What Is LTSC?

LTSC, the Long-Term Servicing Channel, is the way Microsoft releases software that has to stay the same for years. Each LTSC release is a snapshot of the product at one point in time. After launch it receives monthly security and quality fixes, but its features never change, and it is supported for a fixed period under Microsoft’s Fixed Lifecycle Policy.

The idea is simple. A machine controller, a medical device or a check-in kiosk is validated once with a particular operating system build, and every change after that has to be retested. An operating system that adds features twice a year breaks that model. LTSC gives the device the patches it needs to stay secure without moving the ground under the application.

Microsoft first used the model for Windows 10 in 2015, when it was called the Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB). It was renamed LTSC with the 2019 release, and the same name now covers Windows client, Windows Server and Office releases built on the same principle.

Most Windows PCs run on the General Availability Channel (GA Channel), which replaced the older Semi-Annual Channel. Windows 11 gets one feature update a year in the GA Channel, and each version is supported for 24 months on Pro editions and 36 months on Enterprise editions. To stay supported, a PC has to keep moving to the next version.

An LTSC release takes a different route. It is built from a GA Channel version, such as Windows 11 version 24H2 for Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC 2024, and then frozen. Microsoft publishes a new LTSC release every two to three years, and an organisation can upgrade in place, reimage, or skip a release entirely and stay on the one it has until that release’s support ends.

The trade-off is newness. An LTSC system does not get the interface changes, new inbox apps or new features of later GA versions, and drivers for the newest processors may arrive for the GA Channel first. For a fixed-function system that is usually the point rather than a drawback.

LTSC is a servicing model, not one product. The table shows the current LTSC release in each family and how long Microsoft’s lifecycle pages say it is supported. Dates can be revised, so check the Microsoft Lifecycle site before building a product plan on them.

Windows Server has used LTSC as its main release type for years, with a separate Annual Channel for container hosts. Office LTSC is the fixed, perpetual-licence version of the Office desktop apps for organisations that cannot take the monthly changes of Microsoft 365 Apps, such as regulated or disconnected sites.

Windows LTSC releases leave out the parts of Windows that Microsoft updates often. There is no Microsoft Store, and most inbox consumer apps are missing, which also keeps the image smaller and quieter. Microsoft is clear that LTSC is not meant for most of the PCs in an organisation: it is a deployment option for special-purpose devices that do one important task and do not depend heavily on outside apps and tools. Over a long release life, some third-party software may also stop supporting an older LTSC build.

That makes LTSC a good fit for systems such as:

Windows LTSC comes in two editions that share the same code. Windows Enterprise LTSC is licensed to organisations through volume licensing and, from the 2021 release on, is supported for five years. Windows IoT Enterprise LTSC is licensed to device builders, preinstalled on the hardware and supported for 10 years, which is why most industrial PCs that ship with LTSC use the IoT edition. Our explainer on Windows IoT Enterprise lists every Windows 10 and Windows 11 LTSC release with its support dates.

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 is the last Windows 10 LTSC release, and Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC 2024 the first for Windows 11. With the annual Windows 10 releases out of support since October 2025, Windows 10 devices still in service are generally on an LTSC release, and many fleets are planning the move to Windows 11. Our guide to Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC and Pro upgrades covers the hardware checks and migration steps.

Windows LTSC is not sold at retail. Organisations buy Windows Enterprise LTSC through Microsoft volume licensing, and Microsoft offers a time-limited evaluation build for testing. Windows IoT Enterprise LTSC reaches end users only on hardware: device builders license it through Microsoft’s authorised IoT distributors and preinstall it, and the licence stays with that device. Microsoft states that moving from one LTSC release to the next needs a new licence, so plan the upgrade with the hardware supplier rather than assuming it is free.

Many of our systems are available with Windows IoT Enterprise preinstalled, in either the Windows 11 LTSC 2024 or the Windows 10 LTSC 2021 release, and sites standardised on Windows 10 can still source Windows 10 industrial PCs on LTSC 2021.

We install, activate and image Windows IoT Enterprise LTSC on our industrial PCs as part of the standard build, with updates and lockdown set up to suit the application.