Microsoft Announces Windows 10 S, New Surface Laptop

[Guest]

The company also said that laptops running Windows 10 S will debut this Summer with a starting price of $189--a move that's clearly meant to help Microsoft combat Google's efforts to capture the education market with its low-priced Chromebooks.

Microsoft Announces Windows 10 S, New Surface Laptop : Read more

 

[problematiq]

And so it begins..

 

[hannibal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYSYAHDKtvM

 

[Guest]

Overpriced average laptop...nothing to see here.

 

[captaincharisma]

it's the second coming of windows RT lol

 

[jaber2]

Microsoft thinks it can compete against the mighty power of Apple marketing and offer something at same price range, I think not

 

[hannibal]

The win10s is actually very usefull at schools and maybe even to some grandparents that are not very computer literated and don't want to go to Linux or Apple environment. Win10s is safer to them than real win10.
To the rest of the world win10 is the os to go (if you Are Linux or Apple Person Ofcourse it is not )
It competes with chromebooks. Interesting to see how well. And, Yep this is winRT made right.

 

[caustin582]

Cool, so they removed any existing reason to run Windows instead of Linux.

 

[photonboy]

Caustin582,
Forcing you to go to the MS Store doesn't mean jumping to LINUX is a good idea. Linux is not perfect. Far from it. Lots of people just want a low-budget, second laptop for surfing, and light office usage etc. but are comfortable with the Windows interface and programs like Microsoft Office (i.e. teachers using MS Word).

I would never dream of giving my sister a Linux laptop because she couldn't use it, and has no time or desire to learn.

 

[captaincharisma]

Cool, so they removed any existing reason to run Windows instead of Linux.

wait? there are reasons to run linux as a desktop OS? lol

 

[caustin582]

Caustin582,
Forcing you to go to the MS Store doesn't mean jumping to LINUX is a good idea. Linux is not perfect. Far from it. Lots of people just want a low-budget, second laptop for surfing, and light office usage etc. but are comfortable with the Windows interface and programs like Microsoft Office (i.e. teachers using MS Word).

I would never dream of giving my sister a Linux laptop because she couldn't use it, and has no time or desire to learn.

It's not that you have to go to the MS Store; it's that you can't play games on it. Mainstream Linux distros are very easy to use, and you can even get something like Mint that looks and feels very much like Windows.

I just installed Ubuntu on my 93 year old grandmother's computer after her hard drive failed and we found out that she had lost her Windows CD and all of the associated documentation. She only uses her computer for Email and web surfing anyway, so as long as she can open Chrome she's good to go. From what I'm reading in the article, this version of Windows serves a similar purpose.

Actually it's better now that she's on Linux because the user permissions system prevents her from borking the OS, as she always loved to do in Windows.

 

[Dan414]

I get asked all the time to bring old computers (donated) back to life for churches and charities and whatnot. Often I have to resort to Mint and then explain to people how to use it. As others said, mostly the users just want to get to the internet and email. Would love if Microsoft would release this to the public. I think it would make sense, because eventually people Will want more flexibility and would likely upgrade. However, everything I'm reading now seems to say I won't be able to get my hands on the .iso

 

[alextheblue]

I get asked all the time to bring old computers (donated) back to life for churches and charities and whatnot. Often I have to resort to Mint and then explain to people how to use it. As others said, mostly the users just want to get to the internet and email. Would love if Microsoft would release this to the public. I think it would make sense, because eventually people Will want more flexibility and would likely upgrade. However, everything I'm reading now seems to say I won't be able to get my hands on the .iso

They did add the ability to enable "Store only" or "warn before installing non-Store" on other versions of Win10. So that helps a lot if you're putting PCs in the hands of Those Who Destroy.

 

[mitch074]

@AlexTheBlue: recycling computers usually means "no funds" - equipping all those castoffs with legal Win10 licenses would be prohibitively expensive. If Win10S is free (as in beer) then it could indeed be a good alternative (however good luck installing the drivers, you'd have to strip most installers to keep the main driver files on a second PC) as I've found Win10 to be surprisingly light on resources on small machines: the ability to compress both the RAM and the install files almost makes it competitive with a heavy distro like Ubuntu.

