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Microsoft is Creating Windows Lite For dual-screen and Chromebook-like Devices, Report Says (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.

Microsoft is working on a new lightweight version of Windows to power dual-screen devices and Chromebook competitors, according to a new report. The Verge: Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge that the software maker is stripping back its Windows user interface with dual screens in mind. This new hardware could launch as early as later this year, depending on chip and PC maker readiness. "Windows Lite," as it's codenamed internally, is a more stripped-down version of Windows that is initially being prioritized for dual-screen devices. Intel has been pushing OEMs to create this new hardware category, and machines could appear much like Microsoft's Courier concept, dual-screen laptops, or even foldable displays in the future. Either way, Microsoft wants Windows to be ready for PC makers to take advantage of it.

86 comments

  1. App store only? limited hardware drivers? IE only? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    App store only? limited hardware drivers? IE only?

  2. How are they going to do this by DarkRookie2 · · Score: 1

    The interface has been stripped down already. What more are you going to do, bring back the start screen?

    --
    http://progressquest.com/spoltog.php?name=Son+Of+Son+Of+DarkRookie
    1. Re: How are they going to do this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Text only. But Cortana continuously describing everything you would be seeing on the full version.

    2. Re:How are they going to do this by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 1

      The UI isn't exactly what makes Windows heavyweight. The numerous API platforms and their supporting services are. Likely, just like Windows CE/Mobile wasn't quite Windows, this won't be either. If I had to wager a guess, it would be almost entirely a .NET system

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    3. Re:How are they going to do this by Joce640k · · Score: 2

      You can bet none of the "telemetry" has been removed.

      --
      No sig today...
    4. Re: How are they going to do this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perfect for the vision impaired. MS finally gets() it. Oops, I called insecure function in this post.

  3. No, thank you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll stick with Linux or BSD. Nothing Microsoft make is appealing to me with all the lockdown and telemetry. I can control Linux and BSD. I'm at Microsoft's mercy if I use their stuff.

    1. Re:No, thank you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I can control Linux and BSD. I'm at Microsoft's mercy if I use their stuff."

      No you can't. You can choose a distribution that you think doesn't have any of that stuff, but unless you're very familiar with the packaging process for all of the userspace apps that you're running on your desktop, then you have no idea what your computer is really doing.

  4. sounds like WIndows Phone by spywhere · · Score: 1

    ...have they ever tried anything like that?

    1. Re:sounds like WIndows Phone by slickwillie · · Score: 1

      Also sounds like Windows Compact Edition, aka Wince.

    2. Re:sounds like WIndows Phone by spywhere · · Score: 1

      I had a Wince phone. I still wake up screaming.

    3. Re:sounds like WIndows Phone by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      It doesn't sound like that at all. They're not talking about stripping down the underlying OS, just the UI. WINCE was the opposite, it was a lightweight OS that had a full GUI, which in some editions was more or less the same as Windows 95.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  5. Let me guess... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Windows Lite, all of the telemetry and Cortana crap in 10, none of the bare-metal controls of 7, and all built off that behemoth of quality engineering, NT 4? Pipe that up your legacy port you goons, fuck you until your EOL, Microsloth.

  6. ChromeBook by darkain · · Score: 2

    For those curious, this isn't intended to be a desktop/laptop replacement, it is intended to be a ChromeBook competitor in the low-end, cheap, managed device department for schools. For those claiming "i want control", just look at the success of Google's ChromeBook. Microsoft isn't ditching the traditional OS, this is just for an alternative market sector.

    1. Re:ChromeBook by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Funny

      In other words, it's to operating systems what Zune was to MP3 players.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:ChromeBook by DarkRookie2 · · Score: 1

      But Chromebooks are laptop replacements. Or the way they proposition them.
      They are used in schools because they only cost ~$200 and not because they are good. Or useful.
      Price first. Usability last.

      --
      http://progressquest.com/spoltog.php?name=Son+Of+Son+Of+DarkRookie
    3. Re:ChromeBook by youngone · · Score: 1

      Now you're going to get a whole bunch of replies about how great the Zune was and how much better than the iPod it was and it should have won.
      Yeah, I know.

