Microsoft's Long Term Service Channel (LTSC) release of Windows 11 is officially in progress and will launch sometime during the second half of this year, according to an April 2023 announcement.
A leaked Windows 11 2024 LTSC ISO, created in August 2023, shed light on the company's plans for the future and a new initiative: an “IoT enterprise subscription” tailored to business users.
Based on Windows 11 23H2, the leaked build reaffirms that the LTSC rollout is underway, indicating that the company has no plans to backtrack on its original plan to bring the product to market later this year.
Windows 11 LTSC is in the works
The company's plans to make Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC and Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC available will likely focus on Hudson Valley, the codename given to the upcoming 24H2 version of the popular operating system. The detected ISO, built on 23H2, probably only represents initial work on the LTSC.
Early observations have also revealed that an enterprise IoT subscription could be set up with the new updates, although it is unclear how this would differ from the non-subscription model.
LTSC products are designed to provide operating systems to enterprise customers who need a stable version of an operating system that does not change over time. Windows 10 has a few LTSC options, including a 2021 version based on 21H2. Microsoft promises to support LTSC operating systems for ten years.
Redmond's plans to end support for Windows 10 versions in October 2025 will not affect support for the LTSC version, but users are more likely to consider upgrading to Windows 11 LTSC.
Adoption of the most recent version of Windows was slow, but now accounts for nearly three in 10 (28%) of all Windows installations. Windows 10 is also simultaneously losing popularity, but still accounts for two-thirds (66%) of all installations.
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