10 ms·

Introducing Windows 10 Editions

116 points by rufus42 11y ago

ghshephard 11y ago
I realize Microsoft has to price segment, which requires they call out an "Enterprise" category for Mobile and Laptop/Desktop, but sometimes I wonder if they really need all of these categories. For example, do they really get significant financial value from having a Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, Windows 10 Pro? particularly as they are offering it as a free upgrade to Windows 7/8 users. Notice they don't have a Windows 10 Mobile Home, Windows 10 Mobile Education, and Windows 10 Mobile Pro - just plain, "Windows 10 Mobile". My suspicion is they would have managed to avoid customer confusion, and captured pretty much all the same economic value, with a simple list of: Windows 10 Windows 10 Mobile Windows 10 Enterprise Windows 10 Mobile Enteprise
- 33W 11y ago
  Agreed. I would only add to it their embedded "IoT" version.
- bskap 11y ago
  "Pro" is for people that don't have volume licenses but want the business-specific features like domain joining. Remember, Windows 10 may be a free upgrade, but it's not free and I imagine they still make quite a bit of extra money from businesses buying Pro. "Education" looks like it's a discounted volume license available to schools. Not sure what extra features it's going to have but it's not something that anyone other than a school administrator will ever care about.
  - stephengillie 11y ago
    I can't tell you how many times I've had coworkers come in with a new device they convinced management to buy them, without my approval, and they've saved a few hundred on the OS by having a Personal edition. So MS is paid twice there - once for the Personal version that came with the device, and once again for the business buying a single copy of Pro version to install over the Personal version.
  - daigoba66 11y ago
    Businesses (large ones anyway) tend to buy Windows Enterprise which only available through volume licensing. Technically the free upgrade is not available for Win7 or Win8 Enterprise (fine print on this page: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/about http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/about). But if the organization always pays for Software Assurance, that includes upgrades for all covered licenses. In my experience I see smaller businesses just purchasing hardware with OEM licenses (usually Pro).
  - Spooky23 11y ago
    Education exists because Microsoft provides cheaper licensing to schools as a marketing exercise. They also let you buy the license entitlement through volume licensing, so smart schools will buy PCs with FreeDOS or Linux and BYO Windows. This creates a problem, because the Federal government requires that it receives the lowest possible price for a particular product. So they carve out the education market as a separate SKU.
  - mreiland 11y ago
    Does Windows 7 Pro upgrade to Windows 10 Pro?
- sonnyz 11y ago
  I agree. A simple "Windows 10" with no subtitle would really make things easier for the consumer. Appending 'Home' on what is really a feature reduced version of Windows 10 doesn't seem to be in the best interest of the customer.
  - wernercd 11y ago
    Define "Feature Reduced"? Lack of Domain? HyperV? Remote Desktop options? What features are people "losing" with Home that 95% of "Home" users "need"? Sure... You and I can't live without half of those things, but home users generally won't notice - or care - if HyperV is missing. You pay more for Pro/Enterprise because it has added features that Power Users/Businesses need. Glass Half Empty/Full... Potato/Patato... Home isn't feature reduced... Pro is feature added. Enterprise is feature complete. If you want feature reduced... look into versions like Starter Edition - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/windows-7-starter-what-are-the-limitations/422801d5-89de-494d-8cc1-6f4fc21c2ac0 http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-w...
    - epistasis 11y ago
      Remote Desktop is almost essential for "home" users, as it allows remote guidance through the computer. >You pay more for Pro/Enterprise because it has added features that Power Users/Businesses need. Do you really? When negotiating large licenses with volume discounts, does Microsoft really end up charging more for each install than they do with the Home options? How many consumers pay for the Pro or Enterprise versions, and how much money does Microsoft actually make on that small price differential, compared to how much the market segmentation costs them in terms of consumer confusion and dismay? Clearly MS knows these answers better than I do, but I also don't really trust their marketing teams to execute that well in the consumer space. Sure, they are awesome in the business sphere, but they really suck when it comes to consumers.
      - tracker1 11y ago
        Enterprise/Education will only be available through organization based license agreements... not really for individuals. As to Home/Pro, I mostly agree... I wouldn't mind seeing a base version that's effectively Pro... considering the domain is a server license with additional CALs required anyway (SAMBA aside). That, or just sell the pro services as an upgrade package for windows, instead of a separate OS package... I know it's all in the details, just the same it can/should be more transparent.