    4. Re:ChromeBook by Junta · · Score: 1

      It's goofy if it is indeed linked to 'two screen' devices.

      To the extent chromebooks succeed in practice, it is because they are cheap laptop-alikes, with screens and keyboards.

      A dual screen device would not have a keyboard, and would further cost more because a second screen is more expensive than a keyboard.

      It doesn't make sense to try to conflate 'intel wants to drive a new form factor' and 'microsoft wants to compete with chromebooks' into one thing.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    5. Re:ChromeBook by Crash+Dummy+Redux · · Score: 1

      Oh, hell no. Forget the specs. We're still bitching about Zune Brown!

    6. Re:ChromeBook by Junta · · Score: 1

      Of course, schools also like the whole 'can't do crap locally' so that the device state can't be screwed up by a student. Though if they had to pay a single penny more for that, then they wouldn't do it.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    7. Re:ChromeBook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      For those curious, this isn't intended to be a desktop/laptop replacement, it is intended to be a ChromeBook competitor in the low-end, cheap, managed device department for schools. For those claiming "i want control", just look at the success of Google's ChromeBook. Microsoft isn't ditching the traditional OS, this is just for an alternative market sector.

      The issue is that as these devices become mainstream, the War on General Purpose Computing proceeds apace.

      Back in the 80s, you could buy a consumer-level PC or 8-16-bit microcomputer for $500-$1000-2000. They ran DOS if you were lucky, or some sort of bootloader and BASIC interpreter burned in ROM. If you needed a workstation - a machine with a real operating system, multiuser support, multitasking, etc., the likes of IBM, HP, Sun, or SGI would sell you a powerful computing platform that would run some variant of AIX, HP-UX, SunOS/Solaris, etc., for $10000. These machines did a lot more than the consumer-level machines, but they cost more primarily because their manufacturers expected to sell tens of thousands of machines, not millions.

      Some of that tech trickled down, and millions of gaming-oriented consumers wanted high-end CPUs and GPUs, and eventually companies like ATI and NVIDIA ate SGI's lunch, for example, in the high-performance graphics world. Anybody could have a workstation-class machine at the same price point as what used to be a consumer-class microcomputer.

      We've been really lucky so far, in that the appliances we've been using happen to be just as good as computers (or thick clients) as they were as thin clients (or web browsers, or glorified smart terminals). That $1000 rig that Joe Officeworker uses only as a facebook machine on break and to run Excel during the day can also be a great Linux workstation if you wiped its drive, or a solid gaming rig if you just installed a $500 graphics card and a spare stick or two of RAM.

      But that's something that happened by accident, not by design, and we're approaching the age where devices are built for the millions will target those who don't need a general-purpose computer.

      If you want a computing appliance, you'll be able to buy a locked-down device from Google, Microsoft, or Apple for $500. It'll browse the web. It'll let you play games in a browser (wth full graphics acceleration comparable to today's high-end graphics cards). It'll let you stream movies and music from someone else's subscription platform. It'll store your vacation movies, pictures and blog writings on someone else's cloud. It'll be pretty secure from most malware -- after all, if the end user can't get root on it, neither will most malware. It'll be good enough for the millions of end consumers and office workers.

      But if you want a computer... one that does what you tell it to do, not what the platform manager tells it to do, well, that's gonna cost you. Because the market for actual is going to shrink back into the tens-of-thousands: the researchers doing high-performance hashing in a lab, the team of people doing deep learning experiments who started by slapping a 3 or 4 1080Ti cards into a rack with a couple of 1000W power supplies, the startup enterprise that needs a petabyte of rackmounted SSDs... you can buy all those things too, but they're going to cost $10,000 for the motherboard and $5000 for the CPU, and probably $1000/year for the support contract, because the market for that sort of stuff is orders-of-magnitudes smaller than the market for information appliances.

    8. Re:ChromeBook by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      On the low-end part of the spectrum, however, we're getting things like the 5$USD Raspberry Pi Zero.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    9. Re:ChromeBook by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      The odd thing is they're doing it at the same time as Google is going in the opposite direction with ChromeOS. I'm running LibreOffice and Atom on my Chromebook, having installed them myself, without needing to put the device in developers mode, thanks to Crostini.

