14 DAY TRIAL // Just as expected, Microsoft today introduced a new version of its operating system called “Windows 10 S” which is specifically aimed at schools and is limited to Windows Store apps.
Codenamed Windows 10 Cloud during the development process, Windows 10 S can only run applications that are published in the Windows Store, and Microsoft describes this is an essential security feature because everything is fully secure and verified by the company itself.
Windows 10 S is easy to set up and manage, Microsoft’s Terry Myerson said, explaining that teachers or IT admins can use dedicated tools to quickly configure devices and have them prepared for classes. Windows 10 S will have the same performance on the first day of school and the last, Myerson continued.
Devices running Windows 10 S will be available from $189 and will come with one free-year subscription to Minecraft Education Edition. Furthermore, Windows 10 S is available free of charge to all schools running Windows 10 Pro on their devices.
Available this summer
Whenever users attempt to launch Win32 software on a Windows 10 S device, they are presented with a notification telling that apps are limited to the Windows Store and provided with alternatives that are published in the Store. If none are available and users really need to run Win32 software, Windows 10 S can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro straight from the Windows Store, obviously by paying for a license.
Windows 10 S will go live this summer, “just in time for the new school year,” Myerson explained, with Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Samsung, and Toshiba to be some of the partners that will install the OS on new devices.
Microsoft describes Windows 10 S as the complete solution for schools, clearly positioning the new OS as a rival to Google’s Chrome OS, which is powering Google Chromebooks. Google’s devices have grown a lot lately in the education sector, so with Windows 10 S, Microsoft wants to stay close to its rival and conquer a market that it more or less neglected lately.
It remains to be seen how successful this new OS version will be outside the education sector, but Microsoft says that some schools have already started the transition from Chromebooks to Windows 10 S devices.