Heading towards Windows 10

[Harlington]

Currently we use Windows 7 Pro, as a student or staff image deployed via WDS, and it's working fine. I've just added a 2016 PDC and updated the schema from 2003 (oh yes this place has been neglected) to match.

We've just received 20 new laptops which don't have Windows 7 drivers so will have to go with Windows 10.

The question is which flavour? I've looked through the many threads and LTSB rather than Education appears to be the preferred option. Is that the consensus?

 

So what I want to be able to do is create a standard image for students and one for staff, just as I have with Windows 7, and be able to deploy them out to new computers (the current PCs can stay on Windows 7), with as little fuss as possible.

 

Am I on the right track with LTSB?

[BKGarry]

Welcome to Edugeek @Harlington

 

LTSB is an option, many people use it because they don't want cortana or the windows store anywhere near the machine, but with this you do sacrifice a lot of the bells and whistles (and Microsoft Edge too)

 

Personally I would invest some time in setting up MDT (Microsoft Deployment Toolkit) with WDS deploying out the boot image. I have set up MDT here and have it deploying all the applications separately (as an application group), you do need to know all the silent/quiet no interaction switches for your software setups.

 

The reason I spent the time in investing in this is because I can just import drivers in MDT and it will install them as part of the initial push, and it means that if I ever want to deploy a new OS, I can just change the OS image (from the installation media) available in MDT and start building form there.

 

You can go down the route of "Fat Images" and deploy it that way with the drivers but I find that you end up constantly having to make the images again when you get a lot of new software.

 

As for what version of windows 10, that is up to you, try Education/Enterprise to begin with and see if you can get it working the way you want, as you will get all the cool bits like paint 3d etc but it purely comes down to what works best for your school.

 

I am currently using LTSB as a middle step myself, getting it all working there and people using that, and then my next roll-out will be Edu/Ent which Is less of a shock to most people then going straight there

[unixman_again]

Welcome to Edugeek @Harlington

 

LTSB is an option, many people use it because they don't want cortana or the windows store anywhere near the machine, but with this you do sacrifice a lot of the bells and whistles (and Microsoft Edge too)

 

The final point is a plus to using LTSB!

[mavhc]

More and more things won't work with LTSB, it's designed for ATMs not desktop computers.

 

Download ISO, convert ESD to WIM file, import into WDS, use MDT etc to install all the software on first boot.

 

Use Education if you pay MS every year, or Pro if you do it for free, with some reg hacks.

[gshaw]

Welcome to Edugeek @Harlington

Personally I would invest some time in setting up MDT (Microsoft Deployment Toolkit) with WDS deploying out the boot image. I have set up MDT here and have it deploying all the applications separately (as an application group), you do need to know all the silent/quiet no interaction switches for your software setups.

 

The reason I spent the time in investing in this is because I can just import drivers in MDT and it will install them as part of the initial push, and it means that if I ever want to deploy a new OS, I can just change the OS image (from the installation media) available in MDT and start building form there.

Exactly this, with MDT set up right everything just builds up one layer at a time and all you need to do is import the freshest media and Office as and when you want to push out a new version.

[sparkeh]

I've looked through the many threads and LTSB rather than Education appears to be the preferred option. Is that the consensus?

I wouldn't say so no. I think there is a fairly even split.

 

Personally I think that Edu is the way to go. As you will have seen the pro and cons have been argued over but I wouldn't like being constrained by the hardware limitations of LTSB and using a a version that is designed to static systems that are updated infrequently. I can imagine it coming back to bite you in the future but hey, many others will tell you the opposite

 

Essentially it comes down to deciding which version fits your environment the best.

[mavhc]

Should be easy to switch anyway, just add the other wim, reinstall.

 

Embrace the future, that's the point of tech, try new stuff. Kids love Paint 3D for a start, plus Minecraft, Photo/Video editor, all the new stuff is UWP

[Harlington]

Should be easy to switch anyway, just add the other wim, reinstall.

 

Embrace the future, that's the point of tech, try new stuff. Kids love Paint 3D for a start, plus Minecraft, Photo/Video editor, all the new stuff is UWP

 

What about the difference in licence costs?

[BKGarry]

What about the difference in licence costs?

 

Assuming you have a Microsoft EES agreement, already included, in fact you cannot use Education or LTSB without these.

[Harlington]

Assuming you have a Microsoft EES agreement, already included, in fact you cannot use Education or LTSB without these.

 

OK, stupid question #1, how can I tell if I have a EES agreement? The company we use for licensing mostly deals with businesses rather than schools, so I have a horrible feeling they haven't a clue what they're doing when it comes to EES.

Before I started 2 years ago apparently we had access to everything from MS as a specialist academy. Windows 10 is listed in the volume licensing service centre but says it needs a key from the product activation call centre and they were no help.

[BKGarry]

in VLSC go to Licenses at the top and select Relationship Summary, if you have a valid subscription your should see and Open Value Subscription in there as active.

 

Also under Licences > License Summaries should say what you are licensed to hold.

[Harlington]

in VLSC go to Licenses at the top and select Relationship Summary, if you have a valid subscription your should see and Open Value Subscription in there as active.

 

Also under Licences > License Summaries should say what you are licensed to hold.

 

Cheers, yes we have it, but as we were sticking with Windows 7 when it was renewed 6 months ago they didn't add Windows 10.

Looks like the cheapest option is to get 20 individual licences for the new laptops and then look into the long term plan for replacing workstations to see if going the SA route is cheaper for the rest.

[jmak]

Cheers, yes we have it, but as we were sticking with Windows 7 when it was renewed 6 months ago they didn't add Windows 10.

Looks like the cheapest option is to get 20 individual licences for the new laptops and then look into the long term plan for replacing workstations to see if going the SA route is cheaper for the rest.

Speak to your reseller - if you've bought any kind of volume license (either subscription or perpetual) since August 2015, it will be a Windows 10 license with downgrade rights to earlier versions. Don't go buying anything extra [emoji4]