Microsoft keeps forking editions of Windows 10. This time around, the company is announcing “Windows 10 Pro for Workstations,” which as the name implies this is still Windows 10 Pro, but with the difference that the new edition extends support for “server grade PC hardware” for intensive workload tasks and advanced users.
On Windows 10 Pro for Workstations, Microsoft is introducing four main additions. ReFS (Resilient File System) is the default file system, replacing NTFS, adding fault-tolerance, optimization for larger data volumes, and automatic error correction.
Microsoft is also adding support for non-volatile memory modules (NVDIMM-N) for persistent memory, which means that writes and reads speeds will always be the fastest possible. Additionally, your files will still be there even after switching the computer off.
Fast networking speeds is another feature you’ll find with the Windows 10 Pro for Workstations edition. Using SMB Direct, Microsoft is adding support for Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA), which enables compatible network adapters to operate at low latency without impacting the processor performance.
Finally, this new edition includes support for high performance processors, including Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron processor, with up to four physical processors, which today is limited to two processors, and up to 6TB of memory, currently limited to only 2TB.
This is not the first variant of Windows 10 Pro that we’re seeing, Microsoft has also recently introduced Windows 10 S, which is also Windows 10 Pro, but optimized for performance and security. However, with the new edition for workstations, the company is clearly going after business consumers, and not regular home users.
