Microsoft has unveiled its new product designed for schools: Surface Laptop SE, which uses a simplified and secure version of the operating system called Windows 11 SE. A real rival of Chromebooks, even in the American price of 249 dollars.
Surface Laptop SE, the new Microsoft device with Windows 11 SE
Chromebooks have been very successful for being able to use a basic browser and app at a very competitive price. Microsoft has noticed this need especially in the educational establishments, with whom he has been collaborating all over the world for some time. He therefore decided to listen to feedback from schools by developing an ad hoc operating system: Windows 11 SE.
By giving up some of the features of the new operating system (such as Widgets, which risk distracting students), he has created software that can make the best use of Microsoft Edge e Teams, as well as the cloud applications of Office and so on. In fact there is no lack of services such as Minecraft for Education and also third-party apps, such as Zoom e Chrome. However, there is no Microsoft Store: apps can only be installed by the school’s IT team, not by users.
To demonstrate what kind of device can be useful in this area, it has also launched the Surface Laptop SE. With a little one 11.6 inch screen from the resolution of 1.366 x 768 pixel but a solid built-in keyboard, the device has low-cost technical specifications. As a processor you can choose between a Intel Celeron N4020 or Celeron N4120 8. There are 4GB of RAM, 64 or 128GB of storage. But that should be more than enough for the lightweight Windows 11 SE.
In addition there will be a 1MP front camera for 720p video calls, two USB ports (one C and one A) and then the classic audio jack. It will be very easy to fix it: all it takes is a screwdriver and the skill of the school IT team to troubleshoot and update batteries or more.
The possibility of simple repairs will also be at the heart of laptops running Windows 11 SE from other brands. They are already working on it Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Dynabook e Lenovo. The new laptops with Windows 11 SE and in particular the new Surface will arrive in 2022. However, the Surface Laptop SE will only be accessible to educational institutions.