Earlier on Tuesday Microsoft announced Windows 10 S, the long-awaited education-focused operating system that’ll take on Google’s Chrome OS for control of the classroom.
The firm also debuted the first piece of hardware to run Windows 10 S, the new Surface Laptop which goes on sale next month for $999 (UK price pending).
However, there’ll also be a host of more affordable machines, from just $189, that’ll line up against the cheap Chromebooks that have proved so popular.
Shortly after Microsoft’s event, Acer and HP revealed the first of them, which are cheaper versions of current products, only with the new, locked down Windows 10 S operating system.
The rugged (MIL-STD-810G certified) HP ProBook x360 Education Edition (below) will cost $299, which is $30 cheaper than the version running full fat Windows 10.
The convertible laptop has an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 display 64GB of storage, 4GB of RAM and an Intel Celeron processor.
Acer’s entry into the Windows 10 S market is substantially more interesting.
Its TravelMate Spin B1 Convertible includes a 1080p 11.6-inch touchscreen and can be used in multiple configurations. The processor, RAM and storage match HP’s effort.
However, this machine is a full $100 cheaper than the Windows 10 configuration so there are notable savings to be made here.
