Hi, Which version of Win10 should i get? i know it's an open question so i will narrow it down a bit. Since i have privacy concerns etc. it's probably ENT or LTSC but then there are also various builds and versions which only make it more confusing. I tried to look at the latest versions like 20H1 etc. but all the files are preview versions no ENT. I feel like i missed something .
"Which Win 10 Ver to get?" - I personally always prefer the latest stable version and I have never had any problems.
So which one is easier to activate VL or OEM? I don't see 20H1 in the sticky or ESD repo there is only 2004 and 20H2 which is IP as you said.
There is no difference in that, if you enter a valid activation key both will just switch to that channel and activate. Proper KMS or HWID tools will enter the required key and activate all of them too. [DISCUSSION] Windows 10 Final Build 19041/2.1/208/264/329/388/450 (PC) [20H1/2 vb_release]
The one that suits you best. OEM and Retail are two different activation methods. As mentioned above, 20H1 is the current version, 20H2 is as follows. The upgrade to this version is similar to updating version 1903 to 1909, ie no needs to reinstall, must only enable new features. In practice, it is already possible, but if you are not particularly interested in technology, it is not yet recommended. Wait another month or two. You must decide the activation question yourself. What did you have in the past or do you have any preferences or do you have some/any OEM or Retail official activation key? Everything is possible, if you make your choice and then we can help if there are problems. PS. So far, all genuine Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 keys work, no problem.
Both are key based, OEM = MSDM or systembuilder key, both is key, all consumer ISOs will pick up the MSDM bios key automated, and when a VL edition is installed, entering the MSDM bios key or the systembuilder (coem) key will activate the install.
Cool thanks. This is what i'm talking about i clicked the ISO links and it gets me to preview editions, then the ESD links lead to a list that doesn't include 20H1, also on the same page it's not clear where to go. I think the best way to give it a go would be with the latest stable so that's 20H1 right now and if it has issues i can revert to 2004 or LTSC which is based on 1909 right? So Ent Retail 20H1 sounds good to me, where do i find it?
First thanks a lot for the full explanation, the most important part was this, i didn't know it was one and the same version *FACE PALM*
I have a VR set-up, and generally set Windows up the same way regardless of edition. I consistently get 1-2ms motion-to-photon latency in Beat Saber if I use 20H1/2004 instead of LTSC/1809 (tried this on about 3 different installs of both; I rarely go below 20ms on LTSC, whereas I get 19ms on 20H1) . I also get a slightly higher Geekbench score on my 2700X Ryzen CPU. Real-world in all games though, there's no difference. I feel like LTSC/1809 is ever-so-slightly more snappy, but my only real benchmark on that is installing 7-zip. On LTSC I normally don't see any progress and it instantly installs, whereas sometimes on 20H1/2004 I see the progress bar for like 1/4th a second. Real-world I notice no difference though. 20H1/2004 has a lot of UWP apps I don't use. And generally on fresh installs, I run some Powershell command to obliterate every UWP app possible without issue. No need to do this on LTSC though. So in my case, I like LTSC a lot more; it's consistent, and doesn't need me to remove UWP apps. I need to do more thorough testing to see how much Ryzen is affected performance-wise though to see if I'll be using LTSC any more though; most sources say it's worthwhile (the scheduler changes I think since 1903 or 1909; thus not on LTSC/1809), but does it actually *do* anything beneficial, and does it matter if SMT is enabled or not.
You seem an intelligent person that can pull his own weight if it needs to, owning hardware that benefits the most of the latest OS changes, now and in the future. So why would someone like you join the flat-windows society™ praising the unimpressive LTSC? Laziness? If you count in the effort needed to even get the LTSC builds each time you want to update them, running a powershell command pales in comparison. The one subjective issue you've noticed is just meh. But it's the stuff you don't notice that counts. Security, memory reliability, that kind of jazz. Listen to most sources that it's worthwhile. Might as well go straight to 19042.487