Now Win 10 Pro Workstation has arrived,
Has anyone started using this?
High-performance file sharing, Resilient File System, Persistent Memory, Expanded hardware support are the selling points.
Be good to know how or what difference this makes?

Thanks

The prospect of better performance sounds promising. I can't tell if it's still in Insider Preview status, or more widely available already.

Users will now be able to run Windows 10 Pro for Workstations on devices with high performance configurations including server grade Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron processors, with up to 4 CPUs (today limited to 2 CPUs) and add massive memory up to 6TB (today limited to 2TB).

https://blogs.windows.com/business/2017/08/10/microsoft-announces-windows-10-pro-workstations/ [blogs.windows.com]

Yes, I think you can upgrade now. £149.
Be good to hear from anyone using this version and how it will benefit Houdini users.

I don't see anything that mentions a different(better) approach to memory management - aside from greater capacity.

No ‘use’ being able to have more memory if they're still using the same methods.

Will have to wait and see as to others epxeriences - may still be better to go Linux in that regard(memory management).

Hmm, as a Windows 10 (non-pro or home or w/e it's being called now) user I'd be interested in upgrading if some performance improvements are offered, but I too will wait and see what's the deal with it.
Linux has been on my mind for some time now, but I haven't installed a Linux distro since I was a student and I remember that I had to call for help from an experienced in networking friend just to install it.
I'm pretty stoked at the thought of a new OS, but an important aspect to consider would be to see if the apps I'm using have Linux builds.

Installing a Linux distro has become much easier, e.g. Ubuntu or Mint are set up almost like a Windows install.

Getting it all working after the install, driver wise can be a bit more tedious, especially with graphic drivers.
But testing a distro is as easy as creating a bootable version and running the ‘test’ version. No install required.
Or set up a virtual machine and install in there to see what works or not.

We can only hope Win10 Pro Workstation is a bit more optimized for ‘heavy’ apps than the regular flavors.

rob

Some more info on whats in the new workstation version.

ReFS (Resilient file system): ReFS provides cloud-grade resiliency for data on fault-tolerant storage spaces and manages very large volumes with ease. ReFS is designed to be resilient to data corruption, optimized for handling large data volumes, auto-correcting and more. It protects your data with integrity streams on your mirrored storage spaces. Using its integrity streams, ReFS detects when data becomes corrupt on one of the mirrored drives and uses a healthy copy of your data on the other drive to correct and protect your precious data.

Persistent memory: Windows 10 Pro for Workstations provides the most demanding apps and data with the performance they require with non-volatile memory modules (NVDIMM-N) hardware. NVDIMM-N enables you to read and write your files with the fastest speed possible, the speed of the computer’s main memory. Because NVDIMM-N is non-volatile memory, your files will still be there, even when you switch your workstation off.

Faster file sharing: Windows 10 Pro for Workstations includes a feature called SMB Direct, which supports the use of network adapters that have Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) capability. Network adapters that have RDMA can function at full speed with very low latency, while using very little CPU. For applications that access large datasets on remote SMB file shares, this feature enables:

Increased throughput: Leverages the full throughput of high speed networks where the network adapters coordinate the transfer of large amounts of data at line speed.

Low latency: Provides extremely fast responses to network requests, and, as a result, makes remote file storage feel as if it is directly attached storage.

Low CPU utilization: Uses fewer CPU cycles when transferring data over the network, which leaves more power available to other applications running on the system.

Expanded hardware support: One of the top pain points expressed by our Windows Insiders was the limits on taking advantage of the raw power of their machine. Hence, we are expanding hardware support in Windows 10 Pro for Workstations. Users will now be able to run Windows 10 Pro for Workstations on devices with high performance configurations including server grade Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron processors, with up to 4 CPUs (today limited to 2 CPUs) and add massive memory up to 6TB (today limited to 2TB).