Windows 10 Management Tool Investment Forecasts

Microsoft has many tools for managing Windows 10, and not all will receive the same level of future Microsoft development. This chart lists Microsoft’s major tools for Windows 10 management and DOM’s forecast of future Microsoft investment in each, with some of the factors that support the rating. Microsoft does not endorse this summary, and its plans could change at any time.

In our estimation, top-rated tools (up arrow or angled up-arrow) will receive major improvement, including new features, and they will be implemented in new versions of Microsoft services and software. Tools with flat ratings (sideways arrow) will receive some improvement with no substantial changes in the features they have or the software and services with which they are compatible. Some tools have a flat rating because our forecast is that they will only be maintained until the majority of Microsoft’s enterprise customers have transitioned to Windows 10. Tools with declining ratings will become increasingly less viable, as newer software and services that do not work with them appear and replacement tools take over their roles. The lowest-rated (down arrow) tools have been retired, formally deprecated (retirement plans announced), or removed from new versions of software and services that used to implement them.