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  • extide - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    NOT confusing at all, most people will never even see or hear about most of the sku's except when they read articles like this. Most people will only ever need to worry about 3 - Home, Pro, and Mobile. See, not that bad!
  • hfm - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    I would even argue just Home and Mobile for nearly all consumers. I used to be one of those people that HAD to have Pro/Ultimate.. But I've lived very well off the non-Pro versions of Windows for a bit now.
  • lilmoe - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    I wonder if Windows Mobile can be installed on any machine, as a free OS. They should totally do that.
  • Brett Howse - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    Everything I have heard is that this OS will not be available for consumers to buy, and will only come on new devices.
  • ymcpa - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    They don't even need mobile. I believe that will only be available to OEMs. Regular people won't be able to buy a windows mobile license.
  • Jeremytroid - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    Do people with Windows 7 Ultimate get put onto Windows 10 Pro when they update? Or is this not known yet?
  • cmdrdredd - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    Didn't think about that, good question.
  • althaz - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    It hasn't been answered specifically, AFAIK, but almost certainly yes, they'll get Win 10 Pro. That's how it worked from Win7 Ult => Win 8.
  • Bobsy - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    I was going to ask a similar question. If I have Win 8.1 Pro, do I get Win 10 Pro? Also, does Win 10 Home have support for hardware encryption?
  • ymcpa - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    There seems to be some indication that some business users will be able to upgrade for free. By business, I guess they mean Pro users. My guess is that Ultimate will get Pro, but there need to be more clarification.
  • BobSwi - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    So you can pick your distribution ring and schedule when reboots occur, but you cannot disable the updates, they will be applied, for you safety ofc.
  • Chapbass - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    This sounds like it was designed for the enterprise market, as it's listed under the pro version...Not sure why the sarcasm is needed.
  • meacupla - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    We're all going to love KB3004394 equivalent for Win10.
  • ymcpa - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    But there are several distribution rings. Enthusiasts will most likely update first and will catch these kind of issues. By the time the update reached the average consumer, hopefully the issue is resolved or the update is pulled. Of course, there are no guarantees in life. Even a company with a reputation for quality like Apple has had plenty of update issues of its own.
  • ymcpa - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    Sounds logical to me. Do you want the average user deciding when to apply updates? That's how we ended up with so many unpatched PC spreading viruses. The professional or enthusiast, will most like get the Pro version and will have more control over updates.
  • stun - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    I abhor having two editions: Home and Pro.
    Why can't they just have the following SKUs only?
    (1) Windows
    (2) Windows Server
    (3) Windows Mobile/Phone

    The desktop Windows is for everyone at home and office to use with all the features (e.g., Bitlocker).
  • DanNeely - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    Because business customers are willing to pay a lot more than home customers. Combining the two SKUs would leave billions of dollars on the table.
  • althaz - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    It would also raise the price of consumer goods - because if there was one price, it'd be in-between the two current prices.
  • ymcpa - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    The Home version is free for the first year and will likely be low cost going forward. You would rather pay more for windows so that you can save a cent on consumer goods. The price of windows doesn't effect the price of consumer goods once it is spread across all the goods. Direct cost, like labor and materials, compose the vast majority of the price on goods. Indirect cost, like the cost of software licenses, probably is a really tiny portion of the price.
  • Notmyusualid - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    I like your thinking, and in addition, adding the 'advanced features' like Bit Locker would help them to show more value to the public, especially with competing free OSes like Ubuntu out there.

    But then, when was simplicity ever the goal of a corporation?
  • meacupla - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    Let's be realistic here, Ubuntu, as much as I like it, doesn't even come close to OSX market share, let alone windows.
  • Notmyusualid - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    Is OSX free?

    That was the point of my comment. If M$ wan't people to stick with them, we need more reasons now, then ever before to do so.

