• by Thom Forbes  @tforbes, May 3, 2017

After years of slacking and losing its once-hefty share of the education market to Google and Apple, Microsoft yesterday introduced a Surface Laptop aimed at college students and a modified version of Windows 10 that will only run applications downloaded from its Windows Store, as well as other enticements to “empower” — or win back — teachers and students from K to grad school.

And, perhaps, others.

“Microsoft finally made a real laptop, and it’s beautiful. I got a chance to get a closer look at the new Surface Laptop during Microsoft’s event in New York City, and I’m impressed. This could be the laptop I've been waiting for Microsoft to create,” writes Tom Warren for The Verge. “The Surface Book was always a little too top-heavy and chunky, but this new Surface Laptop is under three pounds and feels high end, thanks to its aluminum finish and design.”

The Surface Laptop costs $999 and is aimed at attracting college students who might otherwise be drawn to MacBooks, “the expensive notebook that Apple offers to students at a discount and dominates university campuses,” writes Richard Waters for Financial Times. 

“A lot of students use MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros,” Panos Panay, the Microsoft executive in charge of its Surface products, said on stage. “But he stressed that Microsoft's new laptop is thinner than these Apple devices and has a longer battery life,” reports Seth Fiegerman for CNN Tech.

The restricted version of Windows 10, on the other hand, is designed “for a new family of low-cost laptops starting at $189 that would compete with Google’s Chromebook family,” Waters tells us.

“Microsoft stressed the security aspects of this new iteration of Windows,” writes Edward C. Baig for USA Today. “… But unlike with Chromebooks, Windows 10 S machines can run the full desktop versions of such apps. Meanwhile, if a student or educator attempts to download something that’s not from the Windows Store, he or she will receive a security alert warning that the app is not ‘verified.’ If they really need that app, qualified educators and students can switch from Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Professional at no cost.”

Through the aughts, Microsoft ruled in the schools. But “after shutting down its smartphone unit, Microsoft has few businesses that reach young people outside the workplace (Xbox is a notable exception). The company is counting on schools to help keep Microsoft a household name with a generation of technology users more familiar with Google and Apple,” reports Matt Day for the Seattle Times. 

“Competition in the education space has been ramping up in recent years, as Google’s inexpensive Chromebook laptops have shaken Apple’s long-standing association with education. Chromebooks made up 58% of K-12 mobile-device shipments late last year, according to estimates from the consulting firm FutureSource — a gain of 50% from the year before, while Microsoft made up 22%, and Apple's iOS and MacOS together captured 19%,” reports Hayley Tsukayama for the Washington Post.

Tsukayama tells us that the efforts are “part of a broader strategy to attract creative users.”

“While the dollars available in the education market are compelling enough for big technology companies like Microsoft, classrooms also offer an opportunity to make a first impression on young people who could eventually buy their products,” observe Nick Wingfield and Natasha Singer for the New York Times.

“The second-order effects of education, of being relevant in education, are going to be very, very key for us,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told them in an interview last week, adding, “The devices the kids take to their school, or to their college, is going to be influenced by what they were familiar with.”

“Microsoft introduced other bells and whistles Tuesday, including a version of Teams, a chat service catering to educators, and, for its video game ‘Minecraft,’ an expanded coding tutorial to help kids learn to code,” reports the Seattle Times’ Day. 

The challenge for Microsoft will be how easily it can explain its offering to educators, Mike Fisher, associate director for the education division at Futuresource Consulting, tells Reuters. “The Google education ecosystem is quite straightforward,” he said. “With Microsoft, there’s a lot of moving parts.”

But, under Nadella, they seem to be operating in unison and headed in the right direction.