- wvenable 11y ago
  The editions make sense for market segmentation. Home editions cannot join a domain so that rules them out for business and education. Then they want to price segment between schools and business which makes the distinction between Education and Enterprise. Pro is sort of the consumer version of Enterprise; it can join a domain too. I run 8.1 pro, not because of the join a domain feature, but because it can host a remote desktop session and home cannot.
  - arthurfm 11y ago
    > Home editions cannot join a domain so that rules them out for business and education. The Home edition of Windows 10 sounds like it might be able to join Azure Active Directory. [1] Support for modern form factors. Azure AD Join will work on devices that don't have the traditional domain join capabilities. [1] http://blogs.technet.com/b/ad/archive/2015/05/13/azure-active-directory-and-windows-10-making-the-enterprise-cloud-a-reality.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/ad/archive/2015/05/13/azure-activ...
- iamthepieman 11y ago
  I run 8.1 pro on my personal PCs because I need hyper-v and remote desktop for development. I would be happy to buy a "home" edition if it came with the those features but MS captured my additional dollars for the pro edition precisely because I did need them. Most people are getting OEM editions of Windows anyways. Anyone installing an OS on bare hardware is not going to be put off by confusion between SKUs.
- sp332 11y ago
  It's only free as an upgrade, and even that is time-limited. New copies will still cost money.
  - ikeboy 11y ago
    What seems to be new in this announcement is that if you do upgrade for free, you get that for life. Before it wasn't clear if you'd need to pay subscription fees afterwards. Plus, you can still get retail Win7 DVDs at under $100, then upgrade for free to Win10 Pro.
    - sp332 11y ago
      Right, but if you don't upgrade in the first year then you might not get it for free. I don't think anyone has said how much it will cost exactly. I haven't heard of a subscription fee either?
- grandalf 11y ago
  > My suspicion is they would have managed to avoid customer confusion, and captured pretty much all the same economic value, with a simple list of: You are probably right, but doing so would have cost MS a significant amount of money. This is an entrenched company trying to avoid killing so many cash cows. Likely the biggest motivation for this segmentation/pricing strategy is profit extraction from existing, business customers.
jeswin 11y ago
OK they messed it up, again? Anyone with a laptop preloaded with the crippled Home edition (meaning most laptops) will not be able to take it to the work place and connect it to the domain. Then there's Pro and Enterprise, and most people don't know why they need Enterprise.
- wvenable 11y ago
  You just pay for the upgrade to Pro which you can do from within the OS.
- cp9 11y ago
  why would you take your home computer and connect it to the workplace?
  - mkr-hn 11y ago
    "why would you take your home computer and connect it to the workplace?" - Blackberry
  - jeswin 11y ago
    You should Google up and see how common this problem really is. My example, I am a consultant. But I do have domain accounts in companies I consult. The OS that came with the machine (windows 7 home) had to be written over since it won't let me log in. The point being, it's such an artificial restriction. Most PCs are laptops, and this really restricts mobility.
    - scott_karana 11y ago
      For clarity, are you talking about joining your laptop to the domain, or merely logging into domain accounts using a non-domain-joined laptop?
    - keithpeter 11y ago
      A remote desktop session into the my employer's network from guest wifi works fine within their building. My laptop running the rdp client is faster than the thin client they issued me with!
bkurtz13 11y ago
I was expecting to see a gold version for $10,000...
- stephengillie 11y ago
  Why were you expecting this?
  - nandhp 11y ago
    Title reminds OP of Apple Watch Editions, which are gold and cost $10,000: http://store.apple.com/us/buy-watch/apple-watch-edition http://store.apple.com/us/buy-watch/apple-watch-edition
    - adam12 11y ago
      Good lord, those are ugly.
sizzzzlerz 11y ago
One thing I haven't discovered yet is whether the installation of 10 is going to be a brand new install rather than an upgrade. In other words, will it be necessary to reinstall all my applications after moving to 10?
- wvenable 11y ago
  An upgrade; the underlying technology in Windows hasn't changed significantly since Vista.
  - stephengillie 11y ago
    It reminds me of the Model Year - We're still on Windows Model Year 2008.
    - wvenable 11y ago
      Windows 10 was version 6.4 internally but it sounds like they're going to go make it 10.0 on release. (Windows 8.1 is 6.3 and Windows 7 is 6.1 and Vista is 6.0)
      - stephengillie 11y ago
        I haven't used Win10 yet. I'm curious if they've rewritten some of the core components like they did for the 2003-2008 jump. Things like IIS, Task Scheduler engine, & Security (UAC elevation).
