Featured Article from Software Licensing

Technology in our house comes in a variety of different forms, met by a variety of different users. My husband is one who embraces technology when it benefits him, but would rather not wait for an update or a download if he doesn’t see the value. Therefore, his offer for Windows 10 for free is still sitting on his laptop interface, untouched.

Fortunately, he is not an enterprise user and he should still be able to update for free at some point. For those who haven’t done so in the corporate environment, it’s time to make the change. For the enterprise user, the company is realizing a software licensing perk by requiring $7 per month per user. What does this get you? Not only access to Windows 10, but all other updates coming in the future.

It appears Microsoft (News - Alert) doesn’t have plans for a Windows 11 release. Instead, the pay as you go subscription to Windows 10 Enterprise E3 will include continuous updates. According to a recent blog from software licensing solutions company, Flexera Software, it is no longer an option for users to migrate to the enterprise version of Windows and stay where they land until they are ready to move to another version. This was a common occurrence with Windows 8 – many an organization didn’t make the jump to 8, staying on 7 until 10 was ready.

I can’t say I blame those who consciously made this move. Windows 8 was a significant deviation from the typical Windows environment and many a user found it difficult to navigate. While the idea was to embrace the mobile experience and allow for more customization, too many found it frustrating and opted to stop the migration. The backlash was apparently heard by Microsoft as the company reverted back to some of its core options in Windows 10.

Now, the focus for the enterprise should be to streamline the effect. Flexera Software suggests that organizations need to mature their application readiness if they are to keep up with Windows 10 updates. This step is also important to prevent enterprise applications from unexpectedly stop working. To do so, the organization must continually identify installed applications in your environment as it provides visibility into how many different versions and editions of an application are in place. This helps to make the right decisions about the apps to retire, consolidate or move to a new operating system.

It’s also a good idea for IT to set up automatic testing of application compatibility and validation to ensure they will run as planned once a new Windows update is in place. This will help ensure access to new capabilities doesn’t keep you from enjoying those already in place.