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Microsoft Surface Hub 2S Devices Now Eligible for Free OS Upgrades

• By Kurt Mackie
• 02/28/2024

Users of Microsoft Surface Hub 2S videoconferencing devices can now switch to the Teams Rooms on Windows operating system at no extra cost, Microsoft announced this week.

Surface Hub 2S users typically may be running the Windows 10 Team edition Surface Hub OS. That OS is "based on Windows 10 version 22H2," and is slated to reach its end-of-life phase on Oct. 14, 2025, per Microsoft's document on Surface Hub 2S OS upgrades.

Teams Rooms on Windows OS
Microsoft lately has been favoring using the Teams Rooms on Windows OS in its videoconferencing products. For instance, that OS was featured on its latest Surface Hub 3 product that began shipping in December. The Teams Rooms on Windows OS is based on the Windows 11 IoT Enterprise 22H2 OS.

Microsoft used to reserve the "Teams Rooms" phraseology for its partner-built videoconferencing devices, as compared with Microsoft-built Surface Hub devices. The use of a common OS for both devices, using the Teams Rooms name, perhaps suggests more consistency for organizations that might mix the two devices.

Free Upgrade and Upgrade App
The upgrade to the Teams Rooms on Windows OS is free for Surface Hub 2S owners.

Microsoft makes this upgrade easier to do, either individually or in bulk, via the Surface Hub 2S OS Migration Launcher app, available via the Microsoft Store. This app is a bare bones offering that triggers an OS upgrade. It also wipes the OS and data, and only should be used by organizations "prepared for an immediate migration to Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience," Microsoft's document warned.

Even though organizations can use Microsoft's app to ease the OS upgrade process for Surface Hub 2S devices, it entails transferring about "30 GB of data." The upgrade can take from 90 minutes to five hours to complete, depending on network speeds. Bulk upgrades are possible if the Migration Launcher app gets used with the Microsoft Intune management solution, per Microsoft's document.

Organizations can't use the Migration Launcher app to upgrade first-generation Surface Hub machines, the announcement noted.

Not everything may be in place yet for a Surface Hub 2S OS upgrade. Microsoft hasn't yet added Windows Autopilot support, nor has it added support for "Auto-login of Teams Rooms." Those two capabilities are currently at the private preview stage. No release date was suggested in the announcement.

OS Upgrade vs. Surface Hub 3 Pack
Just upgrading the OS for Surface Hub 2S devices doesn't deliver all of the perks that are available with newer Surface Hub 3 machines, such as rotational displays, faster performance and "intelligent audio." However, Surface Hub 2S users do have the option to upgrade those machines to bona fide Surface Hub 3 devices by buying and installing a Surface Hub 3 Pack, which is a curved hardware cartridge that screws into the back of Surface Hub 2S devices. 

The announcement suggested organizations should determine their needs in weighing such choices between doing an OS upgrade or installing the Surface Hub 3 Pack.

"Software-migrating a Surface Hub 2S versus hardware-upgrading it with a Surface Hub 3 Pack isn't a binary choice (yes or no) -- customers tell us it's about using migration as part of the right transition approach to meet the organization’s needs," the announcement indicated.

One thing that won't change with an upgrade of Surface Hub 2S device via a Surface Hub 3 Pack is the warranty. Organizations still have the same device warranty, Microsoft explained, in this FAQ document.