Still, the lack of flexibility is a deal killer for me, as is the upkeep ; I'll keep putting all the old timers around me on Ubuntu as their needs are limited (browsing, email, light video watching, very basic games) and upkeep is close to non-existent (once every 2-4 years to upgrade to the latest LTS).

 

[Dosflores]

That restriction could be a deal-breaker for [strike]some[/strike] most people.

Fixed.

I guess Windows S is okay for $189 laptops, but including it in the $999 Surface Laptop is ludicrous. You're forced to upgrade to Win 10 Pro. If I were to spend 1000+, I'd rather buy a MacBook and a Win 10 Home license to be able to use both macOS and Win32 applications.

 

[problematiq]

Caustin582,
Forcing you to go to the MS Store doesn't mean jumping to LINUX is a good idea. Linux is not perfect. Far from it. Lots of people just want a low-budget, second laptop for surfing, and light office usage etc. but are comfortable with the Windows interface and programs like Microsoft Office (i.e. teachers using MS Word).

I would never dream of giving my sister a Linux laptop because she couldn't use it, and has no time or desire to learn.

It's not that you have to go to the MS Store; it's that you can't play games on it. Mainstream Linux distros are very easy to use, and you can even get something like Mint that looks and feels very much like Windows.

I just installed Ubuntu on my 93 year old grandmother's computer after her hard drive failed and we found out that she had lost her Windows CD and all of the associated documentation. She only uses her computer for Email and web surfing anyway, so as long as she can open Chrome she's good to go. From what I'm reading in the article, this version of Windows serves a similar purpose.

Actually it's better now that she's on Linux because the user permissions system prevents her from borking the OS, as she always loved to do in Windows.

I get asked all the time to bring old computers (donated) back to life for churches and charities and whatnot. Often I have to resort to Mint and then explain to people how to use it. As others said, mostly the users just want to get to the internet and email. Would love if Microsoft would release this to the public. I think it would make sense, because eventually people Will want more flexibility and would likely upgrade. However, everything I'm reading now seems to say I won't be able to get my hands on the .iso

You might also try the debian distro Elementry. CentOS isn't bad either if you are a RHEL fan.

 

[rostrow416]

So what's the point of a high end laptop restricted to Windows Store apps? I can understand low end hardware running Windows S, but I see most people getting the Surface laptop upgrading to Windows 10 Pro.

 

[falchard]

It is significantly harder to be infected by hijacking software if you are restricted to the Windows Store. I imagine this is great for your parents who may see "You are infected with 21 viruses, click me to fix the issue" and actually click. Nothing would happen since they would not be able to install the hijacking software in the first place.
Also Microsoft is now a bit more forward in design that Apple. Apple seems to be locking in place 10 years ago. A lot more exciting designs have been coming from the Surface Team.

 

[LORD_ORION]

The "S" is for sucks... 😉

I guess it would be good for a low cost surface though. I still have my RT and use it regularly.

 

[Dosflores]

Also Microsoft is now a bit more forward in design that Apple. Apple seems to be locking in place 10 years ago. A lot more exciting designs have been coming from the Surface Team.

The thing is, a lot more sensible designs have been coming from the Surface Team. Apple is in an awkward position: if they added touch screens to Macs, the iPad Pro would become useless for most people.

Apple is forced to innovate with ludicrous things like the Touch Bar, which is actually a deal-breaker for people like me.

Microsoft is in a comfortable position: they have just one OS for desktops, laptops, and tablets. The thing is, their focus on touch screens is also a deal-breaker for people like me. I'd rather have a great trackpad than a touchscreen, but Apple is the only company which currently makes great trackpads.

 

[waynes]

I basically really only need to be able to install my old pre 8 software through external drive, and utlities. Everything else should be on the store. And it definitely needs 10-20 hours batery life.

If they could kil metro style dead and redo phones aswell. I'm sick to death android rubbish. Non desktop features or software makes it rubbish to use.

 

[falchard]

I like the UI style on Windows Mobile. You can make it like other OSes where it is a bunch of tiny tiles, or you can make the more important ones larger. You can also use the Live Tiles to see things without opening the application. I think it's fast and basic which I prefer for a UI.