      Something tells me this "light GUI" version of Windows isn't going to let you spin up a sandboxed fully integrated Windows VM to run whatever applications you want.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    10. Re:ChromeBook by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      They are used in schools because they only cost ~$200 and not because they are good.

      In schools they are inexpensive and good enough. My daughter is 11 and uses Chromebooks at her school. They're perfectly fine for collaboration, document creation and e-learning. Virtually all of the education content they consume is online - All their apps are web apps.

      By contrast, the "netbooks" schools were buying a decade ago were not "good enough" and they died a painful death.

    11. Re:ChromeBook by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      But it's way too late to compete with ChromeBooks now. Microsoft should have started years ago.

      Come to think of it, they did. Several times, never successfully.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    12. Re:ChromeBook by exomondo · · Score: 1

      But if you want a computer... one that does what you tell it to do, not what the platform manager tells it to do, well, that's gonna cost you.

      What makes you think that? Chromebooks are a Linux system and you have full access to it, general purpose computing is cheaper than ever with a huge range of products like the Raspberry PI and even - despite all of the panicking about SecureBoot - Microsoft's own Surface products that have been released over the past 6 years and Apple's line of Mac products still have the ability to install alternative operating systems. It's also not like we haven't had locked down computers in the past either, products like Blackberry and Windows smartphones or various gaming consoles were around long ago and didn't affect the general purpose computer market in any significant way.

    13. Re:ChromeBook by youngone · · Score: 1

      Zune Brown? Doesn't he play for the Green Bay Packers?

    14. Re:ChromeBook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You let your 11 year old daughter "consume" content? I suppose you let her "consume" media as well. How is the diet of plastic and polycarbonate going? I would suspect that "consuming" such things would lead to an early death?

      How do you prevent the polycarbonate shards from tearing up the intestines on the way though?

    15. Re:ChromeBook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suppose you can upgrade it to 10 Pro as with every 10 Home or 10 S product yet.

      Or even get the full 10 Home desktop just by clicking in the right control panel.
      They don't have a really strong incentive to cripple it more than they do already. Default users will leave things default anyway. Devs and neckbeards and kiddies can have their settings (or even pay $99 to $119) and manage their out-of-disk-space conditions or small screen issues.

      I would definitely want to try the "lite GUI" on regular laptop if it's an option. The regular GUI is god awful ugly anyway and has almost no settings and no replacement available. You can make the task bar full black or some other color and remove cortana/edge/shopping bag crap, that's about it. (And of course install Classic Shell, which comes with an ugly icon that doesn't fit in there)

      If you can upgrade Windows Lite to Windows 10 Pro and use the lite GUI and WSL at the same time, would that run about the same linux GUI stuff as your Crostini?

    16. Re:ChromeBook by exomondo · · Score: 1

      But it's way too late to compete with ChromeBooks now.

      What can you do on a Chromebook that you can't do on just about any other personal computing device? Does it have some exclusive functionality to compete with? Some catalog of programs that only run on it?

      It's too late to compete with platforms like Android and iOS that have vast libraries of native applications that you simply cannot replicate with a new entry to that established market but does ChromeOS have that as well?

    17. Re:ChromeBook by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      You make a good point Anonymous Coward. Unfortunately, in the English language there isn't (yet) one good word that describes a) reading content on an electronic device, b) listening to content on that device, c) watching still images on that device, d) watching moving images on that device and e) doing one or more combinations of all four on that electronic device (game-playing on the device is also weaved into there somehow). Until they come up with a better word, rightly or wrongly, "consuming" content is the one that becoming cemented in language.

    18. Re:ChromeBook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is close to all the "death of the desktop" arguments from the beginning of the decade. I'm not sure if this argument will still be that good. There will still be some millions of devs, adobe suite users, people doing audio production or 3D, CAD users, and perhaps more of them than now. Wifi will still be 100x slower than local storage and local display outputs. Windows has to serve these markets or be replaced by something else (Red Hat, Ubuntu, a Solaris fork, PoetteringOS?). People owning these machines will still do these "dumb" things such as web browsing or minesweeper, gamers will game.

