Unmanaged, Domain-Joined PCs to Get Windows 10, Too

If you’ve delayed getting your Windows computers under control for patches, now might be the best time to start. Microsoft has now altered its plan for the type of PCs that will be offered the Windows 10 upgrade.

In 2015, Microsoft was blasted for delivering Windows 10 upgrade notices to domain-joined computers after it said it wouldn’t. The company apologized and stated that it was a clear mistake. Looking back on that now, the actual mistake may have been that the company started its attempt to deliver Windows 10 to domain-joined computers earlier than it wanted. A switch was flipped too early.

According to a post on the “Windows for IT Pros” blog and labeled as “Making it Easier for Small Businesses to Upgrade to Windows 10,” Microsoft will begin delivering the “Get Windows 10” app to any PC under the following conditions:

It’s important to note that this does NOT affect PCs that are centrally managed using any patch management tool that takes advantage of WSUS, including System Center Configuration Manager. Enterprises are still in control over their Windows 10 rollouts.

To get to 1 billion devices running Windows 10 Microsoft is slowly turning the OS into a pandemic. I imagine Terry Myerson is at Microsoft today stroking his chin while watching a real-time map light up as Windows 10 rolls over the globe in waves like a zombie apocalypse – all under the guise of “making it easier to upgrade…” The blog post author says…

Because of ongoing customer requests from many small businesses and other small organizations to easily take advantage of the free upgrade, we will soon make the Get Windows 10 app available to them as well.

Are you part of one of these small businesses making these requests? In the places I hang out (which includes a lot of small business representation), I’m hearing just the opposite. They’re working hard to keep Windows 10 off their users’ PCs.

Before you go off the rails on this particular issue, this is not a new communication. Terry Myerson said in a blog last October that…

Early next year, we expect to be re-categorizing Windows 10 as a “Recommended Update”.

You should go back and read that blog post to stoke your memory. Incidentally, even then, Microsoft was using the “making it easier to upgrade” messaging.

As a small business, if you still can’t find the resources to get your PC patching under central control, Microsoft has made information available on how to block the Windows 10 upgrade – for now. The KB article, now at revision 4.0 and updated just recently, offers instructions for blocking the upgrade using a number of methods including GPO and registry modifications.

Instructions are here: How to manage Windows 10 notification and upgrade options