Windows 10 has now been available for almost one year and has had one major update cycle, known as Windows 10 Version 1511 (aka the November Update), since that initial July 2015 version was released.
Next month the Windows 10 Anniversary Update is expected to arrive as this years only major update to the one year old operating system.
Since Windows 10 is provided under the moniker Windows as a Service (WaaS) it means the norm for updates will be monthly cumulative updates and then major OS updates that arrive about six months apart. The current exception to this plan is that the Anniversary Update will be the only major release of 2016 with the next cycle expected in early 2017.
By designating various builds/versions of Windows 10 as Current Branch (CB), Current Branch for Business (CBB) and Long Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) Microsoft can provide enterprises and other companies with stable builds of Windows 10 to help maintain compatibility with Line of Business (LOB) apps and websites.
In other words, Microsoft is providing an environment that allows stability and regular updates without having to revert back to the old process of releasing service packs about once every year or so.
If you are an IT Pro or IT Manager considering that this one year mark might be the right time to evaluate a migration to Windows 10 for your organization/company then you will want to check out this virtual lab kit from Microsoft to see how in-place and other deployment options can work for you.
The Windows 10 Deployment and Management Lab Kit is available from Microsoft at no charge and contains the following evaluation software:
- Windows 10 Enterprise Version 1511 (November Update)
- System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Service Pack 2
- Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 10
- Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2013 Update 2
- Windows Server 2012 R2
You will also find the following guides to help you become familiar with different deployment and management scenarios:
- Image creation
- Lite-touch and zero touch deployment
- Managing Windows 10 with Configuration Manager
- Code integrity
- Windows 10 provisioning
- in-place upgrade
The total download is 27GB and requires 32GB of available memory for the lab environment and 300GB of free disk space.
But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.
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