      If the PC market commits suicide in favor of Windows Lite, ChromeOS and iOS there will still be something because Russia and China make their own computers for reasons of strategic independence. So, you'll buy such hardware and run GNU/Linux on it, or some ARM-based hardware will be available. This might not be needed still : a US company makes desktop, high performance, non-PC non-x86 stuff. That's the Talos POWER9 motherboards and it's not so expensive (still not listing their micro-ATX motherboard which is to be $799 iirc, only has dual channel memory (registered) but takes an 8 core POWER9 and PCIe and SATA stuff still)
      Perhaps the server market is another reason we get to keep general purpose computers. We need/want cheap servers. The vast majority of them use similar technology as found in your cousin's desktop and/or laptop.

    19. Re:ChromeBook by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      > What can you do on a Chromebook that you can't do on just about any other personal computing device?

      Do it for $200 new in box.

      > Does it have some exclusive functionality to compete with?

      Beats me. But it doesn't matter much, because.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    20. Re:ChromeBook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      _,--=#[The Post CRIMER aka The Original CDR doesn't want you to read!!!]#=--,_ 1)Why-are-people-upset-with-him? 2)What-can-I-do 3)What-are-his-names 4)Who-is-FatCashewsLovesMe 5)How-to-defeat-his-hustles 6)Why-are-there-dashes 7)Pastebin-Copy

      1)Why-are-people-upset-with-himHe makes frequent low quality posts for two reasons:
      Money) BASICALLY: He made thousands of shitty posts & bragged about how much money it made him.
      DETAILS: He wants u to folow his referer links & pick up his cookie. Even if u dont buy what he linked but do buy something else from that site later on he often makes money;He ALSO tries to drive TRAFFIC to his various BLOGS & vlogs.
      Karma)He believes karma acumulates infinitely So he makes lots of pointles posts that r not bad enough to mod down;hoping they wil get moded up;He was a raging ahole when he thoght he had a karma surplus

      2)What-can-I-do DOWNMOD u wil usually get more mod points. If he is postng from a new sock acount w/ krma, get his oldst posts first. DOWNMOD him and AC in fresh thrads early on;Metmods wil reward u. METAMOD his posts. REPLY ONLY ANONYMOUSLY to the most deeply nested coments in his threds it helps hide his posts. Dwnvote his SUBMISSIONS, he uses to get krma. REPORT HIM to slshdot & the afiliate progrms he is usng. DONT MENTION his brand names c**mer.

      3)What-are-his-namesMost famous:The Original CDR, Cre|mer Cdre|mer ILoveFatCashews, Anonymous Cashews, The Fat Bastard aka TCDR

      4)Who-is-FatCashewsLoveMe AKA Tardu Lardo,FCLM Funny & anoying; Not me or crimer;He keeps lookout for infestation

      5)How-can-I-avoid-his-hustles --===DONT FOLLOW HIS LINKS!!!===--
      IF YOU MUST:Use a privte tab & nevr buy anything on the same sesion. If he fools u, close tab, cler the cookies for that site. There r sites other than yutube that wil let u watch his videos. I dont know if people view his contnt but I can pictre his jowls jigling at the thoght of people subvrting his business model
      6)Why-are-there-dashes & weird stuffI know most only skim thse posts. I want the most imprtnt infrmton to pop out at a glnce & to keep it shrt. I dont use TCDRs name becase he may think tht he benfits from geting it indxed by serch engnes. Id like 2 thnk TCDR & FCLM for editrial advice

      7)Copy: http://archive.is/TtDrY

    21. Re:ChromeBook by exomondo · · Score: 1

      > What can you do on a Chromebook that you can't do on just about any other personal computing device?

      Do it for $200 new in box.

      So the answer is no, there's nothing unique about what you can do on a Chromebook.

      Beats me. But it doesn't matter much, because.

      That's exactly my point. It has no unique functionality.

    22. Re: ChromeBook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From a IT management position the chrome book is vastly superior to windows management in every way. All students need is a web-browser and a text editor. The student gets a user account and there works saves as it goes. They are perfect for a school.

    23. Re:ChromeBook by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      > What can you do on a Chromebook that you can't do on just about any other personal computing device?

      Do it for $200 new in box.

      So the answer is no, there's nothing unique about what you can do on a Chromebook.

      Beats me. But it doesn't matter much, because.