      - chadzawistowski 11y ago
        That's not correct - Tech Preview already shows the version 10.0.build# Conceptually Windows 10 would/could have been 6.4, but it isn't.
  - tracker1 11y ago
    In the same vein... Windows Vista hadn't changed significantly since XP, or XP since 2000, or 2000 since NT 3.5.1, etc. It's all iterative and subject to perspective here.
ed_blackburn 11y ago
There's (quite rightly) been a bit of a fuss of late regarding the modular, paired down kernel. Why not offer the features above Home via the app / business store? CAL can still work. Then you have Windows, Windows Mobile and IoT? one presumes inertia and marketing are the biggest drivers behind these editions.
bad_user 11y ago
I don't get it - can you upgrade a Windows 8.1 standard to Win10 Pro?
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
tdicola 11y ago
No mention of Windows 10 IoT? Is it still going to live in some weird licensing limbo zone where it's only for preview and not for normal people to buy and use? edit: Oh geeze I missed it, it's appparently part of 'Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise'... seriously?
- chadzawistowski 11y ago
  No, I think you misinterpreted it. > There will also be versions of Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise for industry devices like ATMs, retail point of sale, handheld terminals and industrial robotics conversational pause > and Windows 10 IoT Core for small footprint, low cost devices like gateways.
forgotAgain 11y ago
They are too focused on the one OS for everything meme. Apple does it better with iOS and MacOS. Yes you will (presumably) be able to run Office across all devices but they're not really the same programs on each platform. The UI will still be different because it has to be.
- guardian5x 11y ago
  The UI will adapt on the Universal App Plattform as well, because it has to. So not really sure where the argument for Apple is here. A good analogy is responsive design for websites. It can have a few advantages to have a mobile and a desktop version seperate, but i don't think its always better, and i don't think its the future.
hendersoon 11y ago
Hah, Microsoft's DNA returns with a vengeance. They tried to change, but couldn't /not/ segment their market, even if it impairs the customer experience. That's the MS we all know and love!
- Erwin 11y ago
  Why can't it be as simple as Linux? If I want Redhat commercial support I simply have to decide between Standard or Premium Subscription with, or without Smart Management, normal or Entry level. Or the version for virtual Datacenters (if you want to run VMs with RHEL inside them the pricing is of course different). That's for x86 32/64 bit -- of course, if you want IBM POWER processor support, that is a different product with different pricing -- can't expect to use the same licensing model for a different CPU! And if you want to run Red Hat on a Desktop, that too is a different product. So in a total, 18 different versions of Linux: https://www.redhat.com/wapps/store/catalog.html https://www.redhat.com/wapps/store/catalog.html
  - bad_user 11y ago
    While for support packages you might be looking at multiple options, Linux distributions generally come in the Awesome edition only.
    - 4ad 11y ago
      Correct, it only impacts support, not functionality, while for Windows functionality is impaired.
chasing 11y ago
Dear Microsoft, Windows 10. Just release Windows 10. No one knows the difference between Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Extreme and Windows 10 Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Supreme. Your customers actually don't care. And as long as you keep selling a baffling array of variations on the same product, no one will believe you've turned over a new leaf. Windows 10. With love, Guy on the Internet PS: There should be no "it's even more secure" version. They should all be "even more secure."
- blumkvist 11y ago
  Making money. You don't know how to.
  - yathern 11y ago
    Actually, he has a point. Too many choices can harm sales significantly. Granted, in Microsoft's position, it's not as applicable. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/research-too-many-choices-can-derail-success https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/research-too-many-choi... https://blog.kissmetrics.com/too-many-choices/ https://blog.kissmetrics.com/too-many-choices/
    - blumkvist 11y ago
      Please, this is enterprise software we're talking about, sold almost exclusively through resellers, who are licensing experts and decide what the client needs. This is how you extract the most value.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
      - yathern 11y ago
        Yes, I realize this - which is why I said it's not as applicable for Microsoft's position. That having been said, chasings point was more about how it would be wise for Microsoft to make their product line less intimidating for end-users - which would help sell the idea of their latest rebranding - and have benefit for them, and customers as well.
ausjke 11y ago
