Thursday, May 14th 2015
Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Variants
Microsoft revealed the six variants in which its next operating system, Windows 10, will ship in. The company decided to unify the Windows 10 brand across its PC, workstation, and handheld platforms. For PCs, workstations, and tablets running x86 processors, the lineup will include the Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Education, and Windows 10 Enterprise.
Windows 10 Home has everything a home and small-business user could ask for (including PC gamers and enthusiasts). It will include the Edge web-browser (so your post-install waltz to Chrome or Firefox websites is a few seconds faster), Microsoft Cortana voice-based assistant, richer Bing integration, Microsoft Hello face-recognition software, and support for biometric login methods. Gamers get DirectX 12 out of the box. Users of Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 8/8.1 get a free upgrade to this edition.
Windows 10 Pro adds features for power-users, such as advanced data protection, remote- and mobile-access, additional cloud features, and remote management for medium-sized businesses. Users of Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Windows 8/8.1 Pro get a free upgrade to this edition.
Windows 10 Education is a brand new SKU designed for schools, colleges, and universities. It will come with features to meed the needs of educators (teachers, management, exam-controllers, computer labs, etc.,). This edition will be sold through specially priced volume licensing to entire counties, groups of institutions, and universities.
Windows 10 Enterprise will be designed for desktops and workstations in a very-large enterprise environment, in which individual machines are expendable, and user data is centralized and portable between machines. It will come with advanced networking, data-security, and remote management features.
In addition, Microsoft is readying two variants of its operating system for smartphones and tablets - Windows 10 Mobile, and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise. Windows 10 Mobile will be targeted at consumer smartphones, and will have a rich feature-set for communication, social-networking, and productivity; while Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise will be designed for devices given by companies to their employees, with access to privileged information and services.
Unfortunately, and breaking tradition, Microsoft didn't disclose box-art, marking Windows' transition from optical disc media, to one that's distributed by any which way possible, while Microsoft only sells licenses (keys). The company already gives away ISO disc images and USB flash drive install media creation tools for Windows 8.1 on its website; while selling licenses.
Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, will be offered as free-forever upgrades to users of equivalent variants of Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1, if they upgrade within the first year of Windows 10 launch. Those using pirated Windows 7 may find the upgrade "free," but Microsoft has a slew of anti-piracy measures in store, which kick in after the upgrade.
Microsoft could dramatically change the way it monetizes Windows, in the near future. Gone will be the static $100-ish licenses, and the company will sell Windows as a service, much like Office 365. You choose your desired variant, and pay for using it, monthly or annually. We imagine unpaid installations suffering a worse fate than merely not getting software updates - the OS could become unusable after a "grace period," until you pay up.
On the upside, the monthly or annual fees for each edition could end up quite cheap. Also, the version will no longer be relevant. Microsoft will keep adding big new features every so often (which you normally expect from new versions that require you to buy new licenses). Windows will sell a lot like Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud.
Windows 10 will be released in July, in 111 languages, and in 190 countries.
Windows 10 Home has everything a home and small-business user could ask for (including PC gamers and enthusiasts). It will include the Edge web-browser (so your post-install waltz to Chrome or Firefox websites is a few seconds faster), Microsoft Cortana voice-based assistant, richer Bing integration, Microsoft Hello face-recognition software, and support for biometric login methods. Gamers get DirectX 12 out of the box. Users of Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 8/8.1 get a free upgrade to this edition.
Windows 10 Education is a brand new SKU designed for schools, colleges, and universities. It will come with features to meed the needs of educators (teachers, management, exam-controllers, computer labs, etc.,). This edition will be sold through specially priced volume licensing to entire counties, groups of institutions, and universities.
Windows 10 Enterprise will be designed for desktops and workstations in a very-large enterprise environment, in which individual machines are expendable, and user data is centralized and portable between machines. It will come with advanced networking, data-security, and remote management features.
In addition, Microsoft is readying two variants of its operating system for smartphones and tablets - Windows 10 Mobile, and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise. Windows 10 Mobile will be targeted at consumer smartphones, and will have a rich feature-set for communication, social-networking, and productivity; while Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise will be designed for devices given by companies to their employees, with access to privileged information and services.
Unfortunately, and breaking tradition, Microsoft didn't disclose box-art, marking Windows' transition from optical disc media, to one that's distributed by any which way possible, while Microsoft only sells licenses (keys). The company already gives away ISO disc images and USB flash drive install media creation tools for Windows 8.1 on its website; while selling licenses.
Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, will be offered as free-forever upgrades to users of equivalent variants of Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1, if they upgrade within the first year of Windows 10 launch. Those using pirated Windows 7 may find the upgrade "free," but Microsoft has a slew of anti-piracy measures in store, which kick in after the upgrade.
Microsoft could dramatically change the way it monetizes Windows, in the near future. Gone will be the static $100-ish licenses, and the company will sell Windows as a service, much like Office 365. You choose your desired variant, and pay for using it, monthly or annually. We imagine unpaid installations suffering a worse fate than merely not getting software updates - the OS could become unusable after a "grace period," until you pay up.
On the upside, the monthly or annual fees for each edition could end up quite cheap. Also, the version will no longer be relevant. Microsoft will keep adding big new features every so often (which you normally expect from new versions that require you to buy new licenses). Windows will sell a lot like Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud.
Windows 10 will be released in July, in 111 languages, and in 190 countries.
105 Comments on Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Variants
Also, subscription based licence, eww.
Yeah that is really going to help stop piracy...
No way in hell Microsoft...I'd return to Apple and kiss the underpowered, broken down, hunk of overpriced aluminum machines that they are before I'd subscribe to use an operating system. And if Apple did it, I'd then use Apple stores as public toilets.
First Xbone, now this. Think its about time the net unites again and does to Windows 10 like what they did to Xbone. M$ wants to pull this crap...just means they haven't forgotten how they nearly wreaked Xbone and had to bend over and take it from gamers everywhere.
Man I was excited for this as DX12 is looking so great. But now...think I'll keep a closer eye on less scrupulous sites. Its gonna happen, you know it. Someone will be a hero and free Windows users from the subscription hell that M$ wants them to be in.
Here's to hoping Vulcan and Linux gain momentum.
Stop moaning people, let's first see what it is and what features it will have. Don't expect smooth transition if you are still sitting on XP or Win 7 - you filthy cheap technology retrogressed bastards :)
This is exactly what I said it will be, a underhanded way to trick people into "upgrading" for free, then realizing the following year they will be slugged with a subscription fee.
If they expect people to pay an annual fee, there will be many that stay with their existing OS or move to an alternative.
Steam should have steam OS ready and waiting.
Windows 8 was great as many people either went to linux or Mac os.
Although the tech preview of windows 10 looks okay. At least the metro sexual interface isn't forced on you. And there is a start button.
Can you just pay X and have it for the life of the product? Rather than a subscription.
Also if you upgrade your graphics card will you need to reactivate?
Most of my work are already done on Linux. I only keep Windows for .NET development and Games. If Windows becomes subscription based, it also means my company Visual Studio licenses and my own Game licenses will expire along with Windows if I don't keep up with the annual/monthly payments.
Big mistake M$, big big mistake... If there is one thing people should have learned by now; NO ONE LIKES TO BE FORCED.
I've been using Office 365 Home Premium for 2 years and I cancelled my automatic renewal this year. I can see this work to be fair. To secure my family I need 5 windows licences, which by stand alone DVD- money is a lot for me. If they bundle a subscription for 5 licences a year I can see it work. By the time I reach the cost I would have paid for 5 licenced DVD's at once when a new Windows shows up, there will be the next Windows coming up if using subscription for 2-3 years.
General Q for anyone: I am interpreting the first year upgrade being listed as "free forever" meaning if we upgrade in that first year, we will never pay this silly upgrade on THAT licesced W10? I would just like more Explicit definitiveness of this term by Microsoft.
Edit: In the little % chances that windows will be subscription based it will most likely end like paid mods, lots of people will complain and they will go back to how it was before with their other OS, pay once and forever.
i prefer they tag it lower for basic
This is clearly to shift all the maintenance / security / compatibility / server and bandwidth costs to the consumer and not Microsoft.
Microsoft needs to realize that people aren't going to pay a subscription to just listen to their own songs, watch their own movies and play their own games or browse the internet. It would be like taxing people for the air they breathe. If you want people to pay you, you have to offer something in return, of perceived equal or greater value. Which is why so many people stayed with Windows XP instead of migrating to that nightmare called Windows Vista, and also why a lot chose to stick to Windows 7 instead of moving to Windows 8/8.1.
Also, if somebody could get the message across to Microsoft that pricing the licenses for home users so that they'd be more palatable would actually increase their sales tenfold, now THAT would be true progress.