@jayaretoo When it comes to installing Extended Security Update (ESU) builds without paying a dime, a simple registry patching won't be enough for NT 10.x-based consumer SKUs. Worry not, as the work has already begun.
Of course not, as it already gets updates till 2027 (or 2032 for IoT) by design. It is the Long Term Servicing Channel, after all.
Much harder than it was with XP, I see. Anyways, I guess I'm not sure why you need to re-install the entire OS (in-place upgrade) when the changes should be a few hundred MB at most? I'm not interested in it actually being LTSC, I'm interested in getting the security patches for the system files affected by vulnerabilities. I rarely use Windows 10 now anyways (Linux dual / triple / quad... distro-hopping boot) but the last thing I want when I boot Win 10 in say 2027 is to get a friggin virus because of a nasty exploit (this has happened to me on Windows XP before I discovered how to change the registry to get updates (and later, XP Integral Edition by LuxLOL with all the patches pre-applied and then some) -- the homepage set had gone defunct, and the site was taken over by a malware distributor, so when you opened the browser...) If I was going to use Windows very often I would probably install thinned down Windows 11 with all the spyware removed. Anywho, I'll check back when W10 reaches EOL and see if anyone has made a bypass. Ty for the replies!
Well, where are the necessary changes going to come from if the code for those changes are not present in the non-LTSC Windows? If they are only available in the LTSC iso, I guess the only way will be to install the LTSC over the non-LTSC, as I believe you cannot just add those changes without an actual LTSC installation. My own take, anyway. If you do not want to do an in-place upgrade, then you should wait and see if someone will make a bypass by the time October comes.
Unless I'm mistaken, the code is all there, just switched on or off by various settings for the type of build. eg, W10 Home does not have Group Policy Editor installed. But the files for it are in the W10 installation media. They just aren't installed because it is marked as W10 Home. This is how you can have all-in-one Windows installation media relatively easily. Usually it's just flipping a config setting and putting in the right key. So unless LTSC had patches for things that aren't in standard W10 Home or Pro, it shouldn't matter. (Are there features in LTSC that Home or Pro don't have?? To my knowledge it's just extended support and a significant delay for any new features that come out, to be sure they are stable.)
This is true for almost all switchable and virtual SKUs, but not for LTSC. LTSC is a completely different beast, it has several packages installed the other SKUs lack, and lacks others the normal SKUs have aboard. You cannot simply switch from and to LTSC without installing the according missing packages (which is what the over-install does). In short, what you say does not apply to LTSC.
To add to this discussion: While the latest end-user version of Windows 10 is 22H2, Windows Server 2022 is based on 21H2, similar to Windows 10 LTSC 2021. However, Microsoft has implemented restrictions that prevent the installation of Server updates on the corresponding Desktop versions, a departure from previous editions (such as Server 2019 & LTSC 2019; Windows 8.1 & Server 2012 R2; Windows 7 & Server 2008 R2). My two cents.
It has to do with how SxS works (the Component Store). It usually already holds all feature packages for the SKU you have and the ones you can upgrade (or switch) to directly. Upon switch or upgrade, it hardlinks new features from SxS to the Windows or Windows\System directory, possibly removes some hardlinks, and applies the new Product Policy, which will allow you to actually use them. You don't need an installation source for that switchover. LTSC is different, it is another product family, and you cannot upgrade or switch to/from non-LTSC SKUs from/to it. LTSC has some packages in SxS not part of any non-LTSC SxS, and vice versa. While indeed only being some hundred MB, there is no official mechanism for only switching LTSC <===> non-LTSC packages.