An alternative: provisioning

The new Windows Configuration Designer (WCD) is part of the Windows 10 ADK. It will be updated/enhanced with each release of the ADK. With the release of Windows 10 ADK 1703, it was renamed from Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (WICD) to WCD.

Not only does it have the ability to create configuration packages, but it is also able to switch the SKU of your Windows 10 installation. This was previously not possible. You still cannot move to LTSB via this mechanism, as this is a completely different build. At this stage of the process, you cannot downgrade. Currently, only an upgrade from Pro to Enterprise is possible (except for the Education SKU, which allows an upgrade from Home to Education).

The WICD can be used to create packages that implement any MDM-based setting. Alternatively, you can run external scripts to set most MDM settings.

For some actions, such as pre-provisioning Windows 10 Mobile or switching to Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise, WCD is the only tool available to the enterprise.

WICD has a wide range of functionality in addition to script support. All in all, it sounds like a mighty and powerful tool. However, it is currently not directly supported inside the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit GUI and inside SCCM 1702; this is subject to change in future releases. You can integrate a command line as a workaround, but this has a major drawback.

Currently, there is no way to fully automate or silently install the provisioning package. You can sign the package to remove some prompts, but not in all circumstances. You also need to embed it in an image so that it gets installed during the OOBE process to get no prompts. However, this takes away a lot of flexibility.

It has been our field experience that certain functions that WCD can perform or try will break the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) and System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) deployment process. Therefore, it should be tested and care should be taken while including this tool in your work (at the time of writing this).

Also it still lacks the ability to remove crapware and bloatware preinstalled onto vendor OS images. As long as a Windows 10 signed edition is not available worldwide and from all vendors, the tool definitely needs improvements in this section.

This tool is likely to be improved in future releases of the ADK. Also, future releases of MDT and SCMM will likely support WCD directly in the GUI, so keep an eye out for release note changes and an improvement in the tool's capabilities. More information on WCD will be covered in the next chapter.