Windows 10 Licensing Changes

Licensing changes introduced with Windows 10 could influence when commercial and public sector organizations migrate, which editions they deploy, which hardware they purchase, whether they maintain Software Assurance (SA) coverage, and how they maintain license compliance. Some changes, such as a free Windows 10 Pro Upgrade, represent a considerable departure from previous policies, while others, such as making certain new features exclusive to Enterprise edition, are simply a continuation of previous trends. While the significance of each change may vary widely by customer, most will find at least one or two changes to be relevant to their situations.

This report updates “Windows 10 Licensing Details Emerge,” which appeared on page 20 of the Aug. 2015 Update.

Organizations Entitled to a Free Pro Upgrade, with Caveats

Version upgrade rights allow customers to deploy a more recent version of a product rather than the version they are currently using. With Windows 10, Microsoft offers these rights for free in some cases, which could be of particular significance to customers who do not have Windows covered under an Enterprise Agreement (EA).