Please Microsoft, just one Windows 10, the technical side sounds great(one OS runs everywhere) but your marketing guy is messing things up, the list of various window10 flavors made me dizzy and I had to quit reading quickly.
- fl0wenol 11y ago
  There's really only two versions here for people buying it for themselves. One for mobile, and one for non-mobile. Everything else is variations for the hows and wheres. The list is really for the IT pro getting ready to figure out what SKU he/she needs come next fiscal. They don't call it all the same thing because you're not being priced the same way; there's other considerations.
joshstrange 11y ago
Good lord... With all the stride MS has made and they STILL insist on releasing 1 million different versions of Windows... How stupid do you have to be to continue to do this?
- blumkvist 11y ago
  Has it ever occurred to you they know better what to do then you?
  - g051051 11y ago
    Considering their abysmal track record, it's pretty clear they don't.
    - blumkvist 11y ago
      Their abysmal track record? Are we still talking about the biggest, most successful software company in the world, which made all of its mountains of money using exactly this pricing strategy?
      - fragmede 11y ago
        Yeah. I mean, just look at this graph! http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Operating_systems_used_on_top_500_supercomputers.svg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Operating... See how no one uses Windows anymore on supercomputers? Seriously though, the only reason Windows 7 lost market share is because Windows 8.1 came out, according to http://www.statista.com/statistics/272667/market-share-held-by-operating-systems-in-the-us-since-2009/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/272667/market-share-held-...
  - rdsnsca 11y ago
    For one millionth of a second... that I came to my senses.
  - HCDevid 11y ago
    You're crazy man. Where do you get these ideas? Next you'll tell me that my opinions formed after 10 minutes of perusing a forum are subject to cognitive bias.
mattdeboard 11y ago
Hey so what does everyone think of them releasing multiple versions of Windows 10?
rurounijones 11y ago
> We are also bringing the Xbox gaming experience to Windows 10, giving games and gamers access to the Xbox Live gaming community, enabling the capture and share of gameplay and giving Xbox One owners the ability to play their Xbox One games from any Windows 10 PC in their home. I do not like the sound of this. It looks like another attempt at the loathed GWFL (Games For Windows Live)
g051051 11y ago
> everything from elevators to ATMs to heart rate monitors to wearables I've never been more frightened in my life. Forget the zombie apocalypse, this is the W10 apocalypse.
- PhantomGremlin 11y ago
  I can't believe people are downvoting this! Everyone is OK with Windows running elevators? What's next, pacemakers?
jarjoura 11y ago
There was an earlier impression (desire?) that Windows 10 was going to do away with this marketing mess of a bazillion different versions. Yet in reality, nothing has changed. All this blog post is doing differently is finally explaining what each version is.
coryl 11y ago
Blech, this is not sexy marketing. How do you do a press announcement with no pictures of said greatness? Its pretty pointless to describe your software product with paragraphs.
coryl 11y ago
Blech, this is not sexy marketing. How do you do a press announcement with no pictures of said greatness? Its pretty pointless to describe your software product with paragraphs.
mcintyre1994 11y ago
So if Windows 10 home and pro are both free upgrades, why are they separate? I get the rest is so they can call their mobile OS the same as they call their desktop OS and segmenting enterprise, but why the home/pro distinction?
makecheck 11y ago
Unfortunately this kind of complexity isn't just questionable marketing, it propagates to everything else. It makes seamless user experiences needlessly difficult. For example, imagine trying to create a supporting product, or simply writing instructions on how to do something. You're trying to make sure that the user will see what they're supposed to see but with all these versions you can't assume anything so you have to consider everything. A simple list of bullets suddenly becomes a series of "if you have X, do Y" statements. Everywhere. When products and companies become this big, a simple and arbitrary choice is all it takes to create unnecessary costs for thousands of organizations around the world.
dman 11y ago
This is not granular enough. I wonder if the following features are still missing from Windows 10 pro 1. Multi monitor support in RDP 2. Support for mounting NFS mounts Of course as in the past the compare windows editions will omit important actual differences like these.
hysan 11y ago
And suddenly I feel a lot less excited about possibly switching back to Windows. With 10, I was hoping for a single version for everything going forward. But if Microsoft is going to continue splitting their product lines and making it a headache for me to know which versions have the features I need (ex: RDP), I'm just going to not give them a second chance no matter how much they open source. It's just extra grief that I don't need as a normal end user.

