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from the Operating-System-a-la-"Mode" dept.
Windows 10 S is going to become a "mode" rather than a separate "version" of Windows. And it should be able to be disabled for free:
With the next big update to Windows 10, version 1803, Microsoft is making some big changes to how it sells the software to OEMs. The biggest casualty? Windows 10 S—the restricted version of Windows that can only run apps from the Store—is going away.
Currently, Windows 10 S is a unique edition of Windows 10. It's based on Windows 10 Pro; Windows 10 Pro has various facilities that enable system administrators to restrict which software can be run, and Windows 10 S is essentially a preconfigured version of those facilities. In addition to locking out arbitrary downloaded programs, it also prevents the use of certain built-in Windows features such as the command-line, PowerShell, and Windows Subsystem for Linux.
For those who can't abide by the constraints that S imposes, you can upgrade 10 S to the full 10 Pro. This upgrade is a one-shot deal: there's no way of re-enabling the S limitations after upgrading to Pro. It's also a paid upgrade: while Microsoft offered it as a free upgrade for a limited time for its Surface Laptop, the regular price is $49.
[...] Brad Sams of Thurrott.com writes that, for Windows 10 version 1803 (codenamed "Redstone 4"), this is changing. According to leaked documents provided to Microsoft's partners, with version 1803, Windows 10 S will be a mode of Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, and Windows 10 Pro, rather than a distinct version. Switching Windows 10 Home S and Windows 10 Education S to regular Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Education will be free; switching from Pro S to Pro will continue to cost $49.
Can Windows 10 Pro S be downgraded/upgraded to Windows 10 Home?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 07 2018, @07:57AM (4 children)
Windows 10.5? After they skipped 9 completely? What? . . . Oh, where's my bifocals?
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Wednesday February 07 2018, @02:40PM (3 children)
Microsoft skipped "Windows 9" because programs written in Oracle's Java language would be unable to distinguish it from MS-DOS-based Windows 4 and Windows 4.1.
(Score: 3, Funny) by SomeGuy on Wednesday February 07 2018, @03:29PM
More specifically because "4" looks a lot like "9" depending on how you write it. And rather that just comparing bytes from a version API, anything from Oracle has to run it through Microsoft Word and Excel, print it out, scan it back in, OCR it, convert it back to a bitmap, and OCR it again, then run it through multiple Oracle reporting tools, store the results in an Oracle database where it then gets distributed by a cloud based administrative tool that promptly falls down and crashes unless your are running a very specific patch level and the wind is blowing from the south.
So no "9" because of Oracle.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by TheRaven on Wednesday February 07 2018, @04:23PM (1 child)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday February 07 2018, @05:59PM
Windows 95 and Windows 98 were the reasons they skipped Windows 9. At least that's what I remember reading. https://www.pcworld.com/article/2690724/why-windows-10-isnt-named-9-windows-95-legacy-code.html [pcworld.com] I guess Microsoft never said why they skipped over 9, so we're left with all kinds of speculation. Wouldn't be surprising to learn that it was for multiple reasons.
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"