Microsoft announces Windows 11 SE built for low-cost education PCs

Mirosoft has announced a new edition of Windows 11 designed specifically for the K-8 education sector, dubbed "Windows 11 SE." This new edition of Windows 11 is designed to address fundamental challenges that schools are facing day to day with improved performance, optimized resources, and simple to deploy and manage.

Microsoft says Windows 11 SE has been optimized for education focused depression-cost PCs, almost of which start at the affordable price of $249 and are powered by low-end Intel and AMD chips. Windows 11 SE was designed with feedback from teachers and school IT admins in mind.

Different normal Windows 11, Windows xi SE comes pre-loaded with Microsoft Part out of the box, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and OneDrive, which tin can also be used offline as part of a Microsoft 365 license. Microsoft has likewise limited some of the multitasking features, including reducing the corporeality of apps that can be snapped on screen at one time to but ii; next. The Microsoft Shop app is also disabled.

Windows 11 SE also automatically runs apps in full-screen, which makes sense considering well-nigh Windows 11 SE PCs will feature small xi-inch displays. It also removes access to the "This PC" area in File Explorer by default, every bit it's an surface area virtually students don't demand to admission when working on schoolhouse piece of work. Windows xi SE is "cloud backed" meaning information technology volition mirror all your saved documents stored locally to the cloud.

Additionally, Windows xi SE is also designed with Windows Autopilot in heed, with Intune for Education providing a simple and secure cloud management solution assuasive It admins to deploy and manage Windows 11 SE PCs from anywhere. Windows eleven SE devices as well update silently and automatically, with policies which can be set so that these updates only have place outside of classroom hours.

Unfortunately, at that place's not much else in the form of optimizations taking place to the underlying OS to ameliorate it for educational use. Different Microsoft's canceled Windows 10X, Windows 11 SE is nonetheless based on classic Windows and therefore has slow Windows Updates and no manner to fast wipe and provision new users, ii huge sticking points for IT admins deploying education PCs. Peradventure this will modify in the future.

Microsoft says that there is an ecosystem of Windows 11 SE PCs launching, including its ain Surface Laptop SE in add-on to PCs from Acer, ASUS, Dell, Dynabook, Fujitsu, HP, JK-IP, Lenovo, and Positivo. Curiously, in that location are no ARM-based pedagogy PCs beingness appear today.

Many of these new Windows xi SE devices will begin being available to order through education channels subsequently this twelvemonth and into 2022. Windows 11 SE is not an edition of Windows 11 yous'll discover on consumer focused PCs at Best Buy, it'south only available on low-price education PCs that are purchased in bulk through education channels, pregnant yous'll but really come across it on PCs handed out at schools.

An internet connection will soon be required when setting up Windows 11 Pro

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An net connection volition soon be required when setting upwardly Windows 11 Pro

Microsoft has announced that afterwards this twelvemonth, users will be required to connect to the internet and sign-in with a Microsoft Account during the out of box setup feel on Windows 11 Pro. Microsoft has already been enforcing this requirement on Windows eleven Domicile since launch final October, and Windows 11 Pro is at present expected to follow accommodate soon.