Windows 10 S is Microsoft’s latest Windows edition. It’s a light weight operating system designed to make the machines it runs on work like Chrome Os on the Chromebooks.
Windows 10 S is not very different from other editions of Windows operating systems. In fact, it looks for the most part like Windows 10. The main difference here comes with the programs that run in the OS.
In Windows 8 and Windows 10, you could choose to install programs directly to the computer’s hard drive or install apps from the Windows store. With Windows 10 S, you can only install apps from the app store. Your app data will be saved to the Microsoft cloud service, OneDrive.
This approach was adopted by Google a few years ago when they created Chrome OS which is basically a browser based operating system. All the apps you need on Chrome OS will be installed directly from the Chrome app store. App data and settings are saved to your Google drive account. This allowed the operating system to run smoothly on RAM. No hard drive was required.
So the first criteria for knowing whether Windows 10 S is for you, is comparing it with Chrome OS on Chrome books. If you did not like Chromebooks, then you are not likely to be impressed with this new Windows edition.
Windows 10 S integrates with OneDrive so files are saved to the cloud, in sync and accessible from your devices. This means that even low spec devices should be able to run this OS and it’s apps smoothly.
But if you need to carry some work and data to use in a place without internet connection, then you are not ready for Windows 10 S because you literally need to be connected to the internet to use this OS effectively.
Windows 10 also promises safety from viruses. Since all the apps are installed via the Windows store and third party application are not allowed, this reduces the chance of installing malicious software from outside the store.
Windows uses Microsoft Edge as it’s default browser. Currently Chrome and Firefox are not yet available in the Windows store. So if you have to use Chrome or Firefox for whatever reason, you are not ready for Windows 10 S.
Read this FAQ page to find out what most people want to know about this new edition of Windows.
For now, the apps in the app store are limited. On my part, I’ll give Windows 10 S time to see how it improves over time. It promises to be a good replacement for my Chromebook but definitely not now. I’ll wait.
