About Windows LTSC (Windows 10/11 Enterprise LTSC)

[6730b]

March update done, w10 ltsc 1809, everything still working :O)

[6730b]

April kb w10 ltsc 1809, zero problems (as always with ltsc).

[Papusan]

23 hours ago, 6730b said:

April kb w10 ltsc 1809, zero problems (as always with ltsc).

And if you have the newer and more modern Win 10 you got a new nice gift from Redmond HQ. There is a reason why Microsoft offer LTSC versions of their OS. Guess why🙂

Windows 10 KB5025221 April 2023 Update causes new issues, including printer problems

windowslatest.com - April 21, 2023

Windows 10 April 2023 Update (KB5025221), released on April 11, is reporting causing new issues for users, including printer problems. This mandatory cumulative update was released to address several bugs in the operating system,...

 

The Windows 10 April 2023 Update appears to have backfired, with some experiencing new printer-related issues. These reports have surfaced online after users flagged critical problems with Windows 11’s April 2023 update (KB5025239), including a bug that causes performance issues.

[Aaron44126]

Microsoft clarifies near-term Windows support roadmap:

• Windows 10, version 22H2 is the last version of Windows 10.  It will be supported until October 14, 2025.
• A version of Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC will be released in the second half of 2024.
• (Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC will remain supported past the end of 2025; see details for each version at the top of the first post in this thread.)

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/windows-client-roadmap-update/ba-p/3805227

[6730b]

May update done, everything fine.

[Papusan]

Bug in Windows 11 causes it for SATA drives and Microsoft want you to upgrade bios. Nice. 1th April is gone and we are now in end of May @Mr. Fox @Ashtrix

 

 

Bug in Windows 11 causes it for SATA drives sweclockers.com

• Storage
• today 16:12

Affected users are asked to update the BIOS or follow further instructions from Microsoft.

 

The bug has also appeared in Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10.

[epguy3]

may 2023 updates done on my end for both w10 ltsc 2019 (v1809) and ltsc 2021 (v21h2)
NOT encountering any printer-related problems with these updates as my HP printers work just fine, both locally thru usb cables and thru wifi/wireless connections

[6730b]

June updates done, smooth & no problems.
Nice to use an os free of fear (so far...) of ms destroying things :O)

[Samir]

A couple of years since I hit this thread and I'm happy to report that the ltsb version I've been running is still running.  With the write filter on, it's basically a lovely toaster that pretty much 'just works'.  My demands on it are pretty low, and it does great for this application.

 

Now, if I can only get this onto my LG Grams and then I'll be completely set.

[6730b]

July update done on Precision. All perfect, seemingly always the case with LTSC.

[Papusan]

NEWS

Windows 10 bug forces Microsoft to recall updates

These Windows 10 versions are affected:

• Windows 10 version 22H2
• Windows 10 version 21H2

New is always better @ryan @Mr. Fox And you get new updates each months. And each month you get new bugs. Is bugs a feature?😬

[6730b]

 ^^^ ltsc 2019 seems to always go clear of any problems :O)

[Kassowen]

I am just curious, what LTSC version generally does best, 2019, or 2021? I was going to buy a key for 2021, but if 2019 is the way to go please tell me. Out of curiousity, are there  any problems to be expected if one wants to move drives to another computer and upgrade to enterprise from there?

[Aaron44126]

12 hours ago, Kassowen said:

I am just curious, what LTSC version generally does best, 2019, or 2021? I was going to buy a key for 2021, but if 2019 is the way to go please tell me. Out of curiousity, are there  any problems to be expected if one wants to move drives to another computer and upgrade to enterprise from there?

 

My comments in another thread about "upgrading" to Enterprise from Pro only apply to upgrading to "regular" Enterprise, not "LTSC" Enterprise.  Upgrading to LTSC Enterprise requires a separate procedure which I have described in the top post of this thread.  You will need a Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC product key for the specific version that you are upgrading to, and the install media as well.

 

If you are upgrading from a current version of Windows 10, LTSC 2021 will be the only choice.  You can't "upgrade" to an older version of Windows.

[Kassowen]

8 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

My comments in another thread about "upgrading" to Enterprise from Pro only apply to upgrading to "regular" Enterprise, not "LTSC" Enterprise.  Upgrading to LTSC Enterprise requires a separate procedure which I have described in the top post of this thread.  You will need a Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC product key for the specific version that you are upgrading to, and the install media as well.

 

If you are upgrading from a current version of Windows 10, LTSC 2021 will be the only choice.  You can't "upgrade" to an older version of Windows.

 Alright, I missed that portion. Thanks for pointing it out. 

 

The only reason I was interested in LTSC 2019 is because users here are saying it performs better and is more stable, however if 2021 has those updates that only certain programs can work on, then I might as well stay with that one, unless there is some serious reason to downgrade my current windows and go with LTSC 2019 over LTSC 2021? To my understanding, one can downgrade service pack, either by a reinstallation, or other means but I have never tried that. The only reason I bring that up is because LTSC 2019 seems to be the most liked here if you can comment on that.

 

On the topic of performance, it used to be that many users in the old forum that is now gone, always recommended doing a fresh installation from a formatted drive as for whatever reason that performed the best, and was always more stable. Can you comment on this? Or would I be fine just switching drives in the other laptop I am going to move to?

[Aaron44126]

8 hours ago, Kassowen said:

...unless there is some serious reason to downgrade my current windows and go with LTSC 2019 over LTSC 2021?

 

There is no downgrade without a clean install.  LTSC 2021 is not a "service pack".  It is a whole new version of Windows (despite sharing a name with its predecessor).

 

8 hours ago, Kassowen said:

On the topic of performance, it used to be that many users in the old forum that is now gone, always recommended doing a fresh installation from a formatted drive as for whatever reason that performed the best, and was always more stable. Can you comment on this? Or would I be fine just switching drives in the other laptop I am going to move to?

 

I have nothing to offer here other than what I have already said.  I know it is not the "popular opinion" but I routinely move Windows installs around in such a way and do not have any performance issues after cleanup.

[Kassowen]

Having looked more into enterprise, I am curious, why are people here specifically interested in LTSC versions of W10 Enterprise, instead of standard enterprise? Other options are also W11 Enterprise, which no one here seems to have talked about, which I would be curious if anyone can chime in on. Keys for them are very cheap curiously.

 

So from what I have read, LTSC gets feature updates for longer, but left often, something like twice a year for regular enterprise, and one every 2 to 3 years on LTSC? If push came to shove and I wanted more feature updates, could I just go from enterprise regular to LTSC 2021 to have support to 2029?

 

Is there by chance some performance or reliability gain or loss with either of these additions? I would imagine either addition of enterprise would get quality updates instead of some that would leave me figuring out solutions.

 

Just to clarify, both have telemetry disabled, yes?

[Aaron44126]

LTSC gets updates every 3 years and is supported for 5 or 10 years (depending on which edition you get).

Regular Enterprise now gets update every 12 months and is supported for 36 months.  Regular Enterprise will "force" you to keep upgrading, but upgrades come at no cost.  LTSC will never give you a nag but you will have to pay for upgrades.

 

You can "upgrade" from LTSC to regular at any time.  Going the other way may or may not be possible, depending on the status of the current LTSC branch.  (There is no way to upgrade from Windows 11 Enterprise to an LTSC version at this time, for example.  This will presumably change when a Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC release drops in late 2024.)

 

Another "feature" is that LTSC Windows excludes anything that "might change" outside of the release cycle.  So, basically, if you do a fresh LTSC install then most of the crappy bundled apps are missing.  You are getting a much more streamlined Windows install.  The idea is that there will be nothing pushed down on you other than bugfix/security updates.  You can expect your OS to remain unchanged, functionality-wise, until you explicitly choose to upgrade to a newer version.

 

I discuss the various benefits and differences regarding LTSC in the top post in this thread.

 

Telemetry is not disabled for either unless you go out of your way to disable it.

[6730b]

On 8/22/2023 at 3:17 PM, Aaron44126 said:

Another "feature" is that LTSC Windows excludes anything that "might change" outside of the release cycle.  So, basically, if you do a fresh LTSC install then most of the crappy bundled apps are missing.  You are getting a much more streamlined Windows install.  The idea is that there will be nothing pushed down on you other than bugfix/security updates.  You can expect your OS to remain unchanged, functionality-wise, until you explicitly choose to upgrade to a newer version.

^^^ This.

[Kassowen]

I am curious, can I install LTSC 2021 from a standard USB installation media, enter LTSC 2021 key and it goes from there? Or does LTSC have some special way of doing this? The videos I have seen all have it show up as an option to install, but I dont recall if thats before or after you input the key. I am sorry but I dont recall as I only do this like every 4 years or so. I dont know how many of you do it, installing windows every month or something.

[Aaron44126]

6 hours ago, Kassowen said:

I am curious, can I install LTSC 2021 from a standard USB installation media, enter LTSC 2021 key and it goes from there? Or does LTSC have some special way of doing this? The videos I have seen all have it show up as an option to install, but I dont recall if thats before or after you input the key. I am sorry but I dont recall as I only do this like every 4 years or so. I dont know how many of you do it, installing windows every month or something.

 

If you are talking about a fresh install, it goes just like any other Windows install.  It's been a while since I did this but I actually think it doesn't ask you for a product key during the install, you just end up unactivated and have to enter the key from settings after the install is done.

 

If you're talking about an upgrade install, similarly it works like any other Windows install if you are upgrading from an earlier LTSC.  If you want to upgrade from regular non-LTSC Windows to an LTSC version, you have to change a registry key first to allow it (I detailed this in the first post of this thread).

[Kassowen]

9 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

If you are talking about a fresh install, it goes just like any other Windows install.  It's been a while since I did this but I actually think it doesn't ask you for a product key during the install, you just end up unactivated and have to enter the key from settings after the install is done.

 

Okay thats what I am going to try. Every other tutorial said I have to do it from an ISO file, but if a normal self extracting USB formatted drive works for this, then I am will go right for that.

[Aaron44126]

36 minutes ago, Kassowen said:

Okay thats what I am going to try. Every other tutorial said I have to do it from an ISO file, but if a normal self extracting USB formatted drive works for this, then I am will go right for that.

 

You can take an ISO and flash it onto a USB drive using something like Rufus, and that will work fine.

[Kassowen]

On 7/16/2023 at 4:04 PM, 6730b said:

July update done on Precision. All perfect, seemingly always the case with LTSC.

Hey just out of curiousity, You went with IOT 2021, did you ever run into issues with IOT specifically? I get they are basically the same as none IOT, but if theres something I should look for with IOT, it would be nice to know.

[6730b]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:26 AM, Kassowen said:

Just to clarify, both have telemetry disabled, yes?

Telemetry: https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

Activation: ...Google

Maintenance: CCleaner (privacy: block in Firewall)
Security: MS Defender (as good as anything else)