MicrosoftNow that the 2021 releases are out, I am still waiting for an answer from Microsoft on how to move forward with the changes they made.
Today in a large enterprise my IT team provides computers to be used with equipment. We deploy our own computer with LTSC and work with the device vendors to support this because in a very large environment we need standardization to maintain a secure, manageable environment.
Microsoft is making an assumption that any specialized device needing the 10 year LTSC is sold with that device and that is a problem.
Its not appropriate for us to go to the 5 select Microsoft preferred IoT vendors to buy the licenses either. Microsoft assumes that the Vendor of the specialized device is going to do that and then sell it to us. This is not practical or realistic.
Using a 5 year version is also not practical when dealing with this type of equipment. My world has a longer refresh cycle due to the vendors taking longer to update their software. Additionally, keeping up with the existing 10 year span is difficult enough with compliance requirements and dealing with regulatory agencies.
Im sure we will be sticking with 2019 for quite some time given that its supported beyond the 2021 LTSC however we will have to get a better path forward from Microsoft at some point.
