Some of you may have seen a discussion around our plans for Windows 10 S on Twitter today, and given some additional questions I’ve received, I thought it might be helpful to share more about our plans with Windows 10 S.
Last year we introduced Windows 10 S – an effort to provide a Windows experience that delivers predictable performance and quality through Microsoft-verified apps via the Microsoft Store. This configuration was offered initially as part of the Surface Laptop and has been adopted by our customers and partners for its performance and reliability.
Since that time, we’ve received great feedback from customers and partners on Windows 10 S. Customers love the security, faster boot time, better battery life and consistent performance over time. Our partners have brought to market more than 20 devices with Windows 10 S enabled. We have also heard feedback that the naming was a bit confusing for both customers and partners.
Based on that feedback, we are simplifying the experience for our customers. Starting with the next update to Windows 10, coming soon, customers can choose to buy a new Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro PC with S mode enabled, and commercial customers will be able to deploy Windows 10 Enterprise with S mode enabled.
We expect the majority of customers to enjoy the benefits of Windows 10 in S mode. If a customer does want to switch out of S mode, they will be able to do so at no charge, regardless of edition. We expect to see new Windows 10 devices ship with S mode, available from our partners in the coming months, so check back here for updates.
We hope this new approach will simplify and make it possible for more customers to start using Windows in S mode: a familiar, productive Windows experience that is streamlined for security and performance across all our editions.
