Microsoft Has Released A Super-Cheap Laptop On The New Windows
Microsoft has announced the Surface Laptop SE powered by an Intel Celeron processor and the new Windows 11 SE operating system. The laptop costs about $ 250 and is a direct competitor to Chromebooks running Google Chrome OS. Windows 11 SE is a simplified version of Windows 11, from which Microsoft has removed many minor features, leaving the main ones intact.
Budgetary news from Microsoft
Microsoft has released the latest Surface Laptop SE, the most affordable Surface laptop and, in principle, one of the cheapest mobile PCs on the global market today. According to the Verge portal, this is the software giant’s answer to the manufacturers of so-called “Chromebooks,” compact laptops based on the Chrome OS operating system.
Not limited to announcing a new laptop, Microsoft also showed a new operating system called Windows 11 SE. This is a simplified version of the usual Windows 11, having lost some of the functions, but at the same time, it does not have as many restrictions as to its predecessor – Windows 10S.
For the first time, the imminent appearance of the Surface Laptop SE and the new Windows became known at the end of October 2021. At that time, Microsoft carefully concealed all the details about its new products.
The cost of the basic version of Surface Laptop SE in the US market is $ 249 (17.8 thousand rubles as of November 10, 2021). Only schoolchildren, students, and educational institutions will purchase it. Its appearance in Russian stores is still extremely unlikely since Microsoft does not supply its Surface devices to Russia.
However, Russians still have a chance to try super-cheap laptops on the new Windows without the need to order Surface Laptop SE from abroad without a guarantee and with an overpayment for delivery. To do this, you may not even have to go to school or attend lectures at universities. According to The Verge, Acer, Asus, Dell, Dynabook, Fujitsu, HP, JK-IP, Lenovo, and Positive are preparing their Windows 11 SE laptops. The overwhelming majority of them are represented on the Russian market.
The Surface Laptop SE will be released in the United States towards 2021 or early 2022. The same applies to Windows SE laptops from Microsoft partners.
Laptop features
Surface Laptop SE is assembled in a completely plastic case, which made it possible to reduce its cost significantly. Inheriting the trackpad and keyboard from the more expensive Surface Laptop Go, Microsoft’s new brainchild has got the most common 11.6-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1366×768 pixels. A 16: 9 matrix is installed here, which is atypical for Microsoft products – back in 2014, the corporation abandoned this aspect ratio in favor of the more classic 3: 2.
In this regard, Microsoft’s new product loses to some Chromebooks. The components from the $ 550 (39,200) Surface Laptop have a less modern display than the Lenovo Chromebook Duet Chromebook. This mobile PC offers a 10.1-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels for the same price of $ 249.
The Surface Laptop SE is assembled exclusively on Intel Celeron processors; other CPUs are not available in this model. The choice is provided by the N4020 and N4120 chips, produced from the IV quarter of 2019 according to the 14-nanometer standards. The first received two cores with a frequency of up to 2.8 GHz. In the second, four cores worked at a frequency of up to 2.6 GHz. There is no multithreading in these CPUs.
Surface Laptop SE is offered in versions with 4, and 8 GB of RAM and 64 and 128 GB flash drives based on the eMMC module. All available trim levels are complemented by a 1-megapixel webcam, which Microsoft has placed in the top bezel of the screen, so it does not have to fence “monobrow,” as in the new MacBook Pro 2021.
The Surface Laptop SE has as few wired interfaces as the early MacBook Pros – one USB-A and one USB-C each. There is a separate charging connector, headphone jack, and no memory card slot.
Considering the target audience of the Surface Laptop SE, Microsoft has made it as maintainable as possible. It uses standard-head mounting screws, so school IT administrators can easily replace the screen, battery, keyboard, and system board.
Specific features of the new Windows
Windows 11 SE is Microsoft’s second attempt at a cheap, modern Windows after Windows 10S. The latter is teeming with restrictions that often prevent you from using it. For example, it does not allow you to install programs from third-party sources – only the Microsoft Store is available, the assortment of which at the time of the launch of Windows 10S was, to put it mildly, very scarce.
Microsoft wanted to fix the situation with the new Windows 10X operating system. As CNews reported, this project was never presented to the general public – Microsoft curtailed its development at the end of May 2021, a month before the full-fledged Windows 11 was announced.
The new Windows 11 SE is optimized for Edge, Office, and Microsoft cloud services. However, it retains the ability to install third-party applications, including Zoom and Chrome, and you can install them from any source. There is no link to the Microsoft Store here. Moreover, by default, the new OS comes without this store.
According to The Verge, in general, the changes in Windows 11 SE against the background of full-fledged Windows 11 are very insignificant. Snap mode, which allows multiple windows to be stacked on the same screen, has removed all but one layout. Also, the system no longer has widgets ported to regular Windows 11 straight from the ancient Windows Vista. Microsoft believes they distract pupils and students from their studies.
In addition, Windows 11 SE allows you to run programs only in full-screen mode – windowed mode is disabled on this system. The system also backs up documents to the OneDrive cloud by default.
The new OS also received a special version of the Edge browser. In 2019, as CNews reported, he moved to the engine used in Google Chrome and received support for the corresponding extensions. It is disabled by default in Edge for regular Windows 11 while active in the Windows 11 SE version.
Another difference between Windows 11 SE is the set of preinstalled software. The list includes the free Teams messenger, the Office suite, OneNote, and the Minecraft for Education and Flipgrid apps.
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