Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will simplify enterprise device deployments
We've already seen that with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Microsoft is aiming to strengthen security. The company has today revealed a number of other new features aimed at business users.
The flagship among these is Windows AutoPilot Deployment, a cloud service designed to simplify the deployment and management of new Windows 10 PCs.
AutoPilot is designed to allow end users to set up their own PCs but still get the out of box experience (OOBE) defined by the IT department. The user powers up the machine, selects a language, chooses a keyboard layout and connects to a network. The device is then recognized as belonging to the organization and delivers a pre-configured OOBE. AutoPilot Deployment allows the additional steps in the standard Windows 10 OOBE, such as choosing between a personal device or a work device, selecting privacy settings, OEM registration, Cortana setup, and OneDrive setup to be skipped.
Once connected to the network, Windows prompts the user to sign with their Azure AD credentials, the device is then automatically enrolled in Microsoft Intune or other mobile device management solution.
More details of AutoPilot can be found on the TechNet blog. Later this year Microsoft plans to add a mechanism to reset a fully configured device while maintaining MDM management and AAD connection state, and automatically get the device back into a fully configured state. It will also introduce enhanced personalization and self-service Active Directory enrollment.
Fall Creators Update will also make it easier for admins to manage security settings. They will be able to deploy and configure Windows Defender Application Guard, as well as configuring security baseline settings like account and logon policies, to ensure recommended security settings are employed on MDM-managed enterprise devices. The capability to configure Windows Firewall rules is included too.
The Windows Analytics feature will be used to monitor device health, identifying issues and the steps needed to fix them, in many cased before the user even notices. This should cut the number of helpdesk calls and reduce support costs.
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