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posted by on Wednesday May 03 2017, @06:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-one-saw-that-coming dept.

Microsoft has announced a new version of Windows called Windows 10 S. It only runs apps from the Windows Store, and is positioned between Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, both of which can run third party applications. Microsoft also announced a new line of Surface laptops running the OS. The laptops have been described as competing with either Google's Chromebooks or Apple's MacBook Air, and aimed at students:

Windows 10 S is Windows 10 with its wings slightly clipped: it can only run apps from the Windows Store, disabling compatibility with the enormous breadth of Windows programs out there, which in the educational context translates to better security, consistent performance, focus for students, and improved battery life. It's cheaper and less versatile than Windows 10 Pro, which is exactly what schools are looking for (and the thing that's had them gravitating toward Google's Chrome OS in recent times).

[...] Immediately upon its introduction, Windows 10 S spans a price range from $189 to $2,199 (for the top Surface Laptop spec). So is this a straightforward and affordable solution for mass educational deployment? Or is it a super streamlined operating system for powering extremely desirable and long-lasting laptops? Yes. Microsoft's answer to both of those things is yes. It's not impossible to achieve both goals with the same software, of course, but it is difficult to position the OS in people's minds.

[...] The Windows on ARM effort is going to be rekindled by the end of this year, and Windows 10 S is the likeliest candidate to be the OS of choice for those new computers, in which case the significance of the S label will once again be complicated. Come the holidays, buying a Windows 10 S PC could mean getting either an Intel or an ARM machine, it could mean cheap and cheerful or it could be a premium portable.

Also at the Washington Post, Engadget, Laptop Mag, and Business Insider.

As well as BGR, Mashable, The Independent, PC World, Tech Radar, ZDNet, Ars Technica, Fossbytes, TechCrunch #1, TechCrunch #2, Venture Beat, and The Street.

What do you think the 'S' stands for?

Previously: Ask Soylent: Ramifications of Removing Windows Store from Enterprise Installs?
Microsoft Adds Store App-Only Restriction as Option in Windows 10


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

 
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  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday May 03 2017, @06:22PM (18 children)

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @06:22PM (#503815) Journal

    What do you think the 'S' stands for?

    Snare.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 03 2017, @06:42PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 03 2017, @06:42PM (#503830)

    What do you think the 'S' stands for?

    I was thinking Sucks.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bart9h on Wednesday May 03 2017, @06:50PM

    by bart9h (767) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @06:50PM (#503844)

    Slave

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by butthurt on Wednesday May 03 2017, @07:00PM (9 children)

    by butthurt (6141) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @07:00PM (#503855) Journal

    💩

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by slinches on Wednesday May 03 2017, @07:39PM (7 children)

      by slinches (5049) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @07:39PM (#503883)

      Soft serve ice cream?

      • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday May 03 2017, @07:42PM (5 children)

        by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 03 2017, @07:42PM (#503885)

        I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be the dog shit emoji but its rendering on Firefox 53.0 as a squirrel. I'm curious who's getting the dog shit emoji and who's getting a squirrel. The people with windows 10 S are not getting a dog shit or a squirrel, they're getting a chromebook because it sounds like 10 S is going to suck.

        • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:19PM (2 children)

          by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:19PM (#503956) Journal

          On my Firefox 53.0, it renders correctly.

          Maybe you are using a Windows system, and your Windows doesn't want Windows to be associated with shit, and therefore replaces it with a squirrel? :-)

          BTW, Squirrel also starts with S ;-)

          --
          The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
          • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:25PM (1 child)

            by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:25PM (#503965)

            Maybe I've been awake too long. It looks like a squirrel to me, but maybe it is...

            • (Score: 3, Funny) by VLM on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:28PM

              by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:28PM (#503969)

              Damn you guys, I totally though that was a decapitated "Alvin and the chipmunks" head or maybe squirrel head but I stare at it long enough and you guys are right thats a weird little anthropomorphic poop. Now every time I see Alvin and the chipmunks instead of thinking "annoying kids music" I'm going to remember the time you guys pointed out their heads are anthropomorphic poops. Well, I suppose the world has weathered worst tragedies.

        • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:45PM

          by RS3 (6367) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:45PM (#503990)

          Renders correctly, albeit tiny, in Vivaldi 1.9.818.44 on Win 7.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @04:17PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @04:17PM (#504371)

          No, dammit, it is a gold dress and not a blue dress!!!

      • (Score: 2) by rts008 on Wednesday May 03 2017, @07:52PM

        by rts008 (3001) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @07:52PM (#503896)

        I don't think Ben and Jerry's have the flavor of soft-serve that 'butthurt' was alluding to. I think that particular flavor is way too organic for even Good Humor trucks. ;-)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 05 2017, @06:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 05 2017, @06:22PM (#505057)

      Shaaaaving cream... Be nice and clean,
      Shave every day and you'll always look keen...

  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:27PM

    by kaszz (4211) on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:27PM (#503968) Journal

    Screw customers ;-)

    On a more serious note it probably stands for "Store".

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:52PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 03 2017, @09:52PM (#503995)

    Smegma

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Thursday May 04 2017, @01:08AM

      by Gaaark (41) on Thursday May 04 2017, @01:08AM (#504090) Journal

      Rimmer

      Wait... What game are we playing?

      --
      --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 03 2017, @10:46PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 03 2017, @10:46PM (#504016)

    Disclaimer: I'm one of the project leads on Windows 10 S.

    The project name was originally going to be "Windows: Suck It Up Ten Times, Bitches!" but for reasons unknown (since the QA department never seem pick up the phone any more*) it kept getting renamed to WindowsS~1. We did ponder naming the product WindowsS~10 as a compromise but the engineers in the marketing department said that the weird squiggle was completely off-brand, so from there it was an easy step to ditch the squiggle thing and pick Windows S 10, and one of our interns came up with the idea of swapping the 10 and the S around.

    * Already got our top men working on why this is happening. Marketing are defragging the project server as we speak and the Consumer Engagementing Paradigm team we have on secondment from the Windows Mobile division have already got a phone call from Microsoft Support guys who say there's a virus on the computer and are helping us clear it out.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by boltronics on Thursday May 04 2017, @03:51AM

    by boltronics (580) on Thursday May 04 2017, @03:51AM (#504159) Homepage Journal

    Steam-less. :)

    --
    It's GNU/Linux dammit!