116 points by rufus42 11y ago

I realize Microsoft has to price segment, which requires they call out an "Enterprise" category for Mobile and Laptop/Desktop, but sometimes I wonder if they really need all of these categories. For example, do they really get significant financial value from having a Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, Windows 10 Pro? particularly as they are offering it as a free upgrade to Windows 7/8 users. Notice they don't have a Windows 10 Mobile Home, Windows 10 Mobile Education, and Windows 10 Mobile Pro - just plain, "Windows 10 Mobile". My suspicion is they would have managed to avoid customer confusion, and captured pretty much all the same economic value, with a simple list of: Windows 10 Windows 10 Mobile Windows 10 Enterprise Windows 10 Mobile Enteprise

33W 11y ago
Agreed. I would only add to it their embedded "IoT" version.
bskap 11y ago
"Pro" is for people that don't have volume licenses but want the business-specific features like domain joining. Remember, Windows 10 may be a free upgrade, but it's not free and I imagine they still make quite a bit of extra money from businesses buying Pro. "Education" looks like it's a discounted volume license available to schools. Not sure what extra features it's going to have but it's not something that anyone other than a school administrator will ever care about.
- stephengillie 11y ago
  I can't tell you how many times I've had coworkers come in with a new device they convinced management to buy them, without my approval, and they've saved a few hundred on the OS by having a Personal edition. So MS is paid twice there - once for the Personal version that came with the device, and once again for the business buying a single copy of Pro version to install over the Personal version.
- daigoba66 11y ago
  Businesses (large ones anyway) tend to buy Windows Enterprise which only available through volume licensing. Technically the free upgrade is not available for Win7 or Win8 Enterprise (fine print on this page: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/about http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/about). But if the organization always pays for Software Assurance, that includes upgrades for all covered licenses. In my experience I see smaller businesses just purchasing hardware with OEM licenses (usually Pro).
- Spooky23 11y ago
  Education exists because Microsoft provides cheaper licensing to schools as a marketing exercise. They also let you buy the license entitlement through volume licensing, so smart schools will buy PCs with FreeDOS or Linux and BYO Windows. This creates a problem, because the Federal government requires that it receives the lowest possible price for a particular product. So they carve out the education market as a separate SKU.
- mreiland 11y ago
  Does Windows 7 Pro upgrade to Windows 10 Pro?
sonnyz 11y ago
I agree. A simple "Windows 10" with no subtitle would really make things easier for the consumer. Appending 'Home' on what is really a feature reduced version of Windows 10 doesn't seem to be in the best interest of the customer.
- wernercd 11y ago
  Define "Feature Reduced"? Lack of Domain? HyperV? Remote Desktop options? What features are people "losing" with Home that 95% of "Home" users "need"? Sure... You and I can't live without half of those things, but home users generally won't notice - or care - if HyperV is missing. You pay more for Pro/Enterprise because it has added features that Power Users/Businesses need. Glass Half Empty/Full... Potato/Patato... Home isn't feature reduced... Pro is feature added. Enterprise is feature complete. If you want feature reduced... look into versions like Starter Edition - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/windows-7-starter-what-are-the-limitations/422801d5-89de-494d-8cc1-6f4fc21c2ac0 http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-w...
  - epistasis 11y ago
    Remote Desktop is almost essential for "home" users, as it allows remote guidance through the computer. >You pay more for Pro/Enterprise because it has added features that Power Users/Businesses need. Do you really? When negotiating large licenses with volume discounts, does Microsoft really end up charging more for each install than they do with the Home options? How many consumers pay for the Pro or Enterprise versions, and how much money does Microsoft actually make on that small price differential, compared to how much the market segmentation costs them in terms of consumer confusion and dismay? Clearly MS knows these answers better than I do, but I also don't really trust their marketing teams to execute that well in the consumer space. Sure, they are awesome in the business sphere, but they really suck when it comes to consumers.
    - tracker1 11y ago
      Enterprise/Education will only be available through organization based license agreements... not really for individuals. As to Home/Pro, I mostly agree... I wouldn't mind seeing a base version that's effectively Pro... considering the domain is a server license with additional CALs required anyway (SAMBA aside). That, or just sell the pro services as an upgrade package for windows, instead of a separate OS package... I know it's all in the details, just the same it can/should be more transparent.
wvenable 11y ago
The editions make sense for market segmentation. Home editions cannot join a domain so that rules them out for business and education. Then they want to price segment between schools and business which makes the distinction between Education and Enterprise. Pro is sort of the consumer version of Enterprise; it can join a domain too. I run 8.1 pro, not because of the join a domain feature, but because it can host a remote desktop session and home cannot.
- arthurfm 11y ago
  > Home editions cannot join a domain so that rules them out for business and education. The Home edition of Windows 10 sounds like it might be able to join Azure Active Directory. [1] Support for modern form factors. Azure AD Join will work on devices that don't have the traditional domain join capabilities. [1] http://blogs.technet.com/b/ad/archive/2015/05/13/azure-active-directory-and-windows-10-making-the-enterprise-cloud-a-reality.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/ad/archive/2015/05/13/azure-activ...
iamthepieman 11y ago
I run 8.1 pro on my personal PCs because I need hyper-v and remote desktop for development. I would be happy to buy a "home" edition if it came with the those features but MS captured my additional dollars for the pro edition precisely because I did need them. Most people are getting OEM editions of Windows anyways. Anyone installing an OS on bare hardware is not going to be put off by confusion between SKUs.
sp332 11y ago
It's only free as an upgrade, and even that is time-limited. New copies will still cost money.
- ikeboy 11y ago
  What seems to be new in this announcement is that if you do upgrade for free, you get that for life. Before it wasn't clear if you'd need to pay subscription fees afterwards. Plus, you can still get retail Win7 DVDs at under $100, then upgrade for free to Win10 Pro.
  - sp332 11y ago
    Right, but if you don't upgrade in the first year then you might not get it for free. I don't think anyone has said how much it will cost exactly. I haven't heard of a subscription fee either?
grandalf 11y ago
> My suspicion is they would have managed to avoid customer confusion, and captured pretty much all the same economic value, with a simple list of: You are probably right, but doing so would have cost MS a significant amount of money. This is an entrenched company trying to avoid killing so many cash cows. Likely the biggest motivation for this segmentation/pricing strategy is profit extraction from existing, business customers.

