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"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

by 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?

by bskap 11y ago

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?