      That's exactly my point. It has no unique functionality.

      The point, sorry *my* point, is that it's a concept that's very difficult for Microsoft to compete against. A cheap enough OS to provide a $200 (retail) computing device that's at all useful, is simply not part of Microsoft's business model. As previously said by many here, they've tried before, and failed.

      Now, part of that failure is expectations previously set. When people found that their Windows CE or R or whatever they were calling it at the time, would not run Microsoft apps, that was often a deal killer. Whereas practically anything with a browser will run the Google suite. The Chromebook is an admission that you just don't need much in the way of local apps to be productive. And that's a space where Microsoft has a very difficult time playing.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    24. Re:ChromeBook by exomondo · · Score: 1

      The point, sorry *my* point, is that it's a concept that's very difficult for Microsoft to compete against. A cheap enough OS to provide a $200 (retail) computing device that's at all useful, is simply not part of Microsoft's business model.

      Not part of their previous business model, but if you've been following along you'll notice that cloud services are really Microsoft's focus now and an operating system that treats their services as a first-class citizen (like Google's platforms do with its services) is important for that business.

    25. Re:ChromeBook by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      I suppose you can upgrade it to 10 Pro as with every 10 Home or 10 S product yet.

      That's not evident in the article, but we can hope. That said, that generally costs money, and that's kinda the point. If you have to pay $100 to "unlock" your laptop, then it's still a closed laptop by default. You can unlock, for free, the bootloader on a Chromebook and install anything, including Ubuntu (if the hardware is compatible), but it's not a pleasant process.

      Or even get the full 10 Home desktop just by clicking in the right control panel. They don't have a really strong incentive to cripple it more than they do already.

      Well, they do. Right now anyone can go into any store, online or brick and mortar or mail order, and buy any software they want and install it. This means two issues: Microsoft is stuck having to support software they have no control over (boohoo, shouldn't havbeen so monopolistic in the 1990s) and Microsoft doesn't get a cut of sales of software.

      Microsoft has a solution to that, it's the Microsoft Store. If they can produce a version of the OS that doesn't provide anything other than web and Microsoft Store apps, then they can get a cut of everything and their required level of support drops as they can sandbox more stuff and prevent arbitrary apps from, say, overwriting the registry.

      So they do, alas, currently have an incentive to produce a stripped down, locked down, version of Windows, which I believe is what 'S' is intended to be, but this seems to be the missing bit.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    26. Re:ChromeBook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Now you're going to get a whole bunch of replies about how great the Zune was and how much better than the iPod it was and it should have won.

      I'm still using mine (daily) to this day, and Apple never made a dime from me. So yeah, as far as I'm concerned, it won.

    27. Re:ChromeBook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > In other words, it's to operating systems what Zune was to MP3 players.

      So, reason to be pretty excited then. I don't mind if it's the underdog, so long as it works as great as the Zune does (notice how I didn't write "did"? Guess why...)

    28. Re:ChromeBook by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      Ipads aren't good enough, but they still seem to be sticking around.. :'(

      --
      Cheap storage VM.
  7. Better be able to run everything Windows does.. by kimgkimg · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Please don't be another Windows RT/Windows Phone.

    1. Re:Better be able to run everything Windows does.. by 4wdloop · · Score: 1

      No, no worry. They just remove wordpad, outlook and notepad and add a link to office360.

      --
      4wdloop
    2. Re:Better be able to run everything Windows does.. by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      ...but hey, that saves a couple gigabytes of ram right there!

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  8. Yikes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This has the stink of New Coke all over it.

    1. Re:Yikes by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      More like Crystal Pepsi

  9. Awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    /Sarcasm

    1. Re:Awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everything is

  10. For PC games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I fervently hope that I can run Windows 10 Lite on my desktop PC in place of the current 'regular' Win10, if Lite has little to none of the typical crap Windows has now. I've disabled/removed a lot already, but more would be terrific.

        I figure that I built this machine, and every processor cycle belongs to me. I see Win10 steal a fair bit to do sh... tuff that doesn't serve me. It takes up system time and resources that could maybe allow a few more frames, a lilbit more cycles to do what -I- want the machine to do.

        Micro$oft, I'm waiting.

