The Windows 10 Anniversary Update for IT Pros

Next week Microsoft will release the second major update for Windows 10 and there is plenty to consider if you are an IT Pro looking to migrate to Windows 10.

Richard Hay, Senior Content Producer

July 26, 2016

4 Min Read
The Windows 10 Anniversary Update for IT Pros

Next week Microsoft will release the second major update for Windows 10 and there are some updates in this release to consider if you are an IT Pro and considering a migration to Microsoft's year old operating system.

During the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference a couple of weeks ago, Yusuf Mehdi the Corporate VP for the Windows and Devices Group at the company indicated that 96% of their corporate customers are currently trialing Windows 10 and considering their own migrations.

A tremendous amount of testing has gone into the Anniversary Update, previously known as Redstone 1 when its development first began late last year, and that impact shows in the momentum numbers for Windows 10.

  • Over 350 million devices are now running Windows 10 as of 29 June 2016.

  • More than 135 billion hours have been spent by users on Windows 10 actively using the system.

  • We have been tracking Windows Insider builds and there have been a total of 50 builds released since last December for testing. That is split almost evenly at 27 PC builds and 23 for Mobile devices.

  • Windows Insiders have spent more than 50,000 years worth of time using these testing builds - that is over 18 million hours if you do the math.

  • During that usage by Insiders, they have also submitted 75 million pieces of feedback and more than 5,000 features and fixes have made their way into Windows 10 as a result of that feedback.

I did a full review of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, which will begin its roll out to current Windows 10 users on 02 August, over on the Supersite: Windows and that review highlights the areas that are getting a lot of attenion in this release.

Admittedly, the new features covered in my review are heavily consumer focused but may still be worthwhile for Enterprise users to check out. However, there are a couple of pieces in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update that should be considered on the Enterprise side of the house as well and their focus is on security.

Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP)

This new feature helps IT Pros to detect, investigate and deal with malicious attacks on their networks. It does this by providing comprehensive threat intelligence and attack detection.

WDATP is a post breach feature and is built to help you remediate attacks and prevent them in the future.

There are three key parts to this technology according to Microsoft:

  1. The Client – end-point behavioral sensor, built into Windows 10 (Windows 10 Anniversary update, Windows Insider Preview Build number 14332 and later) and activated upon service enrollment. The client logs relevant security events and behaviors from the endpoint.

  2. Cloud security analytics service – processing data from endpoints in combination with historical data and Microsoft’s wide data repository to detect anomalous behaviors, adversary techniques and similarity to known attacks. The service runs on the Microsoft scalable big data platform, and uses a combination of Indicators of Attacks (IOAs), generic analytics and machine learning rules, as well as Indicators of Compromises (IOCs) collected from past attacks.

  3. Microsoft and community intelligence – our Hunters and researchers investigate the data, finding new behavioral patterns and correlating the data with existing knowledge from the security community.

Read more about WDATP, the associated white paper documentation and the entire process pre and post breach process.

Windows Information Protection (WIP)

The reality of work in a corporate environment is that personal and work related files, emails, etc. are going to become intermingled on users devices. WIP implements a series of features that helps protect that critical corporate information from being shared with individuals that should not receive it.

WIP works on four key information protection fundamentals:

  1. Device Protection: Making sure that the device and the information on it are protected if the hardware is stolen/lost.

  2. Data Separation: This element makes sure that personal and corporate info is kept separate on any device they are both stored on.

  3. Leak Protection: This will keep unauthorized users and apps from accessing or sharing your protected data.

  4. Sharing Protection: This step makes sure that data you share outside of your organization and control continues to be protected from unauthorized individuals.

The first two fundamentals above happen on a Windows 10 device by using Bitlocker and WIP. The final two areas are implemented through Azure Information Protection and Office 365 controls.

Read more about Windows Information Protection in the announcement blog post from Microsoft.

Is your company/organization testing out Windows 10 right now? What is your biggest concern about making that migration?

But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.

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About the Author

Richard Hay

Senior Content Producer, IT Pro Today (Informa Tech)

I served for 29 plus years in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Master Chief Petty Officer in November 2011. My work background in the Navy was telecommunications related so my hobby of computers fit well with what I did for the Navy. I consider myself a tech geek and enjoy most things in that arena.

My first website – AnotherWin95.com – came online in 1995. Back then I used GeoCities Web Hosting for it and WindowsObserver.com is the result of the work I have done on that site since 1995.

In January 2010 my community contributions were recognized by Microsoft when I received my first Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for the Windows Operating System. Since then I have been renewed as a Microsoft MVP each subsequent year since that initial award. I am also a member of the inaugural group of Windows Insider MVPs which began in 2016.

I previously hosted the Observed Tech PODCAST for 10 years and 317 episodes and now host a new podcast called Faith, Tech, and Space. 

I began contributing to Penton Technology websites in January 2015 and in April 2017 I was hired as the Senior Content Producer for Penton Technology which is now Informa Tech. In that role, I contribute to ITPro Today and cover operating systems, enterprise technology, and productivity.

https://twitter.com/winobs

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