Windows 10 SKU Moves are a Win for Consumers (Premium)

For years, I’ve been arguing that Microsoft needs to end the madness and offer fewer Windows 10 product editions. Guess what? They’re actually doing it.

As you may have read, Thurrott.com has seen internal Microsoft documentation that confirms that the software giant is killing Windows 10 S. I’ve argued that this is great news: Windows 10 was a failure, and for this future Windows version to survive, Microsoft needed to make some major changes.

The biggest change, then, is that Windows 10 S is no more. Instead, individuals and businesses will be offered the unique Windows 10 S functionality through something called S mode. This functionality will be available through all mainstream Windows 10 editions. For individuals, that means Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro.

All kinds of good news accompanies that change. The “upgrade” from Windows 10 with S mode to full Windows 10 Home will be free. And Windows 10 Home is picking up Advanced capabilities, tied to high-end gaming rigs, for a reasonable fee (that the PC maker will pay and then pass along). Choosing Windows 10 Home Advanced, as this is called, will cost PC makers just $101. Doing so in the Pro SKU will set back PC makers $214.

I’m fascinated by the strategy change. But some readers, here on Thurrott.com and Twitter, have called me out for being a hypocrite. Why would I complain about the escalating number of Windows SKUs for years and then actually embrace this change now?

Simple: Microsoft isn’t adding more SKUs (product editions). It is reducing them.

Looking just at the non-commercial space, we can today choose between Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 S, Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Pro for Workstations. In the very near future, we’ll basically be back to just two: Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro. The other two, plus Home Advanced, are basically just modes now.

The S mode functionality will be available on each. It’s up to the PC maker to choose.

The ability to target high-end gaming or workstation-class PCs will also be available on each. For consumers, this means you get Windows 10 Home with Advanced mode, as I’d call it (Windows 10 Home Advanced). It will just be Windows 10 Home to users. For prosumers and professionals, it will be Windows 10 Pro with Workstation mode (previously Windows 10 Pro for Workstation). These aren’t necessarily the real names. But they should be.

Anyway, users will only see Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro. The complications of multiple offerings will be for PC makers to worry about.

Actually, I’ll take it a step further. Thanks to the stunning improvements that Microsoft is adding to the Home SKU, there will effectively only be one choice for the vast majority of individuals buying a new PC: Windows 10 Home. So this isn’t exactly what I have been asking for, for years. But it is pretty damn close.

And I am going to chalk this one up as a win. So, too, should you.