14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just announced that together with a number of partners it has decided to bring very affordable Windows 8.1 devices in US public schools to help “make the digital transition” and thus provide teachers and students with the latest innovations in the OS market.
All devices are priced below $300 (€215), Microsoft said, but they're still very lightweight in order to make researching easier for everyone.
Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic, and Toshiba are all participating to the new campaign which is part of Microsoft's YouthSpark initiative that has already provided the education sector with a number of tools supposed to improve learning in the classroom.
Redmond says that this new investment is in partnership with President Obama’s ConnectED initiative and claims that several devices will be included in the campaign, including laptops and tablets.
“To move students into the future, they need the skills and resources that can bring learning to life and prepare them for the workforce,” said Margo Day, vice president, U.S. Education, Microsoft.
“Through Microsoft’s commitment, we are helping bridge the technology skills gap that exists among many students today by providing tools and learning resources that give all students a world-class education and help teachers better use technology in the classroom. Working with our partners to lower costs and provide affordable devices is just one step in the process.”
Schools are allowed to choose from a wide array of devices, including the Acer Travelmate TMB113-E, ASUS Transformer Book T100, Dell Venue 11 Pro, FUJITSU STYLISTIC Q704, HP 210 Notebook PC and HP ElitePad 1000, Lenovo ThinkPad 11e, Toshiba Satellite NB15t, and a new device developed by Panasonic.
Surprisingly, Microsoft hasn't included its very own Surface among the devices that are included in the campaign, most likely because the tablet is fairly expensive and the affordable models are only equipped with Windows RT 8.1 and cannot run desktop applications.
Microsoft's Surface Pro 2, which is actually the top-of-the-line device currently offered as part of the Surface lineup, has a price tag of $1,799 (€1,315) and comes with 512 GB of storage space, a full HD screen, 8 GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor that makes the device capable of running the latest games and applications that are available on the market. Of course, this is clearly a very expensive device, but Microsoft still claims that sales are going very well right now.