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Introducing Windows 10 Editions

blogs.windows.com

1–10 of 125 posts

Re: Introducing Windows 10 Editions

#2
I realize Microsoft has to price segment, which requires they call out an "Enterprise" category for Mobile and Laptop/Desktop, but sometimes I wonder if they really need all of these categories.

For example, do they really get significant financial value from having a Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, Windows 10 Pro? particularly as they are offering it as a free upgrade to Windows 7/8 users.

Notice they don't have a Windows 10 Mobile Home, Windows 10 Mobile Education, and Windows 10 Mobile Pro - just plain, "Windows 10 Mobile".

My suspicion is they would have managed to avoid customer confusion, and captured pretty much all the same economic value, with a simple list of:

  Windows 10
  Windows 10 Mobile
  Windows 10 Enterprise
  Windows 10 Mobile Enteprise

Re: Introducing Windows 10 Editions

#3
OK they messed it up, again? Anyone with a laptop preloaded with the crippled Home edition (meaning most laptops) will not be able to take it to the work place and connect it to the domain. Then there's Pro and Enterprise, and most people don't know why they need Enterprise.

Re: Introducing Windows 10 Editions

#5

I realize Microsoft has to price segment, which requires they call out an "Enterprise" category for Mobile and Laptop/Desktop, but sometimes I wonder if they really need all of these categories. For example, do they really get significant financial value from having a Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, Windows 10 Pro? particularly as they are offering it as a free upgrade to Windows 7/8 users. Notice they don't h…

Agreed. I would only add to it their embedded "IoT" version.

Re: Introducing Windows 10 Editions

#6

I realize Microsoft has to price segment, which requires they call out an "Enterprise" category for Mobile and Laptop/Desktop, but sometimes I wonder if they really need all of these categories. For example, do they really get significant financial value from having a Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, Windows 10 Pro? particularly as they are offering it as a free upgrade to Windows 7/8 users. Notice they don't h…

"Pro" is for people that don't have volume licenses but want the business-specific features like domain joining. Remember, Windows 10 may be a free upgrade, but it's not free and I imagine they still make quite a bit of extra money from businesses buying Pro.

"Education" looks like it's a discounted volume license available to schools. Not sure what extra features it's going to have but it's not something that anyone other than a school administrator will ever care about.

Re: Introducing Windows 10 Editions

#7

I realize Microsoft has to price segment, which requires they call out an "Enterprise" category for Mobile and Laptop/Desktop, but sometimes I wonder if they really need all of these categories. For example, do they really get significant financial value from having a Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, Windows 10 Pro? particularly as they are offering it as a free upgrade to Windows 7/8 users. Notice they don't h…

I agree. A simple "Windows 10" with no subtitle would really make things easier for the consumer. Appending 'Home' on what is really a feature reduced version of Windows 10 doesn't seem to be in the best interest of the customer.

Re: Introducing Windows 10 Editions

#9

I realize Microsoft has to price segment, which requires they call out an "Enterprise" category for Mobile and Laptop/Desktop, but sometimes I wonder if they really need all of these categories. For example, do they really get significant financial value from having a Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, Windows 10 Pro? particularly as they are offering it as a free upgrade to Windows 7/8 users. Notice they don't h…

The editions make sense for market segmentation. Home editions cannot join a domain so that rules them out for business and education. Then they want to price segment between schools and business which makes the distinction between Education and Enterprise.

Pro is sort of the consumer version of Enterprise; it can join a domain too. I run 8.1 pro, not because of the join a domain feature, but because it can host a remote desktop session and home cannot.

Re: Introducing Windows 10 Editions

#10
post #6

I realize Microsoft has to price segment, which requires they call out an "Enterprise" category for Mobile and Laptop/Desktop, but sometimes I wonder if they really need all of these categories. For example, do they really get significant financial value from having a Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Education, Windows 10 Pro? particularly as they are offering it as a free upgrade to Windows 7/8 users. Notice they don't h…

"Pro" is for people that don't have volume licenses but want the business-specific features like domain joining. Remember, Windows 10 may be a free upgrade, but it's not free and I imagine they still make quite a bit of extra money from businesses buying Pro. "Education" looks like it's a discounted volume license available to schools. Not sure what extra features it's going to have but it's not something that anyone…

I can't tell you how many times I've had coworkers come in with a new device they convinced management to buy them, without my approval, and they've saved a few hundred on the OS by having a Personal edition.

So MS is paid twice there - once for the Personal version that came with the device, and once again for the business buying a single copy of Pro version to install over the Personal version.

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