    I believe even Steam is on Linux now...
  • ymcpa - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    They made the OS free if you update the first year. OSX is free, but Apple makes up for that in the cost of the hardware. Apple has the highest profit margins of any PC or mobile device manufacturer. Steam might be on Linux, but plenty of other software isn't on Linux. When Linux has the software I need, I will consider switching. Until then, I am sticking with windows. It's the same problem windows phone has. It's a nice OS but doesn't have all the apps. Users won't switch until it has the apps. Developers won't make apps until there are more users. Microsoft is trying to get around the issue by using the large install base of windows users to attract developers to make apps that will work on both PCs and phones. What is Linux doing to attract developers?
  • meacupla - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    Usually, sysadmin features, like remote or user login services, don't exist on home editions.
  • digiguy - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    I have 3 Windows 8 pro and 2 Wndows 7 pro (plus some non pro), and I am glad to know I can upgrade to Windows 10 pro. Still I am afraid about driver issues for my Windows 7 machines, especially as one was already upgraded from Vista.... I do wonder also how new updates in 5 or 10 years will still be compatible with current and past hardware (as MS is basically promising we can keep our PCs with Windows 10 for good...)
  • althaz - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    If you could get drivers for Vista, 7 or 8, you are generally safe (in fact my old scanner which stopped working with Vista and 7 works again with Win 8 thanks to tons of new class drivers).
  • digiguy - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    I am not really afraid about external hardware, but rather internal components as some of my computers are no longer supported by manufactures. But I think the safest thing to do will be to make a system image (which I regularly make anyway for all my PCs), upgrade and then if something is not working, go back to Windows 7.
  • Bobsy - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    I wonder if this is possible. If you use a Win7/8/8.1 license to get a free Windows 10 license, what happens to the Win7/8/8.1 license? Does it get "deactivated", or does it still work?
  • Notmyusualid - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    I can't say for sure, but I can offer you this;

    When I 'upgraded' (using that term VERY loosely) to Win 8 Pro, from Win 7 Home Premium, and then having hated (and still do) the Win 8 experience, I simply backed-up my Win8 partition, reinstalled Win 7 fresh, and it activated without issue.

    I'm now on Win 7 Pro, so I expect at least Pro, or I won't go. :)
  • mkozakewich - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    Windows Vista changed the driver structure a lot, and from what I know that's mostly similar now, so the old drivers should still work.
  • twjr - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    What about upgrading licences that you don't have installed on a device?

    I have two devices with Windows 8 presently and either 2 or 3 of 8 Pro from devices that I have sold or no longer currently use. Will I be able to upgrade the licences that I don't use currently?
  • mr_tawan - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    OEM licenses (which is what you got with the devices) do not permit moving the license from on device to another.

    However if it's non-OEM you are free to move the license around the machine (although you might run into activation problems).
  • serendip - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    How about OEM versions for certain markets like Single Language and Country Specific? Will these get full Windows 10 Home features or will they still be stuck with stupid restrictions like not being able to run policy editors and changing UI languages?
  • Taurus229 - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link

    What would happen if you need to do a complete reformat and reload, after the first year,and into the second year??? Assuming you upgraded for free during the first year. There are many people out there like me who would just like to start clean after a year or so, or want to get rid of a virus infection, by the safest method, a reformat and reload. Does any one out there know how Microsoft will handle this situation?
  • testbug00 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    first, check the CD-key on your copy of Windows... Than deautherize it or whatever... Than use that one.

    I forget where you can check it, but, you can. :)
  • ZeDestructor - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    Can we have a table somewhere? That would be nice...
  • Jimios - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    I currently have Windows 8.1 Pro on my desktop, does anyone know if it will be possible to perform a "clean" install when upgrading to Windows 10? I personally like to format my drive each time i reinstall/upgrade Windows. Will I be able to burn a Win10 iso to a dvd or something?
  • serndipity - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    I have the same question.

    If the Win 10 upgrade is via patching Win 7 / 8.1 (e.g. like Windows updates does), that's going to leave a lot of old/unused files on the system drive.

