Microsoft is working with computer manufacturer partners to bring ultra low-cost Windows laptop/notebook computers to the market, to fill a price niche that they would like to dominate. Some of these partners include Acer, HP and Toshiba.
Microsoft also hopes to grab a share of the Chromebook market. They also intend to reverse a trend that saw notebooks swim upstream in price after their auspicious introduction at very competitive pricing.
In addition to favorable pricing, Microsoft is banking on the appeal of a true Windows OS in lieu of Google's Chrome OS.
The first salvo in this effort will be the HP Stream, a 14-inch notebook with Windows 8.1 that is expected to sell for $199. Pretty, pretty, pretty cheap.
Not surprisingly, no Intel to be found at this price. The Stream 14 has an AMD A4 1.6-GHz quad core processor, a 1366 x 768 pixel HD LED nontouch display, 2 GB of RAM (not expandable), 32- or 64-GB flash storage options and an SD card slot. Graphics courtesy of an AMD Radeon R3 chip.
The Stream 14 will also feature an HP TrueVision HD camera for selfies or Skyping. It has a built-in digital microphone, and features Beats Audio beating through four speakers.
You want ports? The Stream 14 includes HDMI, headphone/microphone, USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and an AC charger pin port. Battery life is estimated at four-five hours.
The news was leaked by a German site that also obtained documents claiming Microsoft will include 100 GB of OneDrive storage for two years.
Microsoft has already announced that Acer will introduce a 15.6-inch laptop with an Intel Celeron processor, 4 GB RAM and a 500 GB hard drive that will retail for $249. Also arriving late this year will be an 11.6-inch Toshiba with 32 GB flash storage, also for $249.
Part of Microsoft's campaign to convince Chromebook customers to switch involves offering functions that Chrome can't handle, according to Microsoft. These talking points include the ability of Microsoft notebooks to run both native and web apps, run Microsoft Office, desktop applications, work offline and with limited bandwidth, work with a larger variety of peripherals, and print wirelessly to a printer.
However, critics claim that Chrome OS can indeed connect remotely to printers. Furthermore, Chrome OS does not hog system resources like Windows does, it is more secure and easier to update than Windows, and requires no add-on anti-virus or malware software.
