What (and WHY) is Windows 10 S?

As Maureen said: $999 for a school laptop? Which family has this kind of money to shell out for 1 Surface laptop, when others are available in the 3- 400$ range, and for the kids to have them in their backpack and then loose the backpack, that would be a real loss. Just think again on the Windows S 10.

When they made the announcement they also showed a number of vendors who would be releasing a laptop with Windows 10 S on it. The whole intention for the product is the education field. Never seen so much negativity.

I think we could all have a pretty good guess at what the "S" should stand for !

On the other hand one could just draw a vertical line or two through it !

I've been looking into getting a new computer and/or tablet and want to thank you for your timely information on the Surface and 10S.

Oh, BobC, it's YOUR, not YOU'RE.

It looks like something you would buy this WinS, I want to make sure it's not an update that I can't get rid of. Is it?

I repeat a previous poster's question: Is this "upgrade" or ""update" going to automatically install on my computer? How can I avoid ANYTHING related to 10 S?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Windows 10 S will not affect current Windows 10 systems. No worries there.

Bob, I know what sic means, and that brackets are normally used. Perhaps "logic" would have been better. If I'd done that, however, someone would have thought I was using the current usage of quotation marks to emphasize the word, instead of the original meaning of adding the silent adjective "so-called", as in "so-called logic."

Now tell me whether the commas and periods should have been inside or outside the quotation marks. I think I put them properly so that they wouldn't fall off. :)

Deja vu! Sounds like a redo of the Surface RT from 2012 - only this time it includes Intel chips.
At the time, Win8RT was criticized for its software ecosystem, the sparseness of the Windows Store, and its incompatibility with existing Windows software.
I guess we'll see how long it takes for a hacker to 'again' get 3rd-party programs on Window$.

My Win10 Pro system (Desktop PC not a laptop), has told me several times that "Windows 10 Creators Update" and that I need to get my system ready for it. I actually thought that this was the same as the "Windows 10 S" about which this article was written. Apparently not. WHEW!

Thanks, Bob, for another in a long string of helpful and informational articles. Much appreciated, and I hope that they continue for a great many years. :o)

Re win 10S. Maybe GWX Control Panel.exe by Josh Mayfield may still be able to do the trick in preventing win 10S from down-loading. It worked just fine for me when MS was trying to foist Win 10 onto my rig. Steve.

Why doesn't the education market just use Linux for free? Especially if you want a streamlined OS.

Maybe "S" is for School.

I did some previous reading from an article that leaked out about MS windows 10S. MS's main reason is an attempt to grab some of the market that Google/Google Chromebook has taken over. The fact that only MS Store Apps will work on the new MS device and with the Win 10S program is another bit of MS extortion and control. The Chromebook has some restrictions but overall it does everything one needs to do. And it has a few features that the MS Surface Laptop with Win 10S does not have. MS once again has missed the mark. Education institutions are NOT going to spend thousands of dollars on a system that is controlled and restricted to MS Store Apps only. That will eliminate the Open Source FREE programs that are available to download. So, bottom line for me, I won't be wasting over $1K for a device with so many restrictions. I will stick with the Chromebook which does everything I need it to do. I pity student who are forced to purchase or use the MS garbage. I am still a proponent of Linux which is a much more stable program and it is FREE. Although you can donate to the ITs who keep it up and running. I am still using Linux on my old Dell Desktop and it is working just fine.

The "S" stands for Spy - "Windows Spy"
The Devil made me say that and I wonder the truth of it ?

Microsoft has always been greedy, but this farce which they are attempting to perpetrate on the naive who may be confusing this with S = simple is grotesque even by their standards. I suppose if I were a 35 year old multimillionaire with a very bright five year old child I might set this up for my child as an "Introduction to Windows 10 computers 101". In two years he/she could then would be using a real computer with Windows 10 and I would either pass it down to a younger child, or if there none, donate it to the garbage since I wouldn't want the information on it going to somebody else and reinstalling Windows S, assuming that was possible would probably, knowing MS's infinite greed, require repurchasing all of the junk from Windows Store.

Byron and Roger - you're both right.

So you can only load apps through the MS Store, so what? Apple phones have forced users to go through their iTunes loop even to load outside apps or ebooks, and I don't see them struggling for market share.
The real issue is, what delusional bright spark thought they could sell such nonsense, and what was their target market? When MS starts making business decisions like these, it is time to consider Linux.

The fabric on the keyboard is Alcantara, not Alantara. Spelling is important! ;)

Just another liberal attempt to indoctrinate America's school children. One poster said there's too much negativity about Windows 'S'. Nope, not as long as there's a liberal left in the USA.

Even Windows users become Windows haters, when no one has time to stop and smell the coffee.
*When Apple decides for a change in their 'walled" eco-system and becomes territorial; no one complains.
*When Google shows their own territorialism to lure you into their own [purely] money-making machine; no one resists nor complains.
*When Linux expects too much undue user-hardship and lacks drivers for the majority of today's gadgets; it goes unmentioned.
**But noooooooooooooo, when Windows tries to dump Win32/X86 structure from their own OS to fortify the brand's security hardness [via their new OS framework called UWP, et al]; even bloggers forget the real reasons that are NOT to hit users in the wallet but to provide a more stable platform than the above 3 competitors.
Maybe a more balanced article on the subject(s) of WinOS and Win10S from ZDNet (titled “Why Windows must die.“) may shed a less negative perspective… Sandboxing every application to prevent every security and protection your blogs prescribe is not such a bad idea for most users but can only be achieved with a brand-new system framework, which Win10S is attempting to spearhead. [no bromance here!]
I think there is a lot more to the "Here's what you need to know..." then you are letting on, Mr. Rankin.

This laptop and O/S would be well used in a correctional facility. Better monitoring of use. Maybe some government officials too. Who seem to get in trouble on the interwebs. Ha!