14 DAY TRIAL // One of the best things about Windows 10 S is that it supports the upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, which means that users who can’t live with the operating system being restricted to Windows Store apps can perform the switch and thus get full Win32 app support.
And while this is clearly a good thing for anyone buying a Windows 10 S device, a company executive explains that once the switch to Windows 10 Pro is performed, there’s no way you can go back.
Which means that if you do decide to upgrade from Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Pro, you can’t return to Windows 10 S. And it’s all because of security reasons.
Restoring from OS image
Robert Epstein, UK Product Marketing Director for Windows, explains that Microsoft can’t provide users with a way to downgrade to Windows 10 S from Windows 10 Pro because its Windows Store-restricted operating system is all about security and coming back from an unrestricted version opens the door to security issues that could then be exploited.
“Once you’re there [on Windows 10 Pro] you can’t go back. Because, of course, we can’t guarantee what may have happened or been installed whilst it was in its more open environment,” he said.
The only way to return to Windows 10 S from Windows 10 Pro is to use a factory OS image that OEMs typically offer, though this is clearly a process that involves more skills and means that all your data would be lost.
“Yes, so if you are absolutely prepared to completely remove everything from that machine and return to that factory image, depending on how the OEM has configured it. Most OEMs do have small partitions that have the factory config on it, and if you’re prepared to lose everything on the machine and go back to that, then yes, you can go back to Windows 10 S,” he said.
Windows 10 S is specifically aimed at the education sector, so IT admins should think twice before making the upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. For educators and students, Windows 10 S is just the perfect choice because it’s a locked-down OS whose security is harder to be compromised, while Windows 10 Pro could open the door to some threats that the education market might not be willing to take.