has twelve
editions, all with varying feature sets, use cases, or intended devices. Certain editions are distributed only on devices directly from a
device manufacturer, while editions such as
Enterprise and
Education are only available through
volume licensing channels. Microsoft also makes editions of Windows 10 available to device manufacturers for use on specific classes of devices, including
smartphones (
Windows 10 Mobile) and
IoT devices.
Baseline editions
Baseline editions are the only editions available as standalone purchases in the retail outlets.
HomeWindows 10 Home is designed for use in PCs, tablets and
2-in-1 PCs. It includes all consumer-directed features.
[1][2][3]ProWindows 10 Pro adds additional features that are oriented towards business environments and
power users. It is functionally equivalent to
Windows 8.1 Pro.
[1][2][3]Organizational editions
These editions add features to facilitate centralized control of many installations of the OS within an organization. The main avenue of acquiring them is a
volume licensing contract with Microsoft.
Enterprise Windows 10 Enterprise provides all the features of Windows 10 Pro, with additional features to assist with IT-based organizations, and is functionally equivalent to Windows 8.1 Enterprise.
[1][2][3] Windows 10 Enterprise is configurable on three branches,
Semi-Annual Channel,
Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted), and
Windows Insider.
[4]EducationWindows 10 Education is distributed through Academic Volume Licensing. Initially, it was reported to have the same feature set as Windows 10 Enterprise.
[1][2][3] As of version 1709, however, this edition has fewer features. See
§ Comparison chart for detailsPro EducationThis edition was introduced in July 2016 for hardware partners on new devices purchased with the discounted
K–12 academic license. It features a "Set Up School PCs" app that allows provisioning of settings using a
USB flash drive, and does not include Cortana, Windows Store suggestions or Windows Spotlight.
[5]Enterprise LTSBEnterprise LTSB is a long-term support version of Windows 10 Enterprise released every 2 to 3 years. They are supported with security updates for 10 years after their release, and intentionally receive no feature updates. Some features, including the
Windows Store and bundled apps, are not included in this edition.
[6][1][3] The 2019 release of this edition is expected to be called Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC.
[7]Mobile EnterpriseWindows 10 Mobile Enterprise provides all the features in
Windows 10 Mobile, with additional features to assist with IT-based organizations, in a manner similar to Windows 10 Enterprise, but optimized for mobile devices.
[1][2]Device-specific editions[edit]
These editions are licensed to
device manufacturers only. The main avenue of purchasing these editions is through buying a specific device (e.g.
smartphones) that have them pre-installed.
Mobile
Windows 10 Mobile is designed for smartphones and small tablets. It includes all basic consumer features, including Continuum capability. It is the
de facto successor of
Windows Phone 8.1 and
Windows RT.
[1][2]IoTDesigned specifically for use in small footprint, low-cost devices and
IoT scenarios. It is a rebranded version of Microsoft's earlier embedded operating systems,
Windows Embedded. Windows 10 IoT Enterprise is a binary equivalent to Windows 10 Enterprise.
[8] Three editions are already announced: IoT Core, IoT Enterprise, and IoT Mobile Enterprise.
[9][10][11]S ModeWindows 10 S is a feature-limited edition of Windows 10 designed primarily for low-end devices in the education market. It has a faster initial setup and login process, and allows devices to be provisioned using a USB drive with the "Set Up School PCs" app. Windows 10 S only allows the installation of software (both
Universal Windows Platform and
Windows API apps) from
Windows Store, although
command line programs or shells (even from Windows Store) are not allowed.
[12][13] System settings are locked to only allow Microsoft Edge as the default web browser with
Bing as its search engine.
[14] The operating system may be upgraded to Windows 10
Pro for a fee, to enable unrestricted software installation.
[15][16] All Windows 10 S devices include a free one-year subscription to
Minecraft: Education Edition. Critics have compared the edition to
Windows RT, and have considered it to be a competitor to
Chrome OS.
[15][17][18][19][20]In March 2018, Microsoft announced that it would be phasing out Windows 10 S, citing confusion among manufacturers and end-users. Microsoft plans to replace this edition with the ability for vendors to ship their Windows 10
Home or
Pro devices in "S Mode", wherein Windows defaults to only allowing applications to be installed from Windows Store, but does not require payment in order to disable these restrictions.
[21][22]TeamWindows 10 Team is a device-specific version of Windows 10 loaded onto the
Surface Hub.
[23]Pro for WorkstationsOn August 10, 2017, Microsoft announced a Pro for Workstations edition to be made available in September, along with the Fall Creators Update for Windows 10. This edition is designed for high-end hardware for intensive computing tasks and supports
Intel Xeon,
AMD Opteron, or latest
AMD Epyc processors, up to four CPUs, up to 6 TB RAM, the
ReFS file system, Non-Volatile Dual In-line Memory Module (
NVDIMM) and
remote direct memory access (RDMA).
[24][25][26] By December 15, 2017, this edition was available pre-installed on two
Dellworkstations.
[27] Windows 10 Home, Pro and S editions can upgrade to this edition. This edition can be upgraded to Pro Education, Enterprise or Education editions of Windows 10.
[28]