Windows Editions

Updates

End-of-Life Dates

Here is a list of each Windows version and the year that they stopped getting updates.

Windows Version

Consumer Updates

Extended Security Updates (ESUs)

XP [13]

2009

2014

Vista [14]

2012

2017

7 [15]

2020

2023

8 [15]

2023

2023

10

2025 [16]

2032 [12]

Disable Updates

Windows 10 and 11 Home edition does not have an easy way to disable updates. However, all Windows editions can have their updates disabled by using the registry. [17]

Registry Editor (regedit) > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

  • For Windows Home edition, the “WindowsUpdate” and “AU” keys will be missing. These need to be manually created.

  • Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit Value) > Name: NoAutoUpdate

    • (right-click on “NoAutoUpdate”) > Modify… > Base: Decimal > Value data: 1 > OK

Optionally, a major target version can be set for Windows Updates. It will never update beyond that version as long as it is supported. [18]

Registry Editor (regedit) > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate

  • For Windows Home edition, the “ProductVersion” value will be missing. This needs to be manually created.

    • Edit > New > String Value > Name: ProductVersion

      • (right-click on “ProductVersion”) > Modify… > Value data: “Windows 11” (or “Windows 10”) > OK

  • Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit Value) > Name: TargetReleaseVersion

    • (right-click on “TargetReleaseVersion”) > Modify… > Base: Decimal > Value data: 1 > OK

  • Edit > New > String Value > Name: TargetReleaseVersionInfo

    • (right-click on “TargetReleaseVersionInfo”) > Modify… > Value data: 22H2 (or any desired major version) > OK

NT 10 (Windows 10 and 11)

Feature comparison:

Edition

Windows Defender

Encryption

Domain Join

Group Policy Management

Remote Desktop

Hyper-V

NFS Client

ReFS

LTSC Updates

Home

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Pro

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

Enterprise/Education

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

[1][2]

Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC)

Previously known as the long-term servicing branch (LTSB) in older releases of Windows, LTSC provides a stripped down version of Windows Enterprise that receives updates for many years. It removes pre-installed applications including [3]:

  • Cortana

  • Microsoft Store

  • OneDrive

  • OneNote

  • Skype

During the supported lifecycle, no features or hardware support are added. Only security and bug fixes are provided.

Modern versions of Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC are only supported for 5 years compared to the previous 10 years it used to support. Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC still provides 10 years of support and is binary-compatible. The only difference between the two is how licensing is handled. [11]

Name

Years of Support

Years of Support (IoT)

Version Feature Set is Based On

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2015

10

10

Windows 10 Version 1507

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016

10

10

Windows 10 Version 1607

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019

10

10

Windows 10 Version 1809

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021

5

10

Windows 10 Version 21H2

Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC 2024

5

10

Windows 11 Version 22H2

[5][6][12]

An installation of Windows Enterprise LTSC can switch to the traditional “current” update channel which receives two major feature updates every year. This essentially turns it into Windows Enterprise. However, downgrading Windows Enterprise to Windows Enterprise LTSC is not supported. [4]

Windows Enterprise LTSC can only be upgraded to a new major release by manually running the “setup.exe” installer from a new ISO image. This can be done with a virtually mounted ISO image as the installation/upgrade files are copied locally to the C:\ drive. Windows Update will not provide upgrades to newer major versions. [8]

Microsoft Store

By default, the Microsoft Store is not installed on Windows Enterprise LTSC editions. As a workaround, all editions of Windows support manually downloading and installing APPX programs that are typically only available on the Microsoft Store. [10] This includes the Microsoft Store itself. The LTSC-Add-MicrosoftStore project on GitHub provides all of the required packages. Even though these packages are old, they will install on all versions of Windows Enterprise LTSC >= 2019. After the initial installation of the Microsoft Store, these can all be updated through the Microsoft Store itself.

