Microsoft needs to open up Windows 10 S if it wants to find success outside the classroom

At first glance, Windows 10 S makes perfect sense. It’s a lightweight, stripped-down version of Microsoft’s operating system designed to avoid taxing low-cost hardware. That makes it a good fit for schools, with laptops running the software priced as low as $189. But the most remarkable thing about the operating system in its current form may be its reliance on the Windows Store. In Microsoft’s sales pitch, limiting the ways in which users can download content is actually a net positive. The experience is simpler and potentially safer, as limiting the system to approved apps lessens the potential for malware on the system — always a big concern when purchasing a Windows device. And it has echoes of Apple’s own default security settings on MacOS. But is it a net positive for users? Certainly it’s easy to see how such a strict structure is beneficial in a classroom setting. Letting students download things at will is most likely a recipe for chaos, malware and, well, all sorts of things you’d rather not introduce into a classroom setting. It’s part of what made the Chromebook’s closed-off browser-based operating system a hit in the classroom, along with fast logins, which are a… Read full this story

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