The ltsb version is used as the only Win10 version for ordinary desktop use in a large US organization. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. And I never saw any documentation indicating this isn't the intended use - so I suspect a massive marketing and documentation error by Microsoft. It's basically used as "Win10 Enterprise".
Some IT people fetishize an unchanging OS. Sometimes it is out of necessity, when they're starved of resources.
One of my coworkers got excited when he heard about LTSB for a particular use-case. But it didn't take me long to find Microsoft documentation that suggested it would not be a good fit [0]:
"Specialized systems—such as PCs that control medical equipment, point-of-sale systems, and ATMs—often require a longer servicing option because of their purpose."
"LTSB is not intended for deployment on most or all the PCs in an organization; it should be used only for special-purpose devices. As a general guideline, a PC with Microsoft Office installed is a general-purpose device, typically used by an information worker, and therefore it is better suited for the CB or CBB servicing branch."
what's wrong with Windows 10 Enterprise?
I mean in the normal CBB branch you get updates pretty fast and you can remove/lock the store Apps via GPO. I think you can even disable Cortana. And it's mostly way more "stable" than only getting backports of fixes.
Enterprise is the channel it is sold to, as in, large business / enterprise.
Windows is deployed by "Servicing Branches", there's the dev branch that's internal to Microsoft, there's the Preview Fast and Preview Slow branch builds that Windows Insiders get access to, giving them new Windows builds every week or two. There's the Consumer branch that pushes new features and bug fixes to consumer PCs after they've been tested. There's the Business branch that Enterprise and Pro customers get who've elected that option, then there's the LTSB, "Long Term Servicing Branch" for businesses that insist on using a desktop OS to run things like ATMs and kiosks.
Many ATMs are still running Windows XP because banks don't like paying for software. Microsoft identified this need, and have deployed Windows 10 for this type of market. Under no circumstance has Microsoft intended for any desktop user to boot this and run Office and surf the web. You may be able to do it, but that is absolutely not their intention. They want their userbase to keep up with the latest features when their organizations don't slow that process down.
