Microsoft’s hardware division has been quite a curious case. The division has had various ups and downs over the years. There was a point of time when Microsoft was bleeding out billions of dollars in losses with the Windows Phones. However, Surface devices were a silver lining. Over the years, this too has declined. Microsoft now looks at the education sector and newly introduced cloud based Operating System, the Windows 10 S OS as a way out. The company announced this new OS, as well as the Surface Laptop today.
What is the Windows 10 S Operating System All About?
Before we get into the specifics of the Surface Laptop, let us take a quick look at the Windows 10 S Operating System. This OS is quite similar to the regular Windows 10 OS when it comes to look and feel. Users need not ‘adapt’ to a new OS when they use this Operating System, unlike Google’s Chrome OS. This is clearly Microsoft’s attack on Google’s Chromebooks which have been rising in popularity.
What separates Windows 10 S from Windows 10 OS is the fact that it offers support only for Universal Windows Platform apps from the Windows Store. No third party apps can be installed on to these devices thereby making them more secure, although limited. However Microsoft will ensure all bases are covered and are also releasing the app store variants of MS Office apps. Let us now look at the Surface Laptop in detail:
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Specifications and Features
The latest addition to the surface series comes out as an actual laptop and not a 2-in-1 like they attempted with the Surface Book last time. With a 13.5 inched PixelSense Touchscreen display, the Surface Laptop boasts of 3.2 million pixels. It is touted as the thinnest touchscreen display ever.
The laptop comes out into the markets with a base version that runs the Intel Core i5 processor along with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage. While these are the base specifications, users can upgrade the processor, RAM and SSD as per their needs. The basic variant comes out priced in at $999 - quite a pricey affair.
The laptop comes with vapor chambers as heat pipes at the back of the laptop to help keep components cool. There are no other holes on the device from where cooling would be possible. Talking of no holes, the speakers too are below the keyboard. Microsoft has given a stunning attention to detail in the design this time. The Surface Laptop was announced by Microsoft’s Panos Panay at the same event where the Windows 10 S OS was announced. The laptop runs this new OS.
“We built a laptop that’s beautiful, but it’s beautiful because it’s personal. And it’s going to last you; it’s going to last that student from the day they start to the day they walk across that stage and collect their diploma four years later. The Surface Laptop is lighter and thinner than any MacBook Air or MacBook Pro currently available and it’s faster and has longer battery life than any MacBook on sale today. We want you to be proud of your laptop when you pull it out of the bag.” said Panos Panay.