jeswin 11y ago

OK they messed it up, again? Anyone with a laptop preloaded with the crippled Home edition (meaning most laptops) will not be able to take it to the work place and connect it to the domain. Then there's Pro and Enterprise, and most people don't know why they need Enterprise.

wvenable 11y ago
You just pay for the upgrade to Pro which you can do from within the OS.
cp9 11y ago
why would you take your home computer and connect it to the workplace?
- mkr-hn 11y ago
  "why would you take your home computer and connect it to the workplace?" - Blackberry
- jeswin 11y ago
  You should Google up and see how common this problem really is. My example, I am a consultant. But I do have domain accounts in companies I consult. The OS that came with the machine (windows 7 home) had to be written over since it won't let me log in. The point being, it's such an artificial restriction. Most PCs are laptops, and this really restricts mobility.
  - scott_karana 11y ago
    For clarity, are you talking about joining your laptop to the domain, or merely logging into domain accounts using a non-domain-joined laptop?
  - keithpeter 11y ago
    A remote desktop session into the my employer's network from guest wifi works fine within their building. My laptop running the rdp client is faster than the thin client they issued me with!

bkurtz13 11y ago

I was expecting to see a gold version for $10,000...

stephengillie 11y ago
Why were you expecting this?
- nandhp 11y ago
  Title reminds OP of Apple Watch Editions, which are gold and cost $10,000: http://store.apple.com/us/buy-watch/apple-watch-edition http://store.apple.com/us/buy-watch/apple-watch-edition
  - adam12 11y ago
    Good lord, those are ugly.

sizzzzlerz 11y ago

One thing I haven't discovered yet is whether the installation of 10 is going to be a brand new install rather than an upgrade. In other words, will it be necessary to reinstall all my applications after moving to 10?

