Microsoft kills Windows 10 S as a separate SKU, replaces it with "S Mode"

Microsoft’s plans for Windows 10 S has changed, and the firm will be killing it off as a separate product later this year.

Thurrott’s Brad Sams reports that Microsoft will no longer be selling Windows 10 S as a separate SKU, but will instead have it as a feature or mode of its more mainstream SKUs.

The firm will be offering users of SKUs an S mode. Windows 10 Pro in S Mode, Windows 10 Home in S Mode, and so on, and so forth.

This will allow users to of Home and Education to have PCs with Windows 10 S, but upgrade to full-fledged Windows 10 Home and Education for Free. Users of Windows 10 Pro will still have to pay $49 to upgrade like they do now.

Of course, Windows 10 In S Mode didn’t come entirely out of the blue. Windows Insiders earlier this year reported that their Windows 10 S PCs had switched to Windows 10 Pro following an update to one of Microsoft’s Insider builds. This was confirmed to be deliberate by Redmond in recent builds. “Insiders running Windows 10 S may have noticed that after upgrading to the latest builds, their PC appears to be running ‘Windows 10 Pro In S Mode’.” Microsoft’s Dona Sarkar wrote then, “This change is by design and these PCs will continue to function as Windows 10 S PCs ”

We’ll likely learn more about Windows 10 S’s new role as Microsoft’s next Windows release approaches.