    1. Re:For PC games? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      We sort of need a "Windows Gaming Edition", because I suspect even their "Lite" edition will waste ressources on social media integration and data gathering features.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:For PC games? by DarkRookie2 · · Score: 2

      The 'Gaming Edition' would only allow you to run games from their Store.
      No Steam. No GoG. No Origin. No uPlay. No games really. Unless you like GoW or Forza I guess.

      --
      http://progressquest.com/spoltog.php?name=Son+Of+Son+Of+DarkRookie
    3. Re:For PC games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 'Gaming Edition' would only allow you to run games from their Store.

      If that's your interpretation of the request then let's be more specific:
      We sort of need a "Windows Gaming Edition", that isn't limited to Microsoft's store.

    4. Re:For PC games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually there's this already.

      https://www.pcgamer.com/windows-10-game-mode-tested-good-for-minimum-fps-bad-for-multitasking/

  11. Re:App store only? limited hardware drivers? IE on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    2GB RAM limit might also work, just as it helped selling netbooks.

  12. about as lite as cement shoes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It will all about subscriptions and ties to Microsoft's cloud services. School boards and other government agencies big or small will jump on this because of the opportunity for grift (being overpriced for the value it delivers leaves lots of margin for parasites). Witness the fad for iPads in the classroom a few years back until fiscal sanity prevailed and now Chromebooks rule.

  13. Just rollback to XP, Bob's your uncle! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Best Windows ever!

  14. Here's my guess by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    About as well as the last few times they tried this.

  15. EdgeBooks. by xack · · Score: 1

    Chromebooks, but with Edge. Since we already Tried Windows RT, Windows 8, Windows 10 in S mode and Windows XP Tablet edition yet another gimmick OS is needed. Meanwhile Enterprises and China stay on Windows 7 and even XP.

    1. Re:EdgeBooks. by Heir+Of+The+Mess · · Score: 1

      So that would be a Chromebook then because Microsoft will use Chrome as the engine for Edge

      --
      Australian running a company that does C# / C++ / Java / SQL / Python / Mathematica
  16. Microsoft never learns from past by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unfortunately Microsoft never seems to learn from past horrors like Windows RT, Windows 10 S or 10S mode, and now a regurgitated Windows 10S in the form of Windows Lite. Obviously Microsoft learns nothing from its failings, except to reincarnate with another name.

  17. Good bye linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No one really wants to use Linux, they often just cant afford a proper OS. This amazing effort should help with that. Thank you Microsoft!

    1. Re:Good bye linux by Locutus · · Score: 0

      All the Chromebook users out there are asking for this. They are asking for Microsoft to save them from the Linux they are using so they can get back to what they are familiar with. Long boot times, virus and malware, buggy software and a back-end which falls down every few weeks or more. They don't want to use Linux and Chromebooks, they want pain. Like they are accustomed too.

      LoB

      --
      "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
    2. Re:Good bye linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Long boot times, virus and malware, buggy software and a back-end which falls down every few weeks or more

      My Windows 10 gaming system has none of those issues, your problems exist between chair and keyboard. Perhaps you need a dumbed-down OS that won't allow you to cause so many issues for yourself.

  18. Options? by GerryHattrick · · Score: 1

    Several old laptops here would benefit from much less Win10 bloat. Will they offer me the option on a build upgrade?

  19. Windows is dead. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Period.

  20. RT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I predict Windows Lite will be every bit as successful as Windows RT, the Windows 8 variant built only for ARM devices. Windows Phone lost to Android and iOS. Windows Lite has already lost to Chome OS.

    Furthermore, the Courier concept was a remarkable concept...when it was invented in 2009. The reason it was reported why Courier was canned 10 years ago was because it did not operate like the rest of Windows. Here we are ten years later, and Microsoft is finally bringing Courier to market??? Just a little bit late, especially for a market which changes constantly.

    Microsoft failed in smartphones because they were 3 or 4 years too late. Now they are destined to fail with Courier because it is 10 years too late.

    1. Re:RT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Microsoft failed in smartphones because they were 3 or 4 years too late.

      In 2006, _before_ iPhone, _before_ Android, Microsoft had 40% of the US smartphone market.

      They didn't fail because they were 'too late'.

