Just as it had been leaked, Microsoft released Windows 10 S, it is a lightweight version of the standard windows and is meant for the education sector. Traditionally, the company catered for this sector by offering students and teachers a 10% discount on Windows products, however with the rise of Google’s Chrome OS, a simple price cut wasn’t enough.
Windows 10 S plans to beat the competition by being able to run on laptops as cheap as $189 (KES 18,900). This is because all the OS needs is basic hardware specifications that will come at only the fraction of the cost of full blown laptops.
The OS will run applications only from the Windows Store, so developers will need to offer their apps through that platform to be eligible. With every purchase of a Windows 10 S laptop, you will get free subscription to Minecraft and free Microsoft Office 365 for education. Moreover, schools that already running Genuine Windows 10 Pro will get Windows 10 S for free. Remember, a user can upgrade from Windows 10 S to the fully featured Windows 10 Pro by purchasing one extra license.
This new lightweight OS will offer booting speeds of only 15 seconds and extra-long battery life of north of 10 hours. 10 hours is usually seen as a typical workday length for most people therefore, the battery will last you all day in the office.
Microsoft went further to launch an ironically high end and expensive machine, the Surface Laptop, to run this feather weight OS, they claimed that it would last 14 hours of Netflix streaming.
As far as comparisons go, Chrome OS has most of its laptops going for $200 and above, at $189 for basic models, Microsoft seem to have a winner here as far as prices are concerned. Sure, the Surface Laptop isn’t cheap, but my guess is that the company didn’t want to discourage third party manufacturers by offering a very competitively priced laptop, so they decided to cover the small high end niche instead.
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