Pentagon to Upgrade 4M Seats to Windows 10

The Department of Defense plans to upgrade four million staff members to Windows 10. It's a major boost for Microsoft given the security needs of the DoD.

Historically, government organizations have been slow to update operating systems. That's often because of the complexity of doing so across an entire network; for example, having to weigh up the problems of different computers on different systems, plus the hassle of having too many computers out of action even temporarily during an upgrade.

Major upgrades such as this have caused concern in the security community - especially when government organizations rely on older systems that are at significantly higher risk from hackers exploiting security flaws.

Some DoD Machines still on Vista

At the moment it's believed the DoD uses a mix of XP, Vista and Windows 7, with a few machines running non-Microsoft systems. Both the security risks and the costs of maintaining multiple systems have been cited in a memo by the departments IT chief. (Source: phys.org)

In total, the department plans to upgrade four million seats. That's not quite the same as four million computers; in some cases a single computer is shared by multiple users, each with their own monitor, keyboard and mouse, counted as one "seat" per user.

The department hasn't confirmed what proportion of its total computers will be part of the upgrade, or whether those handling the most secure data such as operations details will be included.

Windows 10 Upgrade Complete within a Year

Perhaps the most surprising element of the upgrade is that the department plans to reach the four million seat goal by next January. Historically, many organizations usually wait until there's been plenty of time to find out about any security flaws which need patching; however, the DoD timetable suggests officials are confident in Microsoft's new approach of regular small updates rather than the old-style Service Pack system.

Unlike consumers, the department will be paying for Windows 10 but hasn't revealed the pricing.

Microsoft is already touring the deal as evidence that Windows 10 meets even the most rigorous security demands. (Source: windows.com)

What's Your Opinion?

Is it a good idea for large organizations to get the latest editions of operating systems and other software as soon as possible? Should government departments wait longer for security holes and other teething troubles to be tackled? Does the DoD upgrade make you more confident about Windows 10 security?