14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s next big thing in the Windows 10 ecosystem is a new SKU called Cloud and expected to be specifically aimed at the education sector, with the company trying to go after Google Chromebooks, which experienced a huge growth in the last couple of years in this market.
The Redmond-based software giant is betting big on partner support, as OEMs are likely to join the Windows 10 Cloud effort and launch devices running the OS, so just like is the case with the full version of Windows 10, the firm created a new set of hardware requirements to make sure each product delivers uncompromised quality.
One very interesting requirement concerns the battery life, with Microsoft saying that Windows 10 Cloud devices must last one full day per charge in the case of students. This can be achieved with a series of tweaks, including the recently-introduced power throttling feature that’s coming in Windows 10 Redstone 3 and putting background tasks in standby for less power consumption.
Cold boot in 20 seconds
Additionally, Microsoft wants Windows 10 Cloud devices to be powered by at least a quad-core processor and feature at least 4GB RAM and 32GB storage or 64GB for the 64-bit systems. eMMC or SDD are mandatory for Windows 10 Cloud laptops, while pen and touch are optional.
As far as performance figures are concerned, Windows 10 Cloud laptops must boot when turned on in a maximum of 20 seconds, while resuming from standby must take place in under 2 seconds. The first sign-in shouldn’t take more than 15 seconds, the firm says.
Microsoft positions Windows 10 Cloud laptops as rivals to Google Chromebooks, and as you can see in this chart, the company expects its devices to be a bit slower than Google’s, though they’re betting big on the prospect of running Windows 10 and not the more limited Chrome OS.
Full details on Windows 10 Cloud will be unveiled during a press conference on May 2, while the first devices running the OS should go on sale later this year.