Which versions to upgrade to - confused

[discoveranother]

Hello

There are so many versions of Windows 10.

We have clients with LTSB 2015, LTSB 2016 and Windows 1909 Education.

I’d like to know please the upgrade paths for versions of Windows. What I mean is, upgrading in-place to a newer version instead of having to start from scratch.

For example, LTSB 2015 I assume needs in place upgrade LTSB 2016 or maybe LTSC 2019 !!!  I’m confused.  Also LTSB 2016, which version will upgrade to without wiping the laptops clean, I assume LTSC 2019 also ?

Please can Microsoft provide an in place upgrade fact sheet.

I can’t believe how often re-imaging Windows 10 is required within just a few years in order to keep systems updated. Seems like finish upgrading systems then have to start again.

Anyone with any in place upgrade paths for Windows 10 versions much appreciated.

[#2]

The current Windows 10 version is 1909, and the current LTSC is 2019. Your Windows 10 Edu 1909 is already up to date and should auto-upgrade with every new release.

The LTSB/LTSC versions do not support any kind of direct feature upgrade over Windows Update. You can however, upgrade to a newer LTSC version using Windows Setup. It is also possible to upgrade from LTSC to semi-annual channel with the same method.

To Upgrade LTSC either to a newer LTSC or to semi-annual, you first need the correct setup media.

You can download the current semi-annual setup media directly from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

You have to download newer LTSC media from your volume license portal.

After you have the correct media, start setup.exe on the media, providing your product key on the command line. If you don't provide a product key, upgrade with keeping files and settings will be greyed out!

setup.exe /pkey xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

You should also re-evaluate the need for LTSC versions altogehter. For normal clients you should always use the semi-annual channel and only use LTSC for mission-critical systems (i.e. not end-user devices).

You can read more about LTSC here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/ltsc/

and about Windows 10 upgrade paths here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/upgrade/windows-10-upgrade-paths

@discoveranother 

[#3]

@dretzer 

Thank you for your reply.

If I may clarify. 

1) Using Windows 10 Education will be fine, will auto-upgrade ?

2) Do not use LTSC for normal PCs \ Notebooks (although due to naming changes, product versions that display Windows 10 LTSB will be replaced with Windows 10 LTSC in subsequent feature updates).

3) LTSB doesn't upgrade to Windows 10 Education ?

4) Any PCs \ Laptops with LTSB - will these continue to be secure or do they simply need replacing with Windows 10 Education ? (I'm aware that LTSB feature updates are not as frequent as other Windows 10 servicing models)

I just want to make sure that normal PCs \ laptops are secure, updated and any future upgrades can take place rather than having to wipe the PCs \ notebooks clean.

Thank you again.

[#4]

1) Yes

2) Yes

3) Not directly. LTSC is always Windows 10 Enterprise. What you could do though, is upgrade from Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC to Windows 10 Enterprise semi-annual channel. Then, afterwards, change Windows 10 Enterprise to Windows 10 Education (this is neither an upgrade, nor a downgrade). You would need two licensce keys for this though. First a license key for Windows 10 Enterprise to upgrade LTSC to semi-annual, then another license key for Edu to switch from Enterprise to Education.

4) From a security perspective, the LTSC versions are all supported for 10 years. So you are fine until 2025. I would still recommend switching to semi-annual channel because you are missing out on a lot of features, modern apps and newer security features which just aren't present in the older LTSC-versions.

You can get all release informations about the Windows versions and their end of support dates here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-information/

 @discoveranother 

[#5]

@dretzer 

Really appreciate your replies thank you.

Yes, I know some customers didn't want all the apps and stuff that comes with many versions of Windows 10 and wanted a scaled down version, so we installed LTSB.  Have recently been installing Education and quite like it.

[#6]

Hello
I would like to know if it is possible update from Windows 10 semi annual to Windows 10 LTSC.
Thank you a lot! BR!

[#7]

No, you have to do a fresh install. The reason being, that in the LTSC version components from the SAC version are missing. For example Microsoft Store Apps. An Upgrade would have to migrate from SAC with more software-components to LTSC with less software components. As there is no save way to do this without possible data loss, it is not supported at all. You have to do a clean install with a LTSC version.