Microsoft has received a ton of flack for the release of their latest and greatest operating system, Windows 10. We’ve seen Microsoft deploy a number of schemes to pull users to Windows 10. From offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade for a year to forcing users with new hardware to buy a copy of Windows 10 for their Kaby Lake or Ryzen systems, Microsoft has been fishy about all of this fiasco.
Windows 7 Still Dominates
Taking a look at how much Microsoft has progressed with Windows 10, it doesn’t take long to see how many users are hesitant to run Windows 7 on their systems. According to StatCounter, Windows 7 continues to dominate Microsoft’s Operating System market share with over 46% of users still running the OS from 2009. Stunningly enough, despite Microsoft employing all their tactics, we are now seeing Windows 10’s market share grow at a steady rate, but how many users would it pull from Windows 7? The classic OS from Microsoft, Windows 7 has always been a personal favourite of mine, but with Microsoft locking down updates and making new features exclusive to Windows 10, there isn’t a chance that I had to upgrade to Windows 10.
There’s no doubt that Windows 10 on itself is an amazing OS after the Windows 8 fiasco. Microsoft finally got a stronghold of the portable market by implementing the best of Windows 8 and Windows 7 into Windows 10 creating a whole new range of computing devices that were really needed to fill in the gaps in this smartphone age. Microsoft also did a great job showcasing how their OS takes great advantage of a convertible form factor with their Surface line of devices.
Their latest convertible, the Surface Laptop is a great laptop from Microsoft, but it gets frustrating when we get to know that the Surface laptop runs of Microsoft’s Windows 10 S. The latest iteration over Windows 10, Windows 10 S aims to give the Chromebook a bit of competition. That’s great, but its very restrictive for many users, so is the Chromebook. But caveat enraging when you get to know that a $999 machine runs Windows 10 S and comes with in Core i5 and Core i7 variants. These processors, while mobile processors are meant to do a decent amount of work, and restricting such users to install apps only from the Microsoft Store really limits the amount of productivity you can do.
Microsoft wants business, Why not?
Being a Windows machine, you could absolutely expect many unaware students or users to pickup the Surface Laptop to find out that they aren’t able to install their favorite software. For those who want to install their favorite third-party software, Microsoft is offering Windows 10 S users to upgrade to the full-blown Windows 10 Pro for an extra $50. This is absolutely horrible in my opinion and is among the determining factor for students to go to a Windows machine so that they could use their favorite third-party software.
Now while many students who may be regretting their decision might opt to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro with the $50 additional cost, but what about those who won’t? Microsoft locking in users does make such computers more secure, but is it really what Microsoft wants? Microsoft earns a commission for the apps sold on the Windows Store, therefore it makes even more sense for Microsoft to lock down such a restriction. On top of that, on Windows 10 S, Bing is your only search engine. With ads rolling on Windows Store apps and Bing, you could absolutely see what’s happening here.
End Rant Here
If Microsoft really wanted to compete with the Chromebook, it would have made sense if Microsoft were to implement Windows 10 OS on really low-cost devices like the Chromebook.
That isn’t to say that Microsoft is empty-handed. Thanks to Microsoft’s OEM partners, there will a selection of devices in the price range of a Chromebook. For students to opt for these devices or even receive any of these devices from their school, Microsoft has done a great job filling in the gaps by providing a great amount of control to admins.
Let’s just see what Microsoft has in-store for the future of Windows Store.
How does Microsoft create a lower price point for a different market without diminishing the value of the Surface Book?
It creates a a device that by default is limited. It pitches it below $1000 and then provides options to scale it up. It can never be a Surface Book, but it will still easily cover everything you need to do for school if you need it to.
Problem with Chromebooks is that you don’t have that option. Same as the initial Surface Pro redefined the tablet to become a 2 in 1 to allow consumers the option, the Surface Laptop does the same for students. Start of small, basic with just the essentials from Office and Web Browsing. But if you need more in later years, upgrade and add-on and you’ve got value for money.
You seem to miss the point of Windows 10S. Schools want locked down, cheap and manageable. They are not alone Enterprises do also. Whether you realize it or not Win32 will need to be modernized. Windows 10S is not just a series of negatives, the positives are Faster, better battery life, more secure and more manageable.
The average person can easily live with Windows 10S “constraints” , as I do purposely all day with my Surface Pro 4 by choice.
Agreed man. As I mentioned for a premium laptop, Windows 10 S seems unacceptable