Microsoft Surface Laptops Target Google Chrome, Windows 10 S Holds Key To Success

Microsoft is pinning high hopes on the latest Surface laptop to get a fair share of the education sector. Armed with a Windows 10 S, the Redmond company hope to gain a share of the Chrome OS market with a cost-friendly device.

For those unfamiliar with the Google Chrome schematics, Chromebook runs apps secured and verified by Google, PC World reports. This accounts for lesser cost and a reason why the education market has turned to them for use. Microsoft continues to be a force in the PC sector but the Chromebooks have carved out a chunk of that with the cheaper mobile device alternative.

With Chromebook shipments expected to grow this year, Microsoft plans to crash the party. All that begins with the Window 10 S and applying a similar tactic that Google has been doing. Downloading apps will be pretty much the same on Microsoft’s end though all of that will come from what is available at the Windows App store.

Microsoft does have ambitious plans and keeping abreast with what Google has established may take some time. A key fact is the apps available from the Windows App Store, something that pales in comparison with the Google PlayStore.

It will technically be Microsoft’s second attempt to compete against the Google Chromebook. The tried in 2014 with low-cost laptops that had free pre-installed Windows 8.1 with the Bing OS. The ploy didn’t turn out so well and the whole initiative was scrapped before Windows 10 came into the picture.

In the U.S., Chromebooks accounted for 58 percent of laptops shipped to classrooms in 2016, while Microsoft Windows had a 22 percent share, according to research firm Futuresource. Hopefully, those numbers will change once the Windows 10 S comes out as Microsoft tries to at least narrow the gap. 

Hence, at stake right now is providing cheap classroom mobile solutions. Google has been dominating that niche so it will be interesting if Microsoft (with its Windows 10 S) can lure away some cost-conscious folks.