WIndows 10 IoT Enterprise is the same full Windows 10 Enterprise desktop operating system with a special license for the OEMs in an embedded market. Plus with the major advantage of long term support, which is always a requirement in IoT and the Embedded Systems market.

Windows IoT Enterprise is essentially based on the Windows 10 Pro code base.  High-Rely uses the CBB (Current Branch for Business) variant of the OS.  There are also 3 different price levels: Entry, Value, and High End.  There are NO DIFFERENCES in software functionality in these.  The difference is simply the cost of the license which is based on the power of the CPU the OS is loaded on.  Although the “Entry” level is not intended for virtualization, this is mainly because it is based on CPUs that don’t support virtualization in hardware.  Like Windows 10 the number of simultaneous network connections is limited to 20.

WIndows 10 IoT Enterprise pricing is based on CPU

WIndows 10 IoT Enterprise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 3 variants for WIndows 10 IoT Enterprise business installations are:-

  • CB (Current Branch)
  • CBB (Current Branch for Business)
  • LTSB (Long Term Servicing Branch)

High-Rely Uses the WIndows 10 IoT Enterprise CBB version. Here’s what that means:

Current Branch Variants included: Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro, and Windows 10 Enterprise. This is the least flexible branch of the three. It requires Windows users to take any new features, fixes and security updates that Microsoft pushes to them via Windows Update. No choice or option to be more flexible.

Current Branch for Business
Variants included: Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Enterprise. This is a more flexible branch than the Current Branch when it comes to choosing and scheduling updates. Users who are running Windows on the CBB will have a choice of how they get these updates – whether via Windows Update for Business or Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). Windows Update for Business is being rolled out with Windows 10 to allow businesses some flexibility with how they roll out updates.

Long Term Servicing Branch
Variants included: Windows 10 Enterprise. The Long Term Servicing Branch has the most flexibility of all. Most popular for true vertical market application and devices (Point of Sale, Industrial Devices etc.). This option allows users to refuse everything but security updates. So it appropriately reserved for the highest specification version of Windows – Enterprise. As in CBB this branch allows users to also just take security fixes and defer taking any new features and to handle them via Windows Update for Business and/or WSUS.  Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB also includes the usual lockdown features that have been in previous Embedded Standard operating systems like:

  • Unified Write Filter
  • Shell Launcher
  • Write Filters (EWF/FBWF/UWF)
  • USB-Filter
  • Keyboard Filter
  • Gesture Filter
  • App Locker and Layout Control
  • Dialog Box and Notification Filter