Unable to install new Teams since latest version on Windows 21H2 LTSC

[Milan KTG]

Hello,

Been using New Teams for a few months now. Since he latest version of bootstrapper I am getting the error in the screenshot. 
Anyone know why? I can still use older version of bootstrapper but why?

 

[Victor León]

Hello, 

According to the official Microsoft Teams Hardware Requirements, the new Microsoft Teams Desktop Client is not supported on Windows 10 LTSC.

Hardware requirements for Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

[Milan KTG]

I just found that as well! It used to be on the supported list for sure. 

There is a workaround to get it installed but how does Microsoft support Win 10 21H2 until 2027 but not support New Teams on it?

 

 

[Milan KTG]

@Victor León What edition on Windows does VMWare recommend to use?

[StephenWagner7]

@Milan KTG, Microsoft provided guidance many years ago to avoid using LTSC versions of Windows for VDI deployments. Later on, Microsoft 365/Office 365 stopped supporting Windows LTSC as well, requiring Office LTSC to be used with LTSC versions of Windows.

Omnissa cannot provide a recommendation on which specific version you should use, as you'll need to do this based off your workload, your requirements, etc. However, they can provide a list of supported operating systems for Horizon that you can choose to use for a supported configuration.

List of Supported versions of Windows with Horizon: Supported Windows 10 and Windows 11 Guest Operating Systems for Horizon Agent and Remote Experience, for Omnissa Horizon 8.x (2006 and Later) (78714)

I'd recommend choosing a version of Windows that supports all your applications, including Office and any LoB applications you're running.

[Milan KTG]

Thank you for the reply @StephenWagner7!

I think somewhere we missed the part that Microsoft does not recommend LTSC versions for VDI.

We have been using Office Semi-Annual release channel for years with it now.

I guess its time to discuss internally what are future steps will be.

I can get latest version of Teams running fine if I use older version of bootstrapper.exe (likely does not block LTSC).

 

[StephenWagner7]

31 minutes ago, Milan KTG said:

Thank you for the reply @StephenWagner7!

I think somewhere we missed the part that Microsoft does not recommend LTSC versions for VDI.

We have been using Office Semi-Annual release channel for years with it now.

I guess its time to discuss internally what are future steps will be.

I can get latest version of Teams running fine if I use older version of bootstrapper.exe (likely does not block LTSC).

 

Keep in mind I'm unfamiliar with your workload, however normally these days you normally see the GAC (General Availability Channel) versions of Windows 10/11 pushed in VDI environments, to make sure they support Office 365, etc...

All deployments I'm doing, we're using either the latest Windows 10 release, or Windows 11 23H2 (24H2 isn't supported yet).

[Milan KTG]

Looks like Windows 

7 minutes ago, StephenWagner7 said:

Keep in mind I'm unfamiliar with your workload, however normally these days you normally see the GAC (General Availability Channel) versions of Windows 10/11 pushed in VDI environments, to make sure they support Office 365, etc...

All deployments I'm doing, we're using either the latest Windows 10 release, or Windows 11 23H2 (24H2 isn't supported yet).

Looks like Windows 10 23H2 has another year of support? At that time we would have to move to Windows 11 anyway?

We could wait for Windows 11 24H2 to be supported and move to that, or if we setup 23H2 is it recommended to do in place upgrade, or build a new gold image with every new version of Windows? Running LTSC for years never really had to worry about feature upgrades, just security patches. 

Finally, my last question is edition of Windows. I am sure we would still go Enterprise (just checking our licensing). I see Enterprise IoT. Is that better suited for VDI environment and longer support?

I've been reading things online, but opinions from experts like you, really help. 

Thank you. 

[StephenWagner7]

1 hour ago, Milan KTG said:

Looks like Windows 

Looks like Windows 10 23H2 has another year of support? At that time we would have to move to Windows 11 anyway?

We could wait for Windows 11 24H2 to be supported and move to that, or if we setup 23H2 is it recommended to do in place upgrade, or build a new gold image with every new version of Windows? Running LTSC for years never really had to worry about feature upgrades, just security patches. 

Finally, my last question is edition of Windows. I am sure we would still go Enterprise (just checking our licensing). I see Enterprise IoT. Is that better suited for VDI environment and longer support?

I've been reading things online, but opinions from experts like you, really help. 

Thank you. 

If you deploy Windows 11 properly (using WinPE and ADK) without a vTPM on your base image for non-persistent VDI VMs, you won't be able to perform upgrades to new feature releases on the image, and will require a new base image on every feature update. With this being said, best practices is to automate this process and be able to build a base image out at the click of a button or keystroke.

If you're running persistent VMs, you could have your VDI VMs upgrade to the next feature release as your approve it and roll it out.

To my knowledge, Enterprise IoT is a version of LTSC. So I would recommend avoiding this version.