wvenable 11y ago
An upgrade; the underlying technology in Windows hasn't changed significantly since Vista.
- stephengillie 11y ago
  It reminds me of the Model Year - We're still on Windows Model Year 2008.
  - wvenable 11y ago
    Windows 10 was version 6.4 internally but it sounds like they're going to go make it 10.0 on release. (Windows 8.1 is 6.3 and Windows 7 is 6.1 and Vista is 6.0)
    - stephengillie 11y ago
      I haven't used Win10 yet. I'm curious if they've rewritten some of the core components like they did for the 2003-2008 jump. Things like IIS, Task Scheduler engine, & Security (UAC elevation).
    - chadzawistowski 11y ago
      That's not correct - Tech Preview already shows the version 10.0.build# Conceptually Windows 10 would/could have been 6.4, but it isn't.
- tracker1 11y ago
  In the same vein... Windows Vista hadn't changed significantly since XP, or XP since 2000, or 2000 since NT 3.5.1, etc. It's all iterative and subject to perspective here.

ed_blackburn 11y ago

There's (quite rightly) been a bit of a fuss of late regarding the modular, paired down kernel. Why not offer the features above Home via the app / business store? CAL can still work. Then you have Windows, Windows Mobile and IoT? one presumes inertia and marketing are the biggest drivers behind these editions.

bad_user 11y ago

I don't get it - can you upgrade a Windows 8.1 standard to Win10 Pro?

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

tdicola 11y ago

No mention of Windows 10 IoT? Is it still going to live in some weird licensing limbo zone where it's only for preview and not for normal people to buy and use? edit: Oh geeze I missed it, it's appparently part of 'Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise'... seriously?

chadzawistowski 11y ago
No, I think you misinterpreted it. > There will also be versions of Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise for industry devices like ATMs, retail point of sale, handheld terminals and industrial robotics conversational pause > and Windows 10 IoT Core for small footprint, low cost devices like gateways.

forgotAgain 11y ago

They are too focused on the one OS for everything meme. Apple does it better with iOS and MacOS. Yes you will (presumably) be able to run Office across all devices but they're not really the same programs on each platform. The UI will still be different because it has to be.

guardian5x 11y ago
The UI will adapt on the Universal App Plattform as well, because it has to. So not really sure where the argument for Apple is here. A good analogy is responsive design for websites. It can have a few advantages to have a mobile and a desktop version seperate, but i don't think its always better, and i don't think its the future.

hendersoon 11y ago

Hah, Microsoft's DNA returns with a vengeance. They tried to change, but couldn't /not/ segment their market, even if it impairs the customer experience. That's the MS we all know and love!

Erwin 11y ago
Why can't it be as simple as Linux? If I want Redhat commercial support I simply have to decide between Standard or Premium Subscription with, or without Smart Management, normal or Entry level. Or the version for virtual Datacenters (if you want to run VMs with RHEL inside them the pricing is of course different). That's for x86 32/64 bit -- of course, if you want IBM POWER processor support, that is a different product with different pricing -- can't expect to use the same licensing model for a different CPU! And if you want to run Red Hat on a Desktop, that too is a different product. So in a total, 18 different versions of Linux: https://www.redhat.com/wapps/store/catalog.html https://www.redhat.com/wapps/store/catalog.html
- bad_user 11y ago
  While for support packages you might be looking at multiple options, Linux distributions generally come in the Awesome edition only.
  - 4ad 11y ago
    Correct, it only impacts support, not functionality, while for Windows functionality is impaired.

chasing 11y ago

Dear Microsoft, Windows 10. Just release Windows 10. No one knows the difference between Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Extreme and Windows 10 Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Supreme. Your customers actually don't care. And as long as you keep selling a baffling array of variations on the same product, no one will believe you've turned over a new leaf. Windows 10. With love, Guy on the Internet PS: There should be no "it's even more secure" version. They should all be "even more secure."

blumkvist 11y ago
Making money. You don't know how to.
- yathern 11y ago
  Actually, he has a point. Too many choices can harm sales significantly. Granted, in Microsoft's position, it's not as applicable. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/research-too-many-choices-can-derail-success https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/research-too-many-choi... https://blog.kissmetrics.com/too-many-choices/ https://blog.kissmetrics.com/too-many-choices/
  - blumkvist 11y ago
    Please, this is enterprise software we're talking about, sold almost exclusively through resellers, who are licensing experts and decide what the client needs. This is how you extract the most value.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - yathern 11y ago
      Yes, I realize this - which is why I said it's not as applicable for Microsoft's position. That having been said, chasings point was more about how it would be wise for Microsoft to make their product line less intimidating for end-users - which would help sell the idea of their latest rebranding - and have benefit for them, and customers as well.

