![]() It’s an offer I’d encourage every individual Surface Laptop owner to make. When the Surface Laptop was launched the offer for a free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro was meant to run out at the end of 2017 - it has now been extended to the end of March. As with many ultraportables, the sacrifice is in gaming and graphics potential (I’d hesitate to call replacing Windows 10 S a sacrifice, it’s more like a mercy killing). What you do get with Windows 10 Pro is a very capable and very portable Windows-powered laptop that easily matches similar offerings from third-party manufacturers.Īs an all-around workhorse machine, the Surface Laptop running Windows 10 Pro is attractive. The weak point is the graphics card - this is not a laptop geared up for 3D gaming so don’t expect massive frame rates or resolutions from the latest titles. I’ve been testing a Core i5 equipped machine, there is an i7 variant. But not yet.Īrguably if you want to roll out an army of machines into an educational or enterprise space you want the machine to be limited in terms of software functionality, If so then the combination of the familiarity in the walled-garden of Windows 10 S and the exciting hardware in the Surface Laptop is an attractive combination… which I expect is why the Surface Laptop/Windows 10 S combination was developed.Īs for the latter, moving up to Windows 10 Pro allows the full potential of software to be unleashed. Microsoft may be successful in moving enough applications and developer support to the Windows Store that offers enough depth that the typical user will be comfortable that his software requirements will be met. Regarding the former… Windows 10 S may develop into a worthy alternative to Chrome OS. Number one is the IT department-friendly out the box model that Microsoft heavily promotes, while machine number two is for the engaged road warrior who can find the switch in settings. The Surface Laptop is, in effect, two machines. The Surface Laptop is no exception to this… once you bump it up to Windows 10 Pro. Internet browsing, music, media, office work, project management, and so on. The majority of laptops on sale today, thanks to Windows 10 and a mature software market, are all able to cover the bases with ease. And I would encourage everyone who can make that choice to do just that. It’s a highlighted choice by Microsoft, and the process takes minutes at most. ![]() With a focus on the education market (and perhaps half an eye on the enterprise contracts) there’s a sense that making the Surface Laptop the first (and currently only) machine to have the restricted version of Windows a play for a specific market segment that is not being addressed by third-party manufacturers.įor everyone else, it’s a matter of a few minutes work to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro once the laptop is switched on. There are also options that allow for booting from USB and optimising rollouts in a corporate space. ![]() By restricting apps and processes that can be run on the machine the Surface Laptop is more secure. Why have the operating system then? Security is the obvious reason. From browsers and password managers to job-specific apps and leisure titles, the Surface Laptop limits your choice through Windows 10 S. It’s a story that I suspect will be echoed by many. This personally limits me to a large extent, as my laptop needs include running DJ software and Radio Station management software, neither of which are in the store. To highlight one obvious example, Google’s Chrome web browser is not in the App Store so you cannot run Chrome on your Windows 10 S laptop - you have the bundled Microsoft Edge browser, and that’s it. If it’s not in the store or bundled on the machine out of the box, you are not running it. That reduces the chances of malware or trojan programs running ton the machine, but it also means that developers need to be comfortable with Microsoft's own limitations and are happy to have their apps in the store. Only applications from Microsoft’s Windows App Store will run on the device. Put simply, Windows 10 S locks down the Surface Laptop into a closed ecosystem. Windows 10 S is an admirable idea but one that is to going to be suitable for individual buyers. Looking purely at the hardware of the Surface Laptop, Microsoft has decided to go for the ultraportable high-spec market - it’s no surprise that the design cues that led to the Apple MacBook are also present in the Surface Laptop - and it has arguably got the hardware mix just about right (USB ports will remain a point of debate presumably until the Surface Laptop 2 or Laptop 3 moves to USB-C for connectivity and power. Microsoft Surface Laptop (image: Ewan Spence) Ewan Spence
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