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Windows 10 at Stanford

Overview

Windows 10 is available in four versions:

  • Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 10 Education
  • Windows 10 Pro
  • Windows 10 Enterprise

The versions are differentiated by the features they provide. Windows 10 Home is marketed to the home user, Windows 10 Education is available to schools through academic volume licensing, and Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise are marketed to the business user.

Due to security concerns and to ensure compatibility with our campus computing infrastructure, University IT will support only Windows 10 Education, Windows 10 Pro, and  Windows 10 Enterprise.

System requirements

The minimum computer hardware requirements for running Windows 10, as recommended by Microsoft, are:

  • 1 GHz or faster processor
  • 2 GB RAM 
  • 20 GB available disk space
  • DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
  • TPM 1.2 or later is recommended but not required for BitLocker Encryption support for use in the Stanford Whole Disk Encryption (SWDE) service. BitLocker does require Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise versions.

Window 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education have very similar minimum hardware requirements to Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1.

Note: You can do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Pro from Windows 7 SP1 Professional and Ultimate and Windows 8.1 Pro. Contact your local IT local support for assistance.

Obtaining Windows 10

Windows 10 Education is available for Stanford-owned computers through Stanford's campus agreement with Microsoft.  Check with your desktop support staff for more information.

Windows 10 October 2018 Update

The latest major update to Windows 10 is called Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809). Microsoft will begin deploying the update to Windows 10 as of Oct. 9, 2018. This release has a wide assortment of new improvements. See  the Windows 10 October 2018 Update page for more information.

Software compatibility with Essential Stanford Software (ESS)

Software Description Windows 10  October 2018 Update Compatibility
BigFix Client The latest version of the BigFix client, available through the ESS site, is compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
Box Sync Box Sync is compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
Device Enrollment Device Enrollment is compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
Google Drive File Stream Google Drive File Stream is compatible with Windows 10 . Compatible
Kerberos for Windows Kerberos for Windows (also known as Network Identity Manager) functions normally on Windows 10. Compatible
Microsoft Office Pro Plus This refers to the non-Microsoft 365 version of Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office Professional 2013 and 2016 are compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
Microsoft Project Professional Microsoft Project Professional 2013 and 2016 are compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
Microsoft Visio Professional Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 and 2016 are compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
OneDrive for Business OneDrive for Business is compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
OpenAFS for Windows OpenAFS 1.7.33 is compatible with Windows 10 provided that you uninstall OpenAFS prior to upgrading to Windows 10 October 2018 update and then reinstall after the upgrade.  See the Windows 10  Known Issues page for more information. Compatible
SecureCRT/SecureFX The latest version of SecureCRT/SecureFX, available through ESS, is compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
Stanford Anti-Malware Stanford's anti-malware service for Windows 10, Windows Server 2012/2016/2019 is CrowdStrike Falcon.  Compatible
Stanford Desktop Tools The current release of Stanford Desktop Tools is compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
Stanford Software Removal Tool The Stanford Software Removal Tool is compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
Stanford Whole Disk Encryption (SWDE) Windows 10 is supported in SWDE through BitLocker, the native whole disk encryption feature, available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. More information is available on the Stanford Whole Disk Encryption site. Compatible
VLRE VLRE is compatible with Windows 10.  Compatible
VPN The Cisco Secure Client VPN Client works with Windows 10. Compatible
Windows Eraser Eraser is compatible with Windows 10. Compatible
Zoom Zoom is compatible with Windows 10. Compatible

Administrative Systems applications (e.g., Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft/Axess)

Windows 10 includes both Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11. Microsoft Edge is the default browser. Please see Browser Recommendations for Administrative Applications to verify the applications you need are compatible with Edge or IE 11.

Last modified March 15, 2024