What is life, if not a new SKU? Windows 11 launched one year ago in October 2021, and since then the new operating system has truly come into its own.
Things are stable, and with the first major update about to arrive, looking up.
While much of the attention has been taken by the client release of the OS, expectedly so, Microsoft also made available other variants like the Windows 11 IoT Enterprise that same day.
This one brought in support for a selection of useful new technologies — things like Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI, USB4, WiFi 6E, and more. That’s all good, but Redmond did not release a Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) for Windows IoT Enterprise for one reason or another.
But that is about to change, if we go by the latest findings from prolific leakster Xeno, who seems to believe that the company is about to release one soon.
New SKU coming? I've been told that "IOTENTERPRISESK" is "Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Subscription" pic.twitter.com/kvSUdcBfKr
— Xeno (@XenoPanther) September 13, 2022
Digging inside the ntdef.h kernel header of the Windows SDK has revealed a new potential Windows 11 SKU dubbed “IOTENTERPRISESK” which comes with “0x000000CD”.
Xeno claims that it denotes the upcoming Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Subscription SKU.
A winver screenshot of this build lends credence to this claim, as the OS version is clearly described as Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Subscription.
One can make a case that since Microsoft released the non-LTSC Windows 11 IoT SKU last year soon after the launch of the client 21H2 release, it is possible that the company plans to do something similar this year, too.
With version 22H2 nearly upon us, the Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Subscription may well be on the horizon.