  21. no crapware? sign me up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hey, this lite thing would fly for laptops, too - no crapware - sign me up! do they disable the software i don't want installed, the updating tiles that i didn't set up, the vendor shovelware, adobe updates, and all that?

  22. Re:App store only? limited hardware drivers? IE on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Considering IE hasn't been actively developed (aside from security updates) for years, and even Edge is switching to Chromium, that shows just how out of touch you are.

  23. Sneak peek by IWantMoreSpamPlease · · Score: 1

    I have seen this actually. It's a combination of several things:

    The lightweight nature of Windows CE
    The user friendliness of Windows ME
    The stability of Windows NT.

    The name of it is taken from all three:
    Windows CEMENT
     

    --
    So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
    1. Re:Sneak peek by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I’m sure there’s mortar it than that, but taken in aggregate, that might work.
      It’s good to see they have some concrete plans.

  24. Re:App store only? limited hardware drivers? IE on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dumbass.

  25. Microsoft don't do small Windows by shanen · · Score: 1

    This branch reminded me of my first so-called smartphone, though I don't even remember what the flavor of that year was. Not smart, but at least I've recovered from the nightmares.

    My theory is that Microsoft got over-biased to YUGE during the period when they were planning ahead for next year's hardware. At that early stage, there really were large functional improvements at a Moore's-Law pace, so it was a competitive advantage to think big, but Microsoft was never able to learn about thinking small. If there is such a thing as corporate DNA, then small is not part of Microsoft's.

    Just finishing The Four now, where Scott Galloway gives some pages to Microsoft's successes and failures. He still considers Microsoft as a possible 5th (in Chapter 9), but mostly dismisses them. I think he's just being polite and showing his age. He even mentioned IBM a few times without being completely dismissive.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  26. Bringing your old machines to life? by shanen · · Score: 1

    Several old laptops here would benefit from much less Win10 bloat. Will they offer me the option on a build upgrade?

    You seem to be talking about my Linux boxen? Mostly started life as XPers.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  27. Oh great by DrXym · · Score: 1

    Another utterly useless version of Windows inbound.

  28. not again... by roc97007 · · Score: 1

    Microsoft keeps trying to play in this space, and it never works out well for them.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  29. stripping down the UI? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    how can they strip down the horrible minimalist user interface any further? anymore stripped down and it will be solely text based. but hey at list it will be a hit with all the hipsters.

  30. Don't call it Windows by joncombe · · Score: 1

    We've already had Windows RT (locked down, only apps from an app store). The public thought they were getting full Windows, not a deliberately crippled cut down one So return rates were high which meant shops didn't want them either. So it failed. Similar story for Windows 10S, locked down to only apps from the "Microsoft Store", only Edge and only Bing. Guess what, the public didn't want it and it failed. So if Microsoft want to try again they need to call it something other than Windows. Because as soon as you put Windows in the name the public thinks it will be the same version of Windows they have on their PC and when they find it is deliberately crippled or cut down they don't want it and return it.

  31. Windows lite? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Windows lite, isn't that a tautology like "a little bit pregnant?"

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    1. Re: Windows lite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The word youâ(TM)re looking for is oxymoron.
      Another example: âoeLinux usabilityâ

    2. Re: Windows lite? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Right, oxymoron, like "Windows reliability."

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    3. Re: Windows lite? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Or "Microsoft trustworthiness."

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    4. Re:Windows lite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My computer is Windows Free!

  32. Microsoft should create ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Windows 10 for Personal Computing

    Get rid of the gaming shit.
    Get rid of the App store shit and the apps all the apps (especially that "Settings" app crap)
    Get rid of the hideous "start tiles" shit (and replace it with Windows 200o style cascading menus)

    They could then also have
    Windows 10 for Playing Games
    Windows 10 for Simpletons
    Windows 10 for Retards

    Either that of just have one version of Windows 10 where you set on first install your user level (Normal Person / Simpleton / Retard) and what you do with the computer (Computer / Game Console / Phone) ...

  33. Re:App store only? limited hardware drivers? IE on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Considering most people use 'IE' to mean whatever shitty browser Microsoft puts out--including Edge and their new venture into webkit land, you're the pedantic, out-of-touch moron.