Cheap Windows
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Microsoft announces $250 “Windows SE” laptops targeting the education institution market, compete with ChromeBooks.
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Saw that on a blog...
It's designed to be taken apart with just a screwdriver and all the components are easily replaceable. I mean, yes, the storage and memory are soldered onto the motherboard, but the motherboard itself can be swapped out. I guess that's something, right?
And it starts at $249.
Only problem... Wait, first problem. First major problem: The hardware is kind of crap. It's an Atom-based Celeron with two or four cores, with 4GB or 8GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage. The higher end of those specs is reasonably useful; I have a laptop with 8GB of RAM (albeit a much faster CPU) and it's fine for browsing the web and running SSH sessions. Though the SE comes with an 11" 1366x768 TFT display, where my laptop (which did cost a little more than $249, yes) has a 14" 2560x1600 IPS panel.
Second major problem: It runs Windows 11 SE. This has the minor limitation of preventing you from installing software on it. You need to use special administrator tools from Microsoft and even then there's a tiny list of software to choose from.
The target here is not other laptops but Chromebooks and the education market. Not sure just how much better Microsoft is than Google as the controller and repository of all your personal information. Maybe a little.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-11-surface-laptop-se
Windows 11 SE is what Microsoft's calling a cloud-first operating system, again similar in principle to Chromebooks. It features a simplified UI and management tools designed for the educational market. Effectively, it's a very locked-down version of Windows 11 Home, with lots of settings that are managed by IT admins instead of the end-user.
The biggest changes to SE are the lack of any Windows Store and the inability to install any x86/Win32 apps by yourself. In order to install any app on Windows 11 SE, you'll need to use specialized IT administrator tools designed to control Windows 11 SE clients. If you want to use Windows 11 SE or the Surface Laptop SE like a normal PC, you're going to have a difficult time.
Even if you are an IT admin (or have admin controls) and need to install specific apps to Windows 11 SE clients, there are still limitations to what apps you can install. Only the following can be installed on Windows 11 SE:
Content-filtering apps
Test-taking solutions
Accessibility apps
Apps that facilitate classroom communication
Essential diagnostics, management, connectivity, and supportability apps
Browsers
Any app that does not fall into one of these categories — like Steam, for example — cannot be installed on Windows 11 SE at all. The only exception to app installs is web-based apps, meaning any app that runs within a web browser should run perfectly well on Windows 11 SE.Furthermore, device settings will also be locked down to a large degree. We don't know which settings exactly are locked out from user control, but Microsoft notes that user-controlled settings are limited to get rid of distractions and prevent children from messing with settings they aren't supposed to.
Other features include full-screen app launching, cloud storage of up to 1TB, and a streamlined OS that's designed to run on low-end hardware. Windows 11 SE is a version of Windows targeted exclusively towards young students that need a laptop for homework. If you're a regular Windows user look for a typical experience at a low cost, you'll want to look elsewhere.
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Saw that on a blog...
It's designed to be taken apart with just a screwdriver and all the components are easily replaceable. I mean, yes, the storage and memory are soldered onto the motherboard, but the motherboard itself can be swapped out. I guess that's something, right?
And it starts at $249.
Only problem... Wait, first problem. First major problem: The hardware is kind of crap. It's an Atom-based Celeron with two or four cores, with 4GB or 8GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage. The higher end of those specs is reasonably useful; I have a laptop with 8GB of RAM (albeit a much faster CPU) and it's fine for browsing the web and running SSH sessions. Though the SE comes with an 11" 1366x768 TFT display, where my laptop (which did cost a little more than $249, yes) has a 14" 2560x1600 IPS panel.
Second major problem: It runs Windows 11 SE. This has the minor limitation of preventing you from installing software on it. You need to use special administrator tools from Microsoft and even then there's a tiny list of software to choose from.
The target here is not other laptops but Chromebooks and the education market. Not sure just how much better Microsoft is than Google as the controller and repository of all your personal information. Maybe a little.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-11-surface-laptop-se
Windows 11 SE is what Microsoft's calling a cloud-first operating system, again similar in principle to Chromebooks. It features a simplified UI and management tools designed for the educational market. Effectively, it's a very locked-down version of Windows 11 Home, with lots of settings that are managed by IT admins instead of the end-user.
The biggest changes to SE are the lack of any Windows Store and the inability to install any x86/Win32 apps by yourself. In order to install any app on Windows 11 SE, you'll need to use specialized IT administrator tools designed to control Windows 11 SE clients. If you want to use Windows 11 SE or the Surface Laptop SE like a normal PC, you're going to have a difficult time.
Even if you are an IT admin (or have admin controls) and need to install specific apps to Windows 11 SE clients, there are still limitations to what apps you can install. Only the following can be installed on Windows 11 SE:
Content-filtering apps
Test-taking solutions
Accessibility apps
Apps that facilitate classroom communication
Essential diagnostics, management, connectivity, and supportability apps
Browsers
Any app that does not fall into one of these categories — like Steam, for example — cannot be installed on Windows 11 SE at all. The only exception to app installs is web-based apps, meaning any app that runs within a web browser should run perfectly well on Windows 11 SE.Furthermore, device settings will also be locked down to a large degree. We don't know which settings exactly are locked out from user control, but Microsoft notes that user-controlled settings are limited to get rid of distractions and prevent children from messing with settings they aren't supposed to.
Other features include full-screen app launching, cloud storage of up to 1TB, and a streamlined OS that's designed to run on low-end hardware. Windows 11 SE is a version of Windows targeted exclusively towards young students that need a laptop for homework. If you're a regular Windows user look for a typical experience at a low cost, you'll want to look elsewhere.
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Why would anyone use such a laptop instead of an Android- or iOS-based tablet with keyboard?
With the latter, I get thousands of apps I can use, decent performance on low-specced hardware, somewhat decent security, and an operating system that is tailored to that usage scenario.
With a Windows 11 SE laptop, I get almost no apps and a resource-hungry OS that was already a mess before they castrated it, has tons of historical junk in it, and wasn't designed for that purpose.
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Why would anyone use such a laptop instead of an Android- or iOS-based tablet with keyboard?
With the latter, I get thousands of apps I can use, decent performance on low-specced hardware, somewhat decent security, and an operating system that is tailored to that usage scenario.
With a Windows 11 SE laptop, I get almost no apps and a resource-hungry OS that was already a mess before they castrated it, has tons of historical junk in it, and wasn't designed for that purpose.
@klaus said in Cheap Windows:
Why would anyone use such a laptop instead of an Android- or iOS-based tablet with keyboard?
A followup to that question is why would anyone use a Chromebook?
The cheapest iPad is $329, and a keyboard case will run another $80 or so. Perhaps that's the reason?
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@klaus said in Cheap Windows:
Why would anyone use such a laptop instead of an Android- or iOS-based tablet with keyboard?
A followup to that question is why would anyone use a Chromebook?
The cheapest iPad is $329, and a keyboard case will run another $80 or so. Perhaps that's the reason?
@george-k said in Cheap Windows:
@klaus said in Cheap Windows:
Why would anyone use such a laptop instead of an Android- or iOS-based tablet with keyboard?
A followup to that question is why would anyone use a Chromebook?
The cheapest iPad is $329, and a keyboard case will run another $80 or so. Perhaps that's the reason?
I've never quite understood the reason for Chrome OS as an OS different from Android.
