Upgrading ETC Element to Windows 10 / Security Status of the Element in the aftermath of the Windows 7 Embedded EOL

The operating system can't be easily updated to another version. Can I ask why you want to connect it to your school network? What do you hope to achieve?

Not the original poster, but I'm in a similar position. Connecting it to our school network would enable us to use OSC for synchronizing sound and light effects, as well as remote control of the board from the house.

As an installer, I would strongly suggest not using the school network for this. Making a separate, isolated network for all of your lighting devices and adding a wireless access point for remote control will be much more secure and stable.

See below. We run Element in the booth and use OSC to communicate with a tablet to remote control the light backstage.

We use a low-cost router totally dedicated to this and one that IS NOT connected to the internet. The mere thought of accidental or malicious access to the element from outside would give cause me sleepless nights indeed!

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The security concerns actually run both ways. While I agree with the network admin, you should also be concerned about connecting up your console to the school network, especially because there is essentially no access control or security on the lighting console side of things. If you enable OSC (for example) anyone can discover and send OSC commands to the lighting console from the network. 

So for those reasons the only network it should be connected to is an isolated network which exclusively is used for things that the lighting console needs to talk to or listen to. Among them, it should never be connected up to the internet directly. 

As far as updating the operating system, embedded systems like these often do not receive those sorts of updates for various reasons, but among them is because they often run a very stripped down version of Windows, and so many of the threats and updates that exist to no apply to consoles. 

The way these systems are built and hardened, you'll have zero problems running a lighting console still running Windows XP like the Ion Classic, which are still going strong in two of the venues I manage. The hardware will give out before the software gives you any trouble.