14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft doesn't like Chromebooks, which it considers to be good for nothing devices. Sure, you can browse the web and stuff, but that’s all. There’s no Office to get productive with and you can’t use essential apps like Skype. Redmond’s conclusion: they are a total drag.
Nevertheless, Chromebooks still have a mighty appeal over the population, because they are so very cheap.
But Microsoft is not willing to sit by and do nothing as Chromebooks become more and more widespread. Sure, currently there are plenty of cheap laptops coming from the likes of Acer, HP and Toshiba, but Microsoft wants to lower the prices even more.
The company already announced the advent of the $99 / €72 tablet, but it’s not leaving the laptop territory untouched.
As The Verge notes, Microsoft is looking to attach the Chromebook bastion heads on. The company has announced the advent of super affordable notebooks that are meant to take your mind of Chrome OS devices. For good.
The company talked about the Acer Aspire ES1 which is already available on the market and is apparently the #1 best seller on Amazon in the laptop computer category. This device arrives with a 15.6-inch screen, 2.16GHz Intel Celeron processor and 4GB of RAM.
But Microsoft also promises a super lightweight Toshiba laptop (around 2.4 lbs / 1.08 kg), which will be made available with an 11.6-inch screen and 32GB SSD. The notebook should appear in retail just in time for the holiday season.
HP is also said to be working on two so-called “Steam” devices with 7-inch and 8-inch form factor that will sell for around $99 / €72. But these are most likely going to be tablets and not mini notebooks.
In the meantime, Microsoft is striving to show customers you can use Windows 8 laptops to do so much more than you’d do on a Chromebook.
The most important aspect to be taken into account is that you’ll be able to run the full version of Microsoft Office. Furthermore, most printers and peripherals support the device and you can run all the native Windows apps you want.
But Chromebooks have their perks. For example, they tend to boot quickly and you won’t have to worry about security issues while using the apps onboard. On top of that, all your data is neatly backed up in cloud, so you can access it form other devices too.
Moreover, you can access Chrome web apps without having an Internet connection and use Google Cloud Print to print out your materials.