matter" sysadmins plunking away like me, just maintaining machines for friends or tiny businesses, and that we're underserved as a market segment.

Scramblejams 6y ago

LTSC's the best of the Windows options, for sure. But LTSC 2019 is too out-of-date to run the upcoming MSFS. :-( LTSC 2022 here I come!

bserge 6y ago
MSFS? The flight sim? Will it really not work with an older Windows version? I kinda remember running newer games on XP or Vista with some simple tweaks. It's not like Win10 changed that much for the past year or so.
- Scramblejams 6y ago
  MSFS system requirements say 1909 is required[0]. LTSC 2019 is on 1809. I don't believe it's possible to upgrade LTSC 2019 to 1909. Happy to be wrong, though. [0] https://www.techspot.com/news/84931-microsoft-flight-simulator-system-requirements-revealed.html https://www.techspot.com/news/84931-microsoft-flight-simulat...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]