    Even after using the Disk System Cleanup utility, in my case, will my (2) Win 7 & (1) Win 8.1 laptops with 256GB SSDs. be Frankin Win 10?
  • Bobsy - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    I recently upgraded from Win 7 to Win 8.1 and I had several options, including an upgrade, a clean install, the creation of a DVD with Windows 8.1 on it, etc. I would be extremely surprised that Windows 10 would be different.
  • Tunrip - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    "anyone with Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for qualifying Windows 7, 8.1, and Phone 8.1 devices"

    Wait, what!? :)

    I've been using Windows 10. I'm not convinced that someone should upgrade a Windows 8 device to me, though :)
  • ToTTenTranz - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    A table would've been so great...
    Just saying.
  • RU482 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    THIS
  • BuddyRich - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    Whats the cutoff for smaller tablets? I have a Dell Venue Pro 8 and I want the full version of Windows, be it Home or Pro.

    Why did they have to fragment their market yet again, by making the Mobile version runnable on x86 and ARM, yet allowing only App Store apps rather than all apps? I can understand the need for incompatibility with an ARM architecture but not x86.
  • Brett Howse - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    Cutoff is 8" display. Devices under that will be Mobile, and larger will be full Windows 10. However if you upgrade, you get full Windows 10 on any existing device running 8.1.
  • chizow - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    As someone who frequently updates hardware and reinstalls OSes, I'm a little worried about the limited 1 year upgrade window. What happens after that? You have to buy a new standalone Win10 license?

    I guess I'll have to upgrade a bunch of machines and windows licenses, then capture a base image to roll back to. Annoying to say the least.
  • Michael Bay - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    Yes, you buy a license.
    This is a vehicle to quickly increase OS market share, after all.
  • Kloreep - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    This is my question too. I bought a retail copy of both 7 and then 8.1 specifically so that I would not be hassled to buy another license as I changed individual components out and/or wiped the HD and reinstalled.

    If this free upgrade does not also grant me the same perpetual re-use as I have with my 8.1 retail copy, I won't be upgrading to 10 using this "free" program. It would constitute little more than forcing myself to buy a new retail copy of 10 down the road. Instead I'll just wait until circumstances and features seem to warrant shelling out for Windows again, like I did with 8.1.
  • Stimpak_Addict - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    Having all of these versions seems like so much upkeep on MS's part. But I guess they can make enough profit from this model to outweigh the development costs.
  • CoreLogicCom - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    What development costs? Every publicly available for purchase disc will probably have the entire Windows 10 iso (or whatever) on it, it's just the license key that sets what gets installed and what features you get to see. I'm sure Microsoft will continue with the "Key Upgrade" system where you purchase a key only to a higher SKU and "unlock" those features on your current install.
  • Mr Perfect - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    So they're not specifically saying what features Pro has over Home at this point?
  • Jimios - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    I would like to know this as well. At least it would be nice if Home gets Bitlocker support, since not many people need to join a domain, but I can see a lot of consumers wanting a disk encryption feature.
  • Zorlac - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link

    Home vs. Pro - Are there any limitations with the number of processors supported, amount of RAM supported, etc.?
  • Ambicadu - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link

    What I want to be able to do is Rune at least Windows Home on a phone sized device with full features and a zippy processor. To run all apps anywhere. and just have keyboards and Monitors available at different places. I realize this would likely dramatically effect battery life, but that is not so much of a concern for me personally most of the time.
  • ongsiewkhim - Saturday, May 16, 2015 - link

    Observing the last 3 versions of Windows, there was not much improvement on the performance, backward compatibility and memory management. It seems faster and better. However, it is due to the CPU speed and processing power increased in many folds. The memory size was increased from 256MB to 2GB which is almost 10 times more. Productivity did not increased by 10 times. The Windows licence is increased while the hardware price is reducing. The cost of hardware is almost equal to software. Price performance is decreasing. We have to think twice before upgrading to Windows 10.
  • Rocket321 - Monday, May 18, 2015 - link

    Obligatory comment begging Microsoft to update and include Windows Media Center in Windows 10 for all us HTPC users.
  • ongsiewkhim - Monday, May 18, 2015 - link

    Microsoft should fix all the known bugs and block the security holes in Windows 10. The new platform should be backward compatible for all applications for Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8. This is a minimum requirement for a big system. Otherwise, Windows 10 will not be popular. It will be the end of the software giant.

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