Microsoft Offers Gun-Shy Businesses 90-Day Free Trial Of Windows 10 Enterprise

Windows 10 is here and many consumers and enthusiasts have been eager to try out the free upgrade to the fresh operating system in both Home and Pro configurations. There are however, some users that are either content with Windows 7/8 or simply “waiting for Service Pack 1,” which is a common refrain from Windows users leery of new operating system releases.

But if you think that consumers are a little apprehensive about new operating systems, businesses are often even more fearful of change. After all, software incompatibilities, downtime for upgrades, and unfamiliar surroundings (which was especially true with Windows 8) are concerns that must be taken into account when considering corporate-wide upgrades.

Thankfully, Microsoft is looking to give businesses a helpful push when it comes to making the leap to Windows 10. Microsoft isn’t offering businesses free upgrades to Windows 10 Enterprise, but the company is at least providing the option for businesses to try out the operating system free for 90 days.

Microsoft explains its intent for the 90-day free trial on the TechNet Evaluation Center website:

This is evaluation software that is designed for IT professionals interested in trying Windows 10 Enterprise on behalf of their organization. We do not recommend that you install this evaluation if you are not an IT professional or are not professionally managing corporate networks or devices.

Windows 10 Enterprise should work with the same devices and programs that work with Windows 8.1. In some cases, a device or program might not work or may require an update, or you might need to uninstall some programs and then reinstall them after installing the evaluation.

Businesses can download either Windows 10 Enterprise or Windows 10 Enterprise Long Term Service Branch (LTSB) in either 32-bit or 64-bit packages in ISO form. A product key is not needed to install Windows 10 Enterprise, but Microsoft does require that you activate the software.

“If you fail to activate this evaluation after installation, or if your evaluation period expires, the desktop background will turn black, you will see a persistent desktop notification indicating that the system is not genuine, and the PC will shut down every hour,” Microsoft warns.