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posted by mrpg on Thursday December 14 2017, @09:50PM   Printer-friendly
from the does-it-have-funny-toy-story-names? dept.

From an essay at howtogeek.com:

Did you know there's a version of Windows 10 that doesn't get big feature updates, and doesn't even have the Windows Store or Microsoft Edge browser? It's called Windows 10 LTSB, short for Long Term Servicing Branch.

There are several "branches" of Windows 10. The most unstable branch is the Insider Preview version of Windows 10. Most Windows PCs are on the "Current Branch", which is considered the stable branch. Windows 10 Professional users have the option to "Defer Upgrades", which puts them on the "Current Branch for Business". This branch will only get new builds of Windows 10, like the Anniversary Preview, a few months after they've been tested on the "Current Branch". It's like the stable, consumer branch–but slower moving.

But businesses don't want all their PCs to constantly get big updates, even if they are delayed a few months. Critical infrastructure like ATMs, medical equipment, and PCs that control machines on a factory floor don't need whizbang features, they need long term stability and few updates that will potentially break things. A PC operating medical equipment in a hospital room doesn't need new Cortana updates. That's what Windows 10 LTSB–the "Long Term Servicing Branch"–is for, and it's only available for the Enterprise edition of Windows 10.

While this is a branch of Windows 10, you can only get it by installing Windows from Windows 10 LTSB installation media. You can get other branches of Windows simply by changing an option within Windows 10 itself, but that isn't the case here.

90-day Enterprise evaluation program.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by WillR on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:24PM (5 children)

    by WillR (2012) on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:24PM (#609920)

    Critical infrastructure like ATMs, medical equipment, and PCs that control machines on a factory floor don't need whizbang features, they need long term stability and few updates that will potentially break things.

    Huh. Maybe those things shouldn't be running Windows at all, then. Maybe they should be running Debian stable, or OpenBSD, or some niche RTOS instead.

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  • (Score: 2) by DECbot on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:47PM (4 children)

    by DECbot (832) on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:47PM (#609940) Journal

    Maybe they should be running Debian stable, or OpenBSD, or some niche RTOS instead.

    May I recommend running my niche OS of choice, Machine ALibi WARping Embedded OS -- perhaps better known as MAlWarE_OS.

    --
    cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
    • (Score: 5, Funny) by Arik on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:53PM (3 children)

      by Arik (4543) on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:53PM (#609948) Journal
      So vanilla Win10 then?
      --
      If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @11:00PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @11:00PM (#609956)

        It's a WinXP clone.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @11:22PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @11:22PM (#609975)

          Which is a Windows 95 clone.

          • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday December 14 2017, @11:47PM

            by MostCynical (2589) on Thursday December 14 2017, @11:47PM (#609991) Journal

            Not 3.1, then?

            --
            "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex