Windows 10 Enterprise brings update flexibility to IT administrators

We're starting to learn more about how Microsoft will be making the Windows 10 upgrade appealing to enterprise and business users. Through information shared with Windows reseller partners, we've learned that the biggest change to the operating system is that IT administrators will have more control on when to roll out new features to users.

Unlike other editions or versions of Windows, Windows 10 Enterprise will only be available as part of Microsoft's volume licensing program. As such, it won't be available in traditional retail channels. Enterprise users with volume licensing contracts and Software Assurance will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 when it is ready.

We learned previously that enterprise users won't be able to participate in the free first year upgrade program for consumer editions of Windows 10.

Windows upgrade

According to a Microsoft presentation slide that was shared with partners, IT administrators can delay new Windows features from being pushed out to enterprise users for up to ten years. Through Microsoft's Long Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) support, a feature exclusive to Windows 10 Enterprise, IT managers can now delay the delivery of new features for up to ten years. Regular security updates and bug fixes will still be available to users.

For large organizations, administrators can also put different enterprise users on different Windows 10 servicing branches. There are three branches to choose from – LTSB, Current Branch and Current Branch for Business.

Free add-ons

With Windows 10, Microsoft is said to be dropping the fees for some of its software add-ons.

The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) will be free for new and renewing customers with Software Assurance, but not retroactively. MDOP gives users access to virtualization, management and recovery tools.

Side-loading is another capability that will be available for free for Windows 10 users. Current Windows users have to pay for a side-loading license, but Microsoft will be building that capability into Windows 10 so a separate add-on license will no longer be needed.

Downgrading

If you're not keen on keeping your Windows 10 license because of your enterprise environment and compatibility issues, Microsoft is also offering free downgrade rights.

Windows 10 Enterprise users will have the option to move back to Windows 7 Enterprise or Windows 8.1 Enterprise if they choose.

Microsoft announced that Windows 10 will be available to Home and Pro customers starting on July 29. It's unclear when Windows 10 Enterprise will be available. For consumers not eligible for the free update program, Windows 10 Home will cost $119 (£78, AU$156) and Windows 10 Pro will cost $199 (£131, AU$262) per license, Microsoft said in a statement. Windows 10 Home users who want to upgrade to Pro will have to pay an additional $99 (£65, AU$130).

How to open Appleworks files in Yosemite

Got an Apple, Mac, or iOS tech question? We have the answer. While we're always glad to see the upgrades and new features that are included with each new version of Mac OS X, it's definitely a drag when the new operating system prevents you from opening older apps or documents. In response to a reader question, we'll take a look at how to deal with some of those incompatibilities — specifically, how to open Appleworks documents in Yosemite.

Question

I downloaded and installed OS X 10.10 Yosemite. After the installation a dialog appeared saying it can't run Appleworks 6. What am I to do with the several thousand Appleworks 6 documents that are important to me? Is there any way to make them work?

Answer

Appleworks 6 is a rather old piece of software, with the last updates coming out nearly 11 years ago (in January 2004). Apple discontinued support for the software in 2007, around the time that Leopard was released to the public. While you have been able to use the software for a few years afterwards thanks to Rosetta PowerPC (PPC) software support on modern Intel Macs, Apple finally stopped supporting PPC in OS X Lion.

If you still have documents lying around in this format, however, and wish to upgrade them to work with modern apps (say, Pages, Word, or TextEdit), you can do this with the available iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote).

For the most part, opening old Appleworks documents is as simple as dragging them to Apple's current applications.

For example, if you have an AppleWork 6 word processing document, then you can drag and drop it on the Pages icon in the Dock to have it open; if you have an AppleWork 6 spreadsheet or presentation file, then you can also drag and drop them on top of Numbers and Keynote, respectively. You might end up with some formatting issues, but in general this should allow you to access your old documents.