Windows 10 to come in Home, Mobile, Pro, Enterprise and Education editions

Microsoft is all set to launch Windows 10 in the next couple of months in around 190 countries in 111 languages, although no fixed date has been announced yet. There will be various editions of Windows 10 according to the use cases. The editions announced include Windows 10 Home, Mobile, Pro, Enterprise, Mobile Enterprise, Education. Let us take a look at each of these editions.

Windows 10 Home edition will be the consumer facing edition which will be seen on most desktop PCs, laptops and 2-in-1s. The Home edition will support voice-assistant Cortana, Windows Edge web browser as well as Windows Hello face recognition, iris scanner and fingerprint login for various Windows apps such as Photos, Maps, Mail, Calendar, Music and Video.

For the business users, you have the Windows 10 Pro edition, which has all the features of the Home edition plus additional features such as device management, security features, cloud features ideal for smaller businesses. For medium and large size organisations there is Windows 10 Enterprise edition which builds up upon the Windows 10 Pro. Apart from providing security features, Windows 10 Enterprise also has a broad range of options for operating system deployment and comprehensive device and app management.

On the mobile front, you get Windows 10 Mobile edition which is the new name for Windows Phone OS and the Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise edition. As the name implies, Windows 10 Mobile is meant for use on mobile phones, tablets and other touch-centric devices. It will support Windows Universal apps which are there on Windows 10 Home edition along with a touch-optimised version of Office. Windows 10 Mobile will also offer Continuum for phone which will let users use multiple devices seamlessly. Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise is the mobile arm of the Windows 10 Enterprise edition. Just like the desktop version, the Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise will also incorporate the latest security and innovation features on the mobile devices.

Windows 10 Education is a new edition which builds upon Windows 10 Enterprise and is designed for use in schools among staff, administrators, teachers and students. “This edition will be available through academic Volume Licensing, and there will be paths for schools and students using Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro devices to upgrade to Windows 10 Education,” mentions the Windows Blog.

“Because we have built Windows 10 to be delivered as a service, this milestone is just the beginning of the new generation of Windows. Starting this fall, customers can expect ongoing innovation and security updates for their Windows 10 devices, including more advanced security and management capabilities for businesses,” said Tony Prophet on the Windows Blog.

Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 Pro will be available as a free upgrade, for the first year, for existing genuine users of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices. There are no pricing plans announced for use after one year.