Understanding the new windows 10 pro and enterprise upgrade requirements

Technology giant Microsoft recently made a very important announcement about the future of the Windows 10 operating system, particularly as it relates to future upgrades. In essence, the next major Windows 10 1903 upgrade, which is currently rolling out for most devices, will require twice as much storage space available. If the desktops, laptops, and tablets you operate do not have at least 32 GB of free hard drive storage, you will no longer be able to upgrade.

For business owners who depend on Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise for their office operations, this announcement is of significant consequence for a couple of reasons. First of all, the Windows 10 1903 upgrade includes a new utility tool that will let users have greater control over the Windows Update system, and this is crucial in light of the recent mishaps associated with previous upgrades. In October 2018, for example, the Windows 10 Fall Upgrade permanently deleted data in some cases; a month later, the package actually caused PCs to delete existing updates, and by April 2019 there were multiple reports of machines getting stuck in a boot loop.

PREPARING FOR WINDOWS UPDATES, NOW & IN THE FUTURE

While Microsoft has acknowledged the multiple issues created by the problematic upgrade, the reality is that there is no way to guarantee that they will not happen again in the future; therefore, giving users access to a tool that will allow them to recover from faulty upgrades is certainly welcome, but it also requires host devices to have at least 32 GB of unencumbered space on their hard drives. It would not be unreasonable to think that future Windows 10 upgrades will get fatter, thus increasing the free storage requirement.

Another reason why the Windows 10 1903 upgrade is crucial has to do with technical support. If your High Desert business is running on Windows 10 version 1607 of the Enterprise edition or version 1709 of the Pro edition, you will no longer receive support, and this means no more security patches or fixes unless they are massively critical.

If your business workstations or laptops do not have at least 32 GB of free storage to accommodate the Windows 10 1903 Upgrade, please contact Sonic Systems in Victorville to discuss your options. Upgrading the hard drive is always a smart option, but this needs a backup and recovery strategy as well. There is always the option of moving, offloading, transferring and deleting data as needed, but this should be performed along with a solid backup strategy. Either way, you should not skip the Windows 10 1903 upgrade unless you are ready to transition an enterprise Linux solution.