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You can click the My Stuff button in search results to perform more advanced searches of your own files, which certainly makes it easier to hunt down specific files than with Windows 8. However, we still find it easier to instigate advanced searches from within Files Explorer called Windows Explorer in 8. Windows 10 did eventually add the option to search emails through this box, which is a great addition. Talking of Files Explorer, that's had a refresh too. Aside from a stark new set of icons, Explorer now has a Quick Access view which shows your most frequently opened folders at the top of the window, with a list of recently accessed files just below, making it easier to quickly pick up where you left off on files that are nested deep in folders.

You can still pin your favourite folders to the left-hand pane of Files Explorer, but this does create some duplication with the frequent folders pane just next to it, whilst the Libraries first introduced in Windows 7 are now almost hidden from view.

The new Explorer is a modest improvement on Windows 8. One significant new interface element for businesses is virtual desktops. An idea brazenly lifted from the Linux world, Windows 10's virtual desktops let you keep different sets of apps open in different desktops. You might, for example, have one desktop dedicated to communications with, say, Outlook, Slack and Skype running and another for work on a particular project Excel and a web browser.

It allows you to compartmentalise your work, and avoid having desktops cluttered with several open windows, but it's frustrating that many apps designed to run full-screen on a touchscreen can only occupy a single desktop. Winner : Windows 10 corrects most of Windows 8's ills with the Start screen, whilst revamped file management and virtual desktops are potential productivity boosters. An outright victory for desktop and laptop users. Even though it was the biggest overhaul of the OS since Windows 95, Windows 8 was remarkably stable and bug-free from the get-go.

Indeed, we had it running on everyday work systems six months before launch. Windows 10 has been, to put it charitably, a tad wobblier. Microsoft is regularly issuing updates for the software, but these updates often cause problems. It seems like every few months there are new reports of accidental file deletions, glitches, crashes and other assorted errors. General stability is certainly better than it was, but the fact that these errors persist is frustrating.

So far, we haven't seen any bugs that we'd consider enough to warrant downgrading to an earlier version of Windows, but it has to be said that reliability isn't Windows 10's strong suit - and it doesn't look like it ever will be. On the other hand, Windows 10 Enterprise users can cut out a lot of this headache - which we'll talk about more in a minute - meaning it's not quite so much of an issue.

Winner : Windows 8. Businesses can opt to skip many of the issues introduced by Windows 10's rolling updates, but the fact that they have to in the first place is hardly encouraging. Windows 8. All of those features remain in Windows 10, and there are others that could have a hugely significant impact on business rollouts. In-place upgrades have been made much smoother, meaning IT managers won't have to wipe and reimage as they may have done before.

On our ThinkPad loaded with business-oriented desktop apps Office , Slack, Creative Suite amongst others , we performed an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Pro in less than 40 minutes, with all documents, applications and settings perfectly retained.

Microsoft is also making it much easier for IT managers to bring off-the-shelf hardware into businesses, with new runtime configuration tools that can implement VPN settings, e-mail profiles, app installations and security policies without wiping the hardware and starting afresh.

Microsoft has also been commendably wary of forcing businesses to install the same rolling updates to Windows 10 that are now mandatory for consumers, who can no longer opt out of Windows Updates. Enterprise users can opt for a Long Term Servicing Branch of the OS another idea pinched from Linux which allows them to install a stable version of Windows 10 on mission-critical machines, which will only receive essential security updates and not the new features that will be periodically rolled out to regular Windows 10 users.

Windows 10 Pro users, meanwhile, can defer updates, giving new features a few months to bed down on consumer systems before they're applied to a business machine. Winner: Windows To help reduce the burden on network bandwidth, Microsoft designed two different update types: Full and Express 3. On devices that do not defer the installation of feature updates, the subsequent Semi-Annual Channel or General Availability Channel version of Windows 10 may be automatically offered and installed prior to the end date.

Update deferral is not available for all editions of Windows 10 4. Please see Windows as a Service WaaS for information on release channels and the Windows 10 release information page for additional update details.

Not all features in a feature update will be available on all devices. Similarly, a device may not be able to receive updates if the device hardware is incompatible, lacks current drivers, lacks sufficient storage space, or is otherwise outside the original equipment manufacturers OEM support period.

For more information on compatibility, review the Windows 10 System Requirements as well as the Windows Processor Requirements. Update availability may vary by country, region, network connectivity, mobile operator e.

To learn more, go here. Customers are required to move to a supported version feature update to continue to receive monthly quality updates with security and non-security fixes. To receive monthly quality updates, customers must be on a supported version of Windows See Overview of Windows as a Service WaaS for more information on release channels and the Windows 10 release info page for additional update details.

To receive monthly quality updates, customers must be on a supported version of Windows Server. A component is defined as a set of files or features that are included with a Microsoft product, whether it is shipped with the product, included in a product service pack or update, or later made available as a web download for the product. Windows 8. With the general availability of Windows 8. Historically, Microsoft has taken a similar support approach related to service packs.

When a Windows service pack is released, Microsoft provides customers 24 months of support for the prior service pack or original release. Unlike service packs that are typically a collection of fixes, Windows 8. Therefore we are applying the service pack policy to Windows 8. Business customers who had Software Assurance licensing received Windows 8. Windows Embedded products have their own distinct lifecycles, based on when the product was released and made generally available.

It is important for businesses to understand the support implications for these products to ensure that systems remain up-to-date and secure. This is the original toolkit and componentized version of Windows XP. It was originally released in , and Extended Support ended on January 12, This product is for use in point of sale devices. It's built from Windows XP Embedded. It was originally released in , and Extended Support ended on April 12, Windows Embedded Standard This product is an updated release of the toolkit and componentized version of Windows XP.

It was originally released in , and Extended Support ended on January 8, This product for point of sale devices reflects the updates available in Windows Embedded Standard It was originally released on , and extended support ended on April 9, Given this relationship, both operating systems followed the same release schedule and share the same timeline.

XP Embedded is a modular form of Windows XP, with additional functionality to support the needs of industry devices. Phone 7 Phone 8 Phone 8. Cairo Nashville Neptune Odyssey. List of versions Comparison Category. Categories : Windows 8. Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use dmy dates from November All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January Namespaces Article Talk.

Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Part of a series of articles on. Availability [23]. Pre-installed on devices [7]. Volume License customers Most channels. IA bit or x64 bit.

Maximum physical memory RAM [24]. Secure boot. Picture password. Depends on OEM, region, and carrier. Updated File Explorer. Standard apps [a]. Connected Standby. Windows Defender. New Windows Task Manager. Xbox Live including Xbox Live Arcade [26] [27]. Can connect to a VPN? Support for language packs and switching.

Device encryption [b] [29]. With Windows 8. Supported third-party apps [3] [30]. Windows Store apps only. Windows Store and desktop. Client only. Client and host.

Storage spaces. BitLocker and EFS. Sideload Windows Store apps [8] [9]. Partial [c]. Disabled by default. Parental Controls. Hyper-V [31]. AppLocker [d]. BranchCache [e]. Services for Network File System [34]. Deprecated [35]. No yes with upgrade to W8 Pro [f] [5].