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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: 2) by Oakenshield on Friday December 15 2017, @01:04PM (3 children)

    by Oakenshield (4900) on Friday December 15 2017, @01:04PM (#610267)

    Don't need to. I already know they aren't.

    Fun fact: Every time Windows 10 updates, I get lost of calls to fix all the shit it breaks. Sometimes the network just disappears; sometimes the printers don't work anymore, sometimes color printers only print black and white; sometimes systems will randomly freeze for twenty seconds at a time. This month's update borked the driver for ATI HD4200 video chips. Scaling was removed from the driver and it is limited to only three resolutions no matter the monitor capability. It happened on two different machines. One of them just got the Fall Creator's update and CAN'T be rolled back anymore.

    Yay Windows.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday December 15 2017, @04:08PM (2 children)

    by Freeman (732) on Friday December 15 2017, @04:08PM (#610328) Journal

    Every time we get a new big update, my student worker machines take forever to update. Usually, right when I need them to be functional. It doesn't help that they only have 4GB of RAM and a dual-core processor, but that's really not that awful. I can see needing more RAM / CPU speed when dealing with things like better encryption, higher resolution graphics, etc. I just wish there was a bigger push towards rock solid with minimal power from an OS's perspective. I realize there's Linux, BSD, etc. I just wish MS would see the light, so to speak.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Oakenshield on Friday December 15 2017, @04:25PM

      by Oakenshield (4900) on Friday December 15 2017, @04:25PM (#610337)

      A co-worker's son's laptop (Windows 10 home) got corrupted during this month's update. It went into a reboot loop. When he couldn't fix it, he did a factory restore. It has run for DAYS at 100% Disk IO trying to do updates. His mother brought it to me thinking it had a hardware problem. Looking at the task manager and performance monitor, it's the Windows system process. If I boot off a Linux flashdrive, it runs great, has no malware and no disk errors.

      I could install Win 7 and have it fully updated in a couple of hours. I could install Linux and have it fully updated in a half hour. Microsoft has become a joke. Every time I see this kind of botched operation, I can understand why anyone not computer literate would drop their computer into the trash and buy a tablet.

    • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Friday December 15 2017, @05:05PM

      by urza9814 (3954) on Friday December 15 2017, @05:05PM (#610357) Journal

      Every time we get a new big update, my student worker machines take forever to update. Usually, right when I need them to be functional. It doesn't help that they only have 4GB of RAM and a dual-core processor, but that's really not that awful. I can see needing more RAM / CPU speed when dealing with things like better encryption, higher resolution graphics, etc. I just wish there was a bigger push towards rock solid with minimal power from an OS's perspective. I realize there's Linux, BSD, etc. I just wish MS would see the light, so to speak.

      It's all about the money. When people decide their computer is running too slow and they go to Best Buy or Amazon to upgrade, Microsoft gets paid. Which means that if they put out a version that lets you get more life out of your existing PC, they lose money. There's only two ways I see that changing, and both are highly unlikely to happen any time soon. The first is real competition from Apple/Linux, to the point that MS can't just depend on default installs anymore. The second would be MS switching entirely to a subscription model, which it's clear they'd love to do, but that would get so much consumer backlash I don't see it happening until traditional PCs have pretty much vanished.

      Linux/BSDs generally have the opposite incentive -- if they can help you get more life from your PC, they get a new user. And users sometimes become developers or advocates or supporters.