Windows 10 Version

[lafleur1977]

Hello,

 

I am currently looking into upgrading to Windows 10 and hit a bit of a snag on the best version to use. I have setup to deploy via MDT and that's working really well so far. I am now looking at which win 10 version is best to proceed with.

 

I have the Windows 10 edu iso and the windows 10 ltsb 2019 iso. When I add the edu iso to mdt it contains edu, edu pro, and professional so I setup a task sequence for each to compare the difference. Reading online I can see there is a few differences between those 3 like cortana and spotlight disabled. However, when I image with each different version they all appear to be the same - even in the OS info it says Windows 10 Edu regardless of the OS in the task sequence. Is this normal as the iso was Win 10 edu or have I missed something?

 

I can image with windows 10 2019 ltsb and that is clearly the correct version however was extremely minimal when I looked what was installed!

 

Most people on here seem to be going with edu or ltsb so I am not sure which one to go with. I believe edu is only supported for 30 months so would be a pain to have update and re-image pc's. LTSB looks like it has alot missing but the support length of 10 years looks promising.

 

Thanks

[DJ-1701]

Education. Hands down. LTSB or LTSC as it's now know should only be used in very special cases.

 

You can update Windows 10 to the latest build in WSUS buy just allowing the latest build in the upgrade category.

Edited May 24, 2019 by DJ-1701
Clear up ambiguous sentence structure.

[5nowman]

 

I have the Windows 10 edu iso and the windows 10 ltsb 2019 iso.

Thanks

 

I don't think there is a LTSB 2019. I could only see a LTSC 2019 on the volume license site.

 

The way I am working is.. think about the schools needs. Do you need apps from the microsoft store? If not LTSC is minimal...and FAST so far!

 

I could have gone pro however there are all those scripts to remove candy crush etc. I read you can edit the registry to get photo viewer etc back. People talked about calculator... this was already in LTSC.

 

Hopefully SIMS and curriculum software work with LTSC as it is in essence the same OS with updates different (no OS build updates by default) ? Correct me if I am wrong.

Edited May 24, 2019 by 5nowman

[DJ-1701]

LTSB or LTSC as it's now know should only be used in very special cases.

 

Further information from Microsoft.

 

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-IT-Pro-Blog/LTSC-What-is-it-and-when-should-it-be-used/ba-p/293181

[PlantHead]

LTSC/B used to be the recommended long term solution but Microsoft seem very unhappy that people are using it and it has lots of the nicer stuff removed - additionally you don't get any of the feature updates which can be a real headache if you need Files on Demand etc.

 

Win 10 Education is basically Enterprise but with some of the bloat removed for schools - it doesn't go far enough in my opinion but this is the OS to use.

Windows 10 Pro is designed for home users - it is Home but with some extra bells

Edited May 24, 2019 by PlantHead

[Jawloms]

Education. Hands down. LTSB or LTSC as it's now know should only be used in very special cases.

 

You can update Windows 10 to the latest build in WSUS buy just allowing the latest build in the upgrade category.

 

On the flip side of this;

 

LTSC. Hands down.

 

We're rolling it out, it does everything we want and isn't full of junk. Microsoft say "The Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) is designed for Windows 10 devices and use cases where the key requirement is that functionality and features don’t change over time". For us, our classrooms don't change so why not use it?

 

Stuart

[lafleur1977]

Thanks everyone for your advise on the best version to use. I think I will start with Edu and see how it works for us. Has anyone had the same problem it imaging with educ vs edu pro vs pro and not seeing the difference?

[DJ-1701]

To be honest, never tried. Pro is meant to be limited, so you can't control things like suggestions in the start bar... though not sure if Edu Pro is the same on that front.

[Arthur]

Has anyone had the same problem it imaging with educ vs edu pro vs pro and not seeing the difference?

Pro and Pro Education aren't even worth bothering with since neither support AppLocker, UE-V, security features like Credential Guard or Start Menu control via Group Policy.

 

As @DJ-1701 mentioned, I would start with Education and see how you get on with that.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_editions#Comparison_chart

 

[fredbayker]

We use LTSB(1607) and have recently started deploying LTSC which is 1809.

Not had any issues with software not working so far, doesn’t come with any bloatware and has all the features that our users need. We’ve had no issues at all. Even files on demand is working through the one drive client.

[kingoranks]

Have been testing LTSC for 4 months, anyone care to share thought and guide on group policy for student and staff.

[ticktock]

I'm looking at deploying W10 shortly and opinion seems split between LTSC and EDU. Could anyone point me the right direction. I am the only IT person in school and need something with minimal maintenance.

[lafleur1977]

I'm looking at deploying W10 shortly and opinion seems split between LTSC and EDU. Could anyone point me the right direction. I am the only IT person in school and need something with minimal maintenance.

 

I'm working on deploying the Edu version (1809) currently. I considered LTSC 2019 but found it very minimal so took a bit of advise from this post and others and decided to use Edu. So far I have setup a MDT deployment (using WDS for pxe boot), added a vanilla Edu 1809 image to deploy and customised it via MDT to automate things like time zone, keyboard and language, product key, domain join, local admin pw. I have nearly finished removing all the unwanted apps as part of the deployment (via a powershell script that runs during the final stage of deployment). I have also started testing W10 in our AD environment with current group policies (most of which work and only some old legacy group policies aren't doing so far). My server environment is WS2012R2 so I am going to add the windows 10 admx files to the central store so I can manage the win 10 specific things.

