Resource: Microsoft's IT Pro Content Map for Windows 10

As mentioned yesterday by myself and our Rod Trent, the Windows 10 Creators Update is going to begin a staged roll out to current Windows 10 users on 11 April 2017.

If you are a calendar watcher then you will also note that the 11th of April is Microsoft's regularly scheduled Patch Tuesday plus it is the final day of lifecycle support for the companies Windows Vista operating system.

The upcoming Creators Update is the third major feature update for Windows 10 since its initial release in July of 2015. In 2017, Microsoft also plans to release a second feature update for the OS in the same calendar year which will be code named Redstone 3. It is expected sometime this fall but testing should begin within a couple of weeks following the Creators Update release. In the long term Microsoft is planning to roll out two of these feature updates each calendar year moving forward.

That means companies that have not yet made the migration to Windows 10, the vast majority of which are on Windows 7 right now, will have plenty of opportunities to evaluate when they want to make that move. Since lifecycle support for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 installed is scheduled to end on 14 January 2020 that means companies and organizations have less than three years to shift off Windows 7.

After the need to expand support for Windows XP much longer than they ever wanted, I do not expect Microsoft to make that same move with Windows 7 when it is due to fall out of support. They are making a significant investment in Windows 10, the Windows as a Service process, and its cloud based integration for modern device management and security to stick with an OS that is quickly losing its modern edge.

So whether it is a need to move off Windows 7 before its out of support or your company just wants to modernize IT management and device security - IT Pros need to be ready to answer all the questions about migrating to Windows 10.

To assist with this process Microsoft has a resource called the Windows 10 IT Pro Content Map (pictured above). It is a 156KB Excel file that contains links to their key IT Pro content across several subject areas:

-- Core Experience

-- Top Tasks

-- Demos/Videos

-- Virtual Labs

-- Articles

-- Windows Deployment for Education

-- Related Topics

-- Windows 10 Enterprise Evaluation Software

There are also tabs in this spreadsheet with resources in the Windows TechNet Library and Forums, various blog posts, the Microsoft Virtual Academy, Microsoft Mechanics videos, downloads, and additional resources.

This version of the Windows 10 IT Pro Content Map is available at the Microsoft Download Center and was just updated on 28 March 2017.

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