The Windows 10 Review: The Old & New Face of Windows
by Brett Howse on August 25, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Operating Systems
- Microsoft
- Windows 10
Windows 10 Editions
Branding Windows has been somewhat hit and miss over the last couple of generations. Microsoft took the entire exercise a bit too far over the Windows Vista and Windows 7 period, with a lot of different versions that had different features available. With Windows 8, they moved to just a couple of different versions which simplified the selection. Windows 8 Core was the one most people needed, and Pro offered a few more features that most home users would not need, such as the ability to join a domain, or use Remote Desktop. There was also an edition for volume license customers called Enterprise, and it contained every feature.
Windows 10 continues down this path, but rebrands the home version Home again. That makes a lot of sense since the “core” branding on Windows 8 was kind of silly.
Once again, there are two basic versions which you can purchase. Windows 10 Home, and Windows 10 Pro are both going to be offered in retail sales, and once again there is a volume license version called Enterprise, and another carryover from is a special version of Enterprise for education, called, you guessed it, Education.
Education and Enterprise are almost identical, with only a couple of differences. But most of us are going to be using Windows 10 Home or Pro.
As before, Windows 10 Home is a subset of Pro, with Pro offering features that are aimed more towards business users. The one big exception is Bitlocker support, which is Microsoft’s drive encryption software. Many people were hoping to see this come to the Home version for this round, but alas, that is not the case.
All versions except Home also support a new Windows Update for Business service, which is a method for companies to deploy and manage updates. Windows Server Update Services is the existing method for this, and that also still exists for customers who want to keep that level of control.
Speaking of updates, Windows 10 no longer offers a way to disable Windows Updates in the settings page. Pro will let you defer feature updates, but not security updates, and Enterprise versions will offer a long term servicing branch option, but the goal here is to keep Windows up to date going forward.
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StevoLincolnite - Tuesday, August 25, 2015 - link
FINALLY! And First. :Pwebmastir - Tuesday, August 25, 2015 - link
Typical YouTube user.dsumanik - Tuesday, August 25, 2015 - link
Would just like to say this is the first Non garbage pseudo viral marketing advertisement "review" I've read on Anandtech in months. Well done sir.Please pass on some editorial tips to Joshua Ho and Brandon Chester, imho, the two most corrupt authors working for this publication.
kenansadhu - Wednesday, August 26, 2015 - link
Came to a house and insult the owner. Classy.ddriver - Wednesday, August 26, 2015 - link
If truth is insulting to the owner, he outta stop and think about what he is doing.Windows 10 is the worlds largest and most obnoxious spyware, and it just sucks to see how many people are getting paid to shower it with accolades.
quidpro - Tuesday, September 1, 2015 - link
MS is allowed to compete with Google, Apple, and Facebook, or anything else you may have account for and are willing to sign in with which adds convenience of syncing of personal info across devices. To lambaste MS for playing catch-up is ridiculous. A keyboard on an android phone or iphone "tracks your keypresses". It has to. You can't have GPS and turn by turn worth having without allowing a service know where you are or where you intend to go. You can't have your contacts pulled down across devices unless you allow for access to your data. You can't get from one website to another without divulging your IP. This is the way things are. These are the services people want to make their lives easier and better. Windows 10 isn't the most obnoxious, it's just late to the game. As is your criticism.ibudic1 - Saturday, November 7, 2015 - link
dittobs grinder - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
how many pieces of silver does ms pay u for ur quid pro bs????john rayburn Williamsburg nm
Lerianis - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link
ddriver, cut the bull. Windows 10 tells you EVERY SINGLE THING that it will send back to Microsoft and allows you to opt-out or turn off the functionality that requires that stuff being sent back to Microsoft.Not a big issue in the real world and it is past time to realize that Windows 10 is not spyware anymore than OSX or Linux are.
zman58 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link
You are dreaming, you have no idea what is or could be gathered and sent at any point in time. Read the EULA, you agree and bless whatever they decide to collect and send for whatever reason they see fit. And you give up far more than that when you click "I agree".