 

One thing to consider is that Window 10 upgrade may to have to be done each summer due to the support and release cycle MS have - xx03 and xx09 per year however xx03 only have 18 months support (which is why I'm going with 1809 even though 1903 has just come out). xx03 wouldn't give you as much time to test prior to summer whereas as xx09 has 30 months support so that might be best for you.

 

LTSC has a massive 10 years support but comes with hardly any apps (even edge isn't installed and other useful apps). I haven't tried but the advise I got was it was easier to remove the unwanted apps from edu than add the useful apps to LTSC. You will also get newer features in edu such as files on demand.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited June 9, 2019 by lafleur1977

[DrBeaker]

Remember how many versions of Windows Vista there were?

 

They really seem to have dropped a clanger again with Windows 10 versioning.

 

Surely it should be as simple as ...

 

Home = Home use

Pro = Pro use for advanced home users.

Enterprise = Large companies with large numbers of computers

Education = Schools

 

No we don't want your crap apps such as Candy Crush etc installed by default. Would it really be that hard for MS to listen to us?

[lafleur1977]

Remember how many versions of Windows Vista there were?

 

They really seem to have dropped a clanger again with Windows 10 versioning.

 

Surely it should be as simple as ...

 

Home = Home use

Pro = Pro use for advanced home users.

Enterprise = Large companies with large numbers of computers

Education = Schools

 

No we don't want your crap apps such as Candy Crush etc installed by default. Would it really be that hard for MS to listen to us?

 

Agreed but I think there are more versions of Windows 10 than anything MS have ever released.

[DrBeaker]

Agreed but I think there are more versions of Windows 10 than anything MS have ever released.

Ones I know of are:

 

Home

Professional

Education

Enterprise

LTSC

 

Any others that are common?

 

I was tempted with LTSC but after reading here, other forums etc it seems it WAS originally intended to be a bit like Ubuntu - but now Microsoft have taken that back and seem to hold off any development at all with LTSC. They do seem to be pushing towards normal Education.

[lafleur1977]

Ones I know of are:

 

Home

Professional

Education

Enterprise

LTSC

 

Any others that are common?

 

I was tempted with LTSC but after reading here, other forums etc it seems it WAS originally intended to be a bit like Ubuntu - but now Microsoft have taken that back and seem to hold off any development at all with LTSC. They do seem to be pushing towards normal Education.

 

There is 12 editions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_editions) but the 4 you mention are the main ones.

 

LTSC has a release every 2 years or so, the last one came out in 2019, but I've decided to go with edu.

[5nowman]

In my opinion.. the biggest downside of LTSC .. and please correct me if i am wrong is the version vulnerability.

 

Remember when Ransomware hit all hospitals etc ? Would they not have been using a version similar to LTSC ? Even though Microsoft patches were there.. maybe the version let down.

 

This is what scares me big time.

[Primus]

In my opinion.. the biggest downside of LTSC .. and please correct me if i am wrong is the version vulnerability.

 

Remember when Ransomware hit all hospitals etc ? Would they not have been using a version similar to LTSC ? Even though Microsoft patches were there.. maybe the version let down.

 

This is what scares me big time.

 

No, when the NHS was hit they were running Windows XP which was out of support and they had failed to renew their agreement with Microsoft for additional security patches.

[free780]

Well LTSC is patched. SAC does have improved security features introduced in 1709 which are now in LTSC 1809. I would always go for SAC as its the most tested version. Also software such as Visual Studio is not supported on LTSC.

[mavhc]

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/lessons-learned-review-wannacry-ransomware-cyber-attack-cio-review.pdf

 

This was an attack using a specific Microsoft Windows vulnerability, not an attack

on unsupported software. The majority of NHS devices infected were running the

supported, but unpatched, Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. Unsupported

devices (those on XP) were in the minority of infected devices24

 

They just never installed updates.

 

I'm not really sure Credential Guard is useful if no one's a local admin. So I go with Pro, it's free.

 

"Classrooms never change" seems wrong, surely that's the place things change the most.

[Jawloms]

In my opinion.. the biggest downside of LTSC .. and please correct me if i am wrong is the version vulnerability.

 

Not something I'd heard before. Why is it more vulnerable than other versions?

[5nowman]

I was thinking along the terms of ... the Main OS not being upgraded like windows 10 PRo or Edu.

 

3 years is a very long time for an OS upgrade from say LTSC 2019 to LTSC 2022.

 

In that same period Windows 10 Edu / others would have had 6 upgrades - 2 a year where microsoft would have fixed flaws vulnerabilities.

[Primus]

But LTSC still gets security updates??? It doesn't go years without any patches - it gets the same monthly patches as Edu, Pro etc.

[Arthur]

3 years is a very long time for an OS upgrade from say LTSC 2019 to LTSC 2022.

The LTSB/C versions of Windows 10 always receive security updates each month. What they don't receive is feature updates (unless you upgrade manually to each new LTSC build Microsoft release every three years).

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_editions#Release_branches

 

This servicing option is exclusively available for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC edition and distributes snapshots of this edition that are updated every 2-3 years. LTSC builds adhere to Microsoft's traditional support policy which was in effect before Windows 10: They are not updated with new features, and are supported with critical updates for 10 years after their release. Microsoft officially discourages the use of LTSC outside of "special-purpose devices" that perform a fixed function and thus do not require new user experience features. As a result, it excludes Windows Store, most Cortana functionality, and most bundled apps (including Microsoft Edge). According to a Microsoft announcement, this servicing option was renamed from Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) in 2016 to Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) in 2018, to match the name changes mentioned above.

 

With xx09 versions of Windows 10 now being supported for 30 months and the new LTSC versions being released every 36 months there doesn't seem much point in using the latter.

Edited June 10, 2019 by Arthur