Windows 10 Pro for Workstations Address Compute-Intensive Workloads

Windows 10 version 1709, due in Sept. 2017, introduces a new edition of Windows 10 designed to exploit hardware typically reserved for servers. Organizations that deployed Windows Server as a desktop OS for developers and applications such as CAD/CAM or video rendering that need fast processors, large memory, and high throughput networking will be able to use Windows 10 Pro for Workstations instead.

Windows 10 Pro for Workstations is built on Windows 10 Pro and Windows Server 2016 to leverage the performance capabilities of server-grade hardware. This includes the ability to address up to 6TB of physical RAM; use up to four server-class processors, such as AMD Opteron or Intel Xeon class processors (versus two processors in other Windows 10 editions); and use SMB Direct, which supports the use of network adapters that have remote direct memory access (RDMA) capability so the adapters can function at full speed with very low latency, while using very little processor resources.

In addition to exploiting hardware for performance, Windows 10 for Workstations exploits hardware for high availability, including the ability to use JEDEC-compliant Non-volatile DIMM (NVDIMM-N) storage-class memory devices to provide persistent memory. Persistent memory offers data storage that can survive problems such as a computer reset or a power failure, while providing high-speed memory access.