How many versions of Windows 10 are there?

So this is in response to a question from James Rhodes about Windows 10.

His question: “Just how many versions of Windows 10 will there be?”.

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Great question James.

We keep on getting updates about specifically how many versions there are and specifically who they are for so we will keep this page updated chronologically.

Let’s go through and talk about it a little.

Here are the different versions of Windows 10.

We can settle on this list of versions of Windows 10.

Click on Windows 10 Home to start the walkthrough of each version:

We will keep you updated on the core pages if anything changes.

Update 5/19/2015

First, here is another more concise and specific list of Windows 10 editions that were announced by Microsoft last week and free upgrade/licensing info:

  • Windows 10 Home for consumers and BYOD scenarios, available under the free upgrade
  • Windows 10 Pro for small and lower mid-size businesses, available under the free upgrade
  • Windows 10 Enterprise for Mid-size and large enterprises, available under VL
  • Windows 10 Education designed to meet the needs of schools – teachers, students, staff, and administrators, available under VL
  • Windows 10 Mobile for consumer, small, mid-size and large enterprises and academic institutions, available under OEM
  • Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise for mid-size and large enterprises with IoT scenarios, available under OEM (IoT), VL
  • Windows 10 for IOT: This specialized, advanced edition of the OS is designed to run on industrial devices, such as ATMs and cash registers.

Update 5/13/2015

Microsoft have revealed exactly how many versions of Windows 10 there will be.

  • Windows 10 Mobile. This edition is an upgrade for Windows Phone 8.1 and is aimed at smart phones, phablets, and mini-tablets with screens under 8-inches in size. It will not be sold at retail or as a standalone upgrade, but will instead only be made available as an upgrade to existing customers with Windows Phone 8.1 handsets or on new devices. Windows 10 Mobile support Continuum for phone, but only on new, as-yet released devices.
  • Windows 10 Home is the consumer version, and comes with all apps, along with features like Cortana, Continuum, Windows Hello, and the new Edge web browser.
  • Windows 10 Pro builds on the previous flavor, and is targeted at small businesses. It comes with options to help companies manage their devices, apps and protect their date. Microsoft will also include its new ‘Windows Update for Business’ feature to streamline the update process for IT administrators and managers.
  • Windows 10 Enterprise is for large organizations that require even more robust security and control features. It will be available to Volume Licensing customers.
  • Windows 10 Education is something for schools and universities, and will be made available via academic Volume Licensing.
  • Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise comes with new security management options, and is targeted at businesses that want to manage a fleet of smartphones. Available via Volume Licensing.
  • Other editions. Microsoft will also deliver versions of Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise for vertical devices like ATMs, retail point of sale (PoS), handheld terminals and industrial robotics. It will provide Windows 10 IoT Core for small footprint, low cost devices like Raspberry Pi 2. It will also ship tailored versions of Windows 10 for Xbox One, Microsoft HoloLens and Surface Hub.

So there, you have it.

You can ignore the older text below..

Here are the versions I have been able to dig up:

  • The version of Windows 10 that we are all playing around with right now in test form is Windows 10 Desktop. This will be the version that runs on Intel-based PCs, laptops and hybrid/2-in-1 devices.
  • The version of Windows 10 that will be available in test form starting in February 2015 is Windows 10 mobile. That version is optimized to run on ARM-based Windows Phones (from Microsoft and other OEMs), as well as on ARM- and/or Intel-based small tablets, ideally under eight inches in size.
  • There’s a Windows 10 “Industry” SKU for devices like point-of-sales terminals, ATMs and kiosks.
  • There will also be a custom version of Windows 10 inside the Surface Hub — the conferencing system that Microsoft announced last week.
  • There’s Windows 10 “Athens,” which also will work on ARM or X86 cost- and resource-constrained devices. Athens is based on the Windows 10 common core and will support the “Universal Apps” model.
  • There is apparently a different custom version of Windows 10 that will power the HoloLens augmented-reality goggles.
  • There will probably be Windows 10 embedded versions of the OS that will run inside cars and fridges etc
  • There will inevitably be versions of Windows 10 at the Server Level – I am assuming Windows 10 Server.

For consumers, it’s not entire clear how many Windows 10 editions Microsoft will make available.

We can assume there will be:

  • Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 10 Professional
  • Windows 10 Enterprise
  • Windows 10 Mobile

Microsoft has not gotten really specific about this yet or the pricing.

We’ll keep you posted if we find out more.

If you have any more questions, make sure you use our forums or contact form.

7 thoughts on “How many versions of Windows 10 are there?”

  1. Technically, the answer’s one. There will merely be different UIs for different form factors…

    I’m curious if the Xbox One OS is going to get an update to bring its kernel version up to NT 6.4 to match Windows 10, or if there’ll just be patches to make its current kernel (6.3? 6.2?) more compatible with this “Universal” ecosystem.

    Reply
    • I agree, with the introduction of Universal apps, the OS on top of the underlying OS will be the same (a Universal/Modern/Metro app), so it is one OS, but with a few back ends to sit the modern OS on top of 🙂

      The Licensing and extra Features are just to entice the sales of each License type and not really a different version at all, in most cases all those features can be enabled as they are included on the same OS installation media.

      Reply
  2. When you upgrade from windows 8.1 or win 7 and you have a problem with your computer and have to reinstall will you have the opportunity to make a reinstall disk or will you have to reinstall the old system to get back to win 10

    Reply
  3. The article actually describes the different ‘editions’, not the ‘versions’. The versions are 1511, 1607 (Anniversary Update), 1703 (Creators Update) and 1709 (Fall Creators Update) – which is also different from both the Build and Release.

    Just run ‘winver’ to see the data. It’ll show something like Version 1709 (OS Build 16299.19)… where 16299 is the build and 19 is the release.) The edition information shows on the next line down, e.g. Windows 10 Home.

    Reply

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