ENABLING THE FUTURE OF LEARNING

How Microsoft plans to get into every classroom There’s a new version of Windows that’s aimed at the education sector and it’s called Windows 10 S. The difference between it and regular Windows 10? Not much from a user experience perspective, except that it runs apps only from the Windows Store. This isn’t a bad thing, because it will guard against malware attacks.

If you look at how Windows 10 S will serve the education community, it will add efficiencies of scale. IT support can create a single install USB drive that can be used on each device in the classroom and will, within minutes, automatically configure the computers. Multiple user access is also a simple process with logins taking under 15 seconds.

The Idea behind Windows 10 S is lightweight, but powerful. If there is a need for desktop applications, then there’s a paid upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. But you can consider this as the precursor to what we may see running on ARM processors in the near future.

Any drawbacks? Of course there are. The default browser is locked to Microsoft’s own Edge and users are restricted to Bing for searching needs. These aren’t deal-breakers if Microsoft can keep its promise of speedy operation on education market-grade hardware. And it needs to keep that promise if there’s any hope of catching Google’s Chrome OS in education market share.

Aside from the Windows enhancements, Microsoft services such as the Intune device manager have also been slanted towards education, putting teachers in full control of the classroom. Office 365 for Education will be offered for free for teachers and their students and Windows 10 S will also come with a year’s free access to Minecraft Education Edition.

Microsoft South Africa say that Windows 10 S and its associated hardware will only be available in developed markets for now, with no timeline for a local roll-out.