The End of Windows To Go Is Announced by Microsoft Now

About Windows To Go

Windows To Go, also known as WTG, is a portable hardware and software. This feature is snapped in Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education editions, which enables users to create a Windows To Go workspace that can be booted from an external drive connected with a USB interface on PCs.

According to Microsoft, PCs that meet the Windows 7 or later certification requirements are capable of running Windows 10 in a Windows To Go workspace, no matter which OS is running on PC.

The workspace can let organizations use the same images (that can be managed the same way) for desktops and laptops. After plugging a Windows To Go flash drive into a USB port of a PC, users can access the same applications and network privileges they had at work. Even the workspace can work on Intel-based Macs with USB ports.

For more information about this feature, go to see Microsoft’s official document – Windows To Go: feature overview

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Microsoft to Deprecate Windows To Go

However, according to a support article of Microsoft, it is put an end to this feature in the near future. The article says that the last Windows operating system that supports this feature is Windows 10, version 1903 (known as May 2019 Update). That is, Windows To Go is regarded deprecated. Actually, Microsoft will develop it no longer.

In Microsoft’s announcement, this company gives a few reasons why it is to remove Windows To Go:

1. Windows To Go doesn’t support feature updates. In other words, this feature doesn’t enable users to keep up-to-date.
2. This feature needs a specific type of USB flash drive but many OEMs no longer support.

WTG works with Windows 10 Enterprise and Education editions (as mentioned above) and requires Software Assurance. Actually, this feature started with Windows 8 when it’s showcased during the Microsoft’s Build conference in 2011.

Initially, there were 5 USB hardware manufacturers to be partners on Windows To Go with Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, including Kingston, Spyrus, Imation, Western Digital and Super Talent. But there were only three vendors such as Imation, Spyrus and Kingston with Windows 10. At that time, an Imation official implied WTG hadn’t taken off as a product since Windows 8/8.1 wasn’t popular.

Final Words

It seems that WTG was a good idea in the early days but the announcement of the end of Windows To Go has touched off little public reaction.

Of course, if users still want to create Windows To Go USB drives of Windows 10, they can search for “Windows To Go alternatives” in Google and some useful tools will be recommended.