W10 for Business Version? Enterprise is full of consumerware crap.

dcbdbis · 20 Mar 2018

Good Morning Community,

I am a SMB owner and was looking at moving to W10 enterprise over pro - because I don't want to spend a bunch of time removing all of the consumerware crap that ships with 10Pro. I need a workstation - not a gaming platform.

I signed up for and downloaded W10 Enterprise and put it in a VM.

To my surprise - W10 Enterprise is not a business OS - it's full of all that crap that I don't want my employees playing with.

Is there a different version of W10 for business that I should have downloaded instead of Enterprise?

Something tells me I must have downloaded the wrong version - I can't fathom that W10 Enterprise is a business edition with all the crap that comes with it.

Suggestions? Pointers? Ideas?

Sincerely and respectfully,

Dave

EdTittel · 20 Mar 2018

No, it's not the wrong version. However, there are many useful and interesting guides to help you create a custom image for Windows 10 Enterprise that will eliminate what you don't want your employees to have. See, for example this TenForums thread "How to uninstall apps using Powershell." You might also find this MakeUseOf story helpful as well: "How to Easily Remove Bloatware from Windows 10." You could also look into using the excellent NTLite tool to trim down what goes into your canonical Windows 10 Enterprise image for deployment in the workplace. In short, if you're willing to do some work on the Enterprise image you wish distributed before it gets deployed, you can control what goes into that image to a surprising extent. OTOH, if you'd like to hire somebody to craft such a custom image for your business, I know somebody (a fellow Windows Insider MVP, in fact) who does that kind of thing for a living. PM me if you'd like a pointer.
HTH,
--Ed--

slicendice · 20 Mar 2018

No, you most likely downloaded the correct version. It is what it is.

If you really want control, then you should do as most with a lot of employees do:

Create a custom reference image, that contains exactly the features and Apps you want the employees to use. Then use that image to deploy onto ALL your employees computers.

EDIT: Oh, I see @EdTittel beat me to it. :)

EdTittel · 20 Mar 2018

Hey Slice'n'Dice: we must've been writing our answers at the same time, since they pretty much overlap exactly. Thus, I can only compliment you for offering a nice answer.
Best wishes,
--Ed--

slicendice · 20 Mar 2018

EdTittel said:

Hey Slice'n'Dice: we must've been writing our answers at the same time, since they pretty much overlap exactly. Thus, I can only compliment you for offering a nice answer.
Best wishes,
--Ed--

Hehheh, thanks for the compliments!

Yes we were answering at the same time. Sometimes this happens. Glad we agree on the best way to proceed in this matter. :)

dcbdbis · 20 Mar 2018

Well, I certainly appreciate the answers...THANK YOU!

Although I must say that I am very disappointed in MS for doing this to a so-called "Enterprise" class OS.

I thank you for the pointers to how to roll your own image. I am an SMB - I don't have an extensive IT staff - so I'll have to do this myself.....

But - once again thank you for the answers. I appreciate it.

Dave

EdTittel · 20 Mar 2018

You're welcome, Dave. There is lots of information and insight to be found online on the topic of "Windows image customization" or "customizing a Windows image." It's your best approach, to be sure. Let us know if you need more info or pointers. There are some great tutorials on and around this topic here at TenForums, including @Kari's excellent "Customize Windows 10 Image in Audit Mode with Sysprep."
Best wishes,
--Ed--