PS C:\Windows\system32> cd $env:tmp
PS C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp> Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://github.com/lixuy/LTSC-Add-MicrosoftStore/archive/2019.zip -OutFile LTSC-Add-MicrosoftStore-2019.zip
PS C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp> Expand-Archive -Path .\LTSC-Add-MicrosoftStore-2019.zip -DestinationPath $env:tmp
PS C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp> cd LTSC-Add-MicrosoftStore-2019\
PS C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\LTSC-Add-MicrosoftStore-2019> Add-Store.cmd

Windows Photo Viewer

By default, Windows Photo Viewer is installed but not enabled in Windows LTSC editions. There is no default application set for viewing photos. Here are the steps to re-enable it as the default:

[9]

DirectX End-User Runtime

The DirectX 9 end-user runtime is not installed by default on Windows LTSC editions. This includes many gaming libraries required by older games such as the older DirectX SDK, Managed DirectX, XACT, XAudio, and XInput. Download and install “DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010)” from here.

Downloads

Windows can be freely and legally downloaded directly from Microsoft:

  • Windows 10 Home and Pro = Limited features are enabled until a license key is provided. There is no expiration time for this trial. [7]

  • Windows 10 Enterprise and Enterprise LTSC = A 90 day full trial. There is no way to activate a production license during or after the trial period. License keys and production Windows installation ISO images can only be purchased in volume by a company and not an individual.

History

Bibliography

  1. “Compare Windows 10 editions.” Microsoft. Accessed May 9, 2021 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/WindowsForBusiness/Compare

  2. “Windows 10 editions comparison with features.” Whatvwant. October 16, 2020. Accessed May 9, 2021. https://whatvwant.com/windows-10-editions-comparison-with-features/

  3. “LTSC: What is it, and when should it be used?” Windows IT Pro Blog. July 15, 2019. Accessed August 31, 2021. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/ltsc-what-is-it-and-when-should-it-be-used/ba-p/293181

  4. “Windows 10 edition upgrade.” Microsoft Docs. March 25, 2021. Accessed May 9, 2021. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/upgrade/windows-10-edition-upgrades

  5. “Microsoft is cutting Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC support from ten years to five.” ZDNet. February 18, 2021. Accessed August 31, 2021. https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-is-cutting-windows-10-enterprise-ltsc-support-from-ten-years-to-five/

  6. “Microsoft says that there will be a Windows 11 LTSC release, but it’s a few years out.” Neowin. July 21, 2021. Accessed August 31, 2021. https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-says-that-there-will-be-a-windows-11-ltsc-release-but-its-a-few-years-out/

  7. “Question About Windows 10 Trial.” Microsoft Community. January 1, 2017. Accessed August 31, 2021. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/question-about-windows-10-trial/fd9b4d3a-f44c-4a38-ae89-12b4692c744e

  8. “Upgrading Windows 10 2016 LTSB to Windows 10 2019 LTSC.” Roberto Viola. July 28, 2020. Accessed August 31, 2021. https://robertoviola.cloud/2020/07/28/upgrading-windows-10-2016-ltsb-to-windows-10-2019-ltsc/

  9. “How to Restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10.” Windows 10 Help Forums. October 30, 2020. Accessed January 15, 2022. https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/14312-restore-windows-photo-viewer-windows-10-a.html

  10. “How to Download APPX file of Any App from Windows Store.” WindowsLoop. Accessed April 8, 2022. https://windowsloop.com/how-to-download-appx-file-of-any-app-from-windows-store/

  11. “The next Windows 10 Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) release.” Microsoft Windows IT Pro Blog. February 18, 2021. Accessed July 19, 2022. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/the-next-windows-10-long-term-servicing-channel-ltsc-release/ba-p/2147232

  12. “Windows for IoT Lifecycle pages.” Microsoft Docs. May 2, 2022. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/iot/product-family/product-lifecycle

  13. “Windows XP - Microsoft Lifecycle.” Microsoft Learn. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-xp

  14. “Windows Vista - Microsoft Lifecycle.” Microsoft Learn. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-vista

  15. “This is the end, Windows 7 and 8 friends: Microsoft drops support this week.” The Register. January 9, 2023. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/09/microsoft_windows_7_8_support_ends/

  16. “Windows 10 Home and Pro - Microsoft Lifecycle.” Microsoft Learn. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-home-and-pro

  17. “How to Stop Windows 11 Automatic Updates – 5 Ways.” MiniTool Software. May 18, 2023. Accessed October 24, 2023. https://www.minitool.com/data-recovery/how-to-stop-windows-11-update.html

  18. “Specify Target Feature Update Version in Windows 11.” Windows 11 Forum. January 31, 2022. Accessed October 24, 2023. https://www.elevenforum.com/t/specify-target-feature-update-version-in-windows-11.3811/