Microsoft touts that it will work with customers who migrate from Windows 7/8.1 Enterprise or Professional to Windows 10 Enterprise with Microsoft’s FastTrack assistance program. In fact, this is a strategic plan by Microsoft to increase the value or demand for Windows 10 Enterprise. Read more information on MiniTool website.
Microsoft Pitches Free Help for Windows 7-to-Windows 10 Upgraders
Microsoft says it will pitch free help for Windows 7-to-Windows 10 upgraders with its program FastTrack. With FastTrack, you can upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10.
FastTrack is free, but you need to cost at least 150 licenses for one of the eligible subscription services or plans. These subscriptions include Microsoft’s highest-priced product line, such as Office 365 and Microsoft 365. This product line bundles Windows 10, Office, and a host of security and management tools.
With FastTrack, Microsoft helps you envision a technical plan to decide the way to onboard and deploy new services and/or users, and to work with you during the deployment process.
Many years ago, Microsoft touted the benefits of FastTrack’s ability to help deploy services or subscriptions, so FastTrack is not a new program for you. This isn’t the first time Microsoft has touted FastTrack in a Windows 7-to-Windows 10 context. Microsoft launched FastTrack’s latest component – Desktop App Assure to the world earlier this year.
App Assure assures that engineers of Microsoft will work with customers to make sure desktop applications running under Windows 7 continue to run on Windows 10.
Microsoft pitched FastTrack in the Windows 7 setting because the operating system is retiring. The time-tested operating system will disappear from Microsoft’s support list on January 14, 2020. After that day, security updates will only be sent to organizations that pay extra for after-end-of-life support.
FastTrack aims to help customers migrate from Windows 7/8.1 Enterprise or Professional to Windows 10 Enterprise. However, Microsoft sometimes emphasizes the path from professional to enterprise. With the Windows 10 deployment guidance offered by FastTrack, you can easily finish the upgrade from Windows 7/8.1 Professional to Windows 10 Enterprise.
Microsoft has identified one of FastTrack’s goals by using Windows 7 Professional as a starting point for the migration: to let organizations pay for the more expensive Windows 10 Enterprise after 10 years of using Windows 7 Professional.
Microsoft is focusing on Microsoft 365, and Windows 10 Enterprise is the Windows component of Microsoft 365. Thus, in order to get you to the next level of Microsoft 365, it is a necessary step to get you to use Windows 10 Enterprise.
Thus, you should know that pitching free help for Windows 7-to-Windows 10 upgraders is an overall plan of Microsoft. Anything that increases the value or demand for Windows 10 Enterprise will be strategic for Microsoft.
FastTrack is not a program that Microsoft sends people to organizations during operating system upgrades. Instead, representatives can be used for consultation and will offer guidance which is a combination of written assistance and verbal. FastTrack personnel cannot represent you when FastTrack Specialists offer you guidance.
For Windows 10, you need to use FastTrack in four steps – initiate, assess, remediate and enable with detailed guidance. For example, in the access step, FastTrack offers guidance on enabling the use of Desktop Analytics and leads you to create a Desktop Analytics deployment plan.
It refers to telemetry-powered tools that could analyze systems and determine which systems can be upgraded to Windows 10.
Warnings abound, of course. Based on the list marked “Out of Scope”, FastTrack specialists do not help you turn on security features, create Windows 10 deployment custom images or upgrade Configuration Manager to the Current Branch version. If organizations want to do these tasks, these organizations are advised by Microsoft to contact their partners.
Bottom Line
This post has shown you that Microsoft pitches free help for Windows 7-to-Windows 10 upgraders. With its program FastTrack, it is easy for Windows 10 free upgrade from Windows 7.