ausjke 11y ago

Please Microsoft, just one Windows 10, the technical side sounds great(one OS runs everywhere) but your marketing guy is messing things up, the list of various window10 flavors made me dizzy and I had to quit reading quickly.

fl0wenol 11y ago
There's really only two versions here for people buying it for themselves. One for mobile, and one for non-mobile. Everything else is variations for the hows and wheres. The list is really for the IT pro getting ready to figure out what SKU he/she needs come next fiscal. They don't call it all the same thing because you're not being priced the same way; there's other considerations.

joshstrange 11y ago

Good lord... With all the stride MS has made and they STILL insist on releasing 1 million different versions of Windows... How stupid do you have to be to continue to do this?

blumkvist 11y ago
Has it ever occurred to you they know better what to do then you?
- g051051 11y ago
  Considering their abysmal track record, it's pretty clear they don't.
  - blumkvist 11y ago
    Their abysmal track record? Are we still talking about the biggest, most successful software company in the world, which made all of its mountains of money using exactly this pricing strategy?
    - fragmede 11y ago
      Yeah. I mean, just look at this graph! http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Operating_systems_used_on_top_500_supercomputers.svg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Operating... See how no one uses Windows anymore on supercomputers? Seriously though, the only reason Windows 7 lost market share is because Windows 8.1 came out, according to http://www.statista.com/statistics/272667/market-share-held-by-operating-systems-in-the-us-since-2009/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/272667/market-share-held-...
- rdsnsca 11y ago
  For one millionth of a second... that I came to my senses.
- HCDevid 11y ago
  You're crazy man. Where do you get these ideas? Next you'll tell me that my opinions formed after 10 minutes of perusing a forum are subject to cognitive bias.

mattdeboard 11y ago

Hey so what does everyone think of them releasing multiple versions of Windows 10?

rurounijones 11y ago

> We are also bringing the Xbox gaming experience to Windows 10, giving games and gamers access to the Xbox Live gaming community, enabling the capture and share of gameplay and giving Xbox One owners the ability to play their Xbox One games from any Windows 10 PC in their home. I do not like the sound of this. It looks like another attempt at the loathed GWFL (Games For Windows Live)

g051051 11y ago

> everything from elevators to ATMs to heart rate monitors to wearables I've never been more frightened in my life. Forget the zombie apocalypse, this is the W10 apocalypse.

PhantomGremlin 11y ago
I can't believe people are downvoting this! Everyone is OK with Windows running elevators? What's next, pacemakers?

jarjoura 11y ago

There was an earlier impression (desire?) that Windows 10 was going to do away with this marketing mess of a bazillion different versions. Yet in reality, nothing has changed. All this blog post is doing differently is finally explaining what each version is.

coryl 11y ago

Blech, this is not sexy marketing. How do you do a press announcement with no pictures of said greatness? Its pretty pointless to describe your software product with paragraphs.

coryl 11y ago

Blech, this is not sexy marketing. How do you do a press announcement with no pictures of said greatness? Its pretty pointless to describe your software product with paragraphs.

mcintyre1994 11y ago

So if Windows 10 home and pro are both free upgrades, why are they separate? I get the rest is so they can call their mobile OS the same as they call their desktop OS and segmenting enterprise, but why the home/pro distinction?

makecheck 11y ago

Unfortunately this kind of complexity isn't just questionable marketing, it propagates to everything else. It makes seamless user experiences needlessly difficult. For example, imagine trying to create a supporting product, or simply writing instructions on how to do something. You're trying to make sure that the user will see what they're supposed to see but with all these versions you can't assume anything so you have to consider everything. A simple list of bullets suddenly becomes a series of "if you have X, do Y" statements. Everywhere. When products and companies become this big, a simple and arbitrary choice is all it takes to create unnecessary costs for thousands of organizations around the world.

dman 11y ago

This is not granular enough. I wonder if the following features are still missing from Windows 10 pro 1. Multi monitor support in RDP 2. Support for mounting NFS mounts Of course as in the past the compare windows editions will omit important actual differences like these.

hysan 11y ago

And suddenly I feel a lot less excited about possibly switching back to Windows. With 10, I was hoping for a single version for everything going forward. But if Microsoft is going to continue splitting their product lines and making it a headache for me to know which versions have the features I need (ex: RDP), I'm just going to not give them a second chance no matter how much they open source. It's just extra grief that I don't need as a normal end user.