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One of the strangest things about Windows 10 S, Microsoft'due south Chromebook competitor and locked-downwards educational Os play, is that Microsoft chose to debut it with a $1,000 Surface Laptop, every bit opposed to the $150-$300 space where Chromebooks typically compete. Granted, the Surface Laptop ships with a free offer to upgrade to Windows ten Pro through the finish of 2022, after which it'll price $50. But that device was still an odd way to showcase a restricted Os, given its price point. Today, that state of affairs is finally being rectified, with the release of new Lenovo laptops similar the N23 and N24.

N23-Laptop

The new Lenovo N23. Information technology's chunky, merely the reversible hinge is a overnice touch.

That said, at that place's some conflicting data near the N23 and N24, even in Microsoft's own store and Lenovo's website. For one thing, only the N23 is showing up as available at Lenovo, even though MS has links to CDW-G for both systems. The N24 does show up for sale at some other tertiary-party sites as well, only about every website that specifies an Os for the platform claims that information technology ships something other than Windows 10 S. (Lenovo, at to the lowest degree, properly identifies the N23 as using Windows 10 S).

Lenovo-N24-TigerDirect

Tiger Direct's bold header claims that the N24 runs "Windows x Pro National Bookish Standard," while its technical specifications page states that the laptop features "Windows 10 Professional 64bit; runs all popular business applications with ease." CDW-G's page for the N23 claims that the installed Os is "Windows 10 Pro National Bookish." The N24, meanwhile, is advertised every bit shipping with Windows 10 Pro.

Lenovo-N24-CDW-G

CDW-1000 claims the N24 is a Windows 10 Pro system. Information technology isn't.

In fact, what'south particularly hilarious nigh this is that despite apparently declaring that Windows ten S is at present shipping on Lenovo hardware, fifty-fifty Microsoft's own website doesn't specifically say the devices use Windows x S. Information technology doesn't actually say anything at all near their operating arrangement, whereas other models are described as "Coming Soon with Windows 10 Due south."

Why Discrepancies Like This Matter

Microsoft definitely advertised the N23, at to the lowest degree, as existence bachelor from Lenovo and aircraft with Windows 10 S, as shown beneath:

MS-N23

The reason issues like this matter, however, is because they set customer expectations. You've got different stores selling the same laptop making very unlike claims virtually it. If I buy a laptop that supposedly ships with Windows 10 Pro and I become Windows 10 South, I'thousand non going to be happy about it — and that assumes I'g even aware of the difference betwixt the two. Either manner, it injects an extra footstep and hassle for customers that may not be particularly knowledgeable on the differences betwixt Bone variants.

Also, if you lot are interested in one of these machines, we strongly recommend the N23 equipped with a Celeron N3160 over the N3060. The N3060 and N3160 have the aforementioned CPU clock rates (1.6GHz base, 2.24GHz Turbo) but the N3160 is a quad-core while the N3060 is a dual-core. Celerons and other low-price chips typically need all the help they can get, so I wouldn't scrimp on the extra cores.

The N24, meanwhile, is a flake of an odd duck. While it uses the more than powerful Apollo Lake platform as opposed to the N23's Braswell-based hardware, information technology has a much lower base clock, at ane.1GHz. It's not articulate whether the N24 would outperform the 3160 variant of the N23 in a head-to-head contest and probable depends on Lenovo's cooling solutions and maximum clock rates.

We'll see if the advent of these types of 2-in-1 solutions make a deviation for Windows in the education market place. Chromebooks take been gobbling upward marketplace share in that segment, and while it'south not a critical area for MS, the visitor is undoubtedly aware that users who get familiar with one OS in schools are less likely to move abroad from it as they age. Getting Windows 10 S into instruction markets is important to the company, specially now that its mobile plans are finer dead and information technology has no way to sell into the lucrative smartphone/tablet market place (apart from Surface and Surface Pro, at least).

Now read: Windows 10: The Best Hidden Features, Tips, and Tricks