“Windows has always existed to be a stage for the world’s innovation. It’s been the backbone of global businesses and where scrappy startups became household names. The web was born and grew up on Windows. It’s the place where many of us wrote our first email, played our first PC game, and wrote our first line of code. Windows is the place people go to create, to connect, to learn, and to achieve – a platform over a billion people today rely on.” – Panos Panay
These were the words that Panos Panay wrote in the announcement blog for Windows 11 and just like him, the Windows IoT team is excited about the continued investments and developments around Windows. We want to use this blog to address questions and comments we have received over the past few days regarding Windows and the commitment around the support lifecycle.
In February we announced that there will be release of Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC in the second half (H2) of calendar year 2021. In that announcement we communicated that Windows 10 Client LTSC will change from a 10-year to a 5-year lifecycle, aligning with the changes to the next perpetual version of Office. We also stated that Windows 10 IoT Enterprise will maintain a 10-year support lifecycle. You can read more about their announcements here.
This has not changed with all the announcements around Windows 11, and we are still scheduled to release a LTSC version of Windows 10 IoT Enterprise in the timeframe specified in that announcement. We will also release IoT versions of Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022. The first release of Windows 11 IoT Enterprise will have a servicing timeline of 36 months from the month of release as described in our lifecycle documentation. We will announce more information around these releases in the future.
The needs of the IoT industry remain unique and for that reason Microsoft developed Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC and the Long Term Servicing Channel of Windows Server, which today is Windows Server 2019. Each of these products will continue to have a 10-year support lifecycle, as documented on our Lifecycle datasheet.
We remain committed to the ongoing success of Windows IoT, which is deployed in millions of intelligent edge solutions around the world. Industries including manufacturing, retail, medical equipment and public safety choose Windows IoT to power their edge devices because it is a rich platform to create locked-down, interactive user experiences with natural input, provides world class security and enterprise grade device management, allowing customers and partners to build solutions that are designed to last.
