New edition of Windows called Windows 8.1 with Bing

Helping our hardware partners build lower cost Windows devices

Over the next couple weeks leading into Computex in Taipei, you’re going to see many of our hardware partners announce new Windows devices.

Microsoft was built on the foundation of partner opportunity and our goal remains mutual success for us and our partners. This means a continued commitment to helping ensure our hardware partners are able to build innovative, differentiated and competitive devices on the Windows platform. Over the past year, we have done a lot of work to scale Windows to an even greater number of customers with more partners and new devices at a broader range of price points. In 2013, we began to ease our approach to device certification and reduced some hardware component requirements, helping to empower our partners to drive further device differentiation and price competitiveness. And most recently with the Windows 8.1 Update, we are enabling our hardware partners to build lower cost devices with only 1GB of memory and 16GB of storage that provide customers with the fast and fluid experience they expect from a Windows device. We also announced that Windows will be available for 0 dollars to our hardware partners for Windows Phones and tablets smaller than 9-inches in screen size.

As we move forward, many of these lower cost devices will come with a new edition of Windows called Windows 8.1 with Bing. Windows 8.1 with Bing provides all the same great experiences that Windows 8.1 offers with the Windows 8.1 Update, and comes with Bing as the default search engine within Internet Explorer. And of course customers will be able to change that setting through the Internet Explorer menu, providing them with control over search engine settings. This new edition will be only be available preloaded on devices from our hardware partners. Some of these devices, in particular tablets, will also come with Office or a one-year subscription to Office 365.

The end result is that more people—across consumer and commercial—will have access to an even broader selection of new devices with all the awesomeness that Windows 8.1 provides, and get Office too, all at a really affordable price. Additionally, as reach expands, the opportunity for developers and their apps also increases.

We’re excited for our partners and the new devices that will be in market soon, and we’ll continue to work closely with our partners deliver innovative and high quality devices based on the Windows experience.

Stay tuned for more as these new devices get announced by our hardware partners over the coming weeks!

Source: Helping our hardware partners build lower cost Windows devices

 

[Coke Robot]

I already set Bing as default on my images I deploy... So.... I don't get why there needs to be a separate SKU if it can be changed so easily.

The only reason why it would make it less expensive I'd assume is that Bing gets a bump is usage and any bump is a good bump. Good move.

Contrast to how google became popular... They paid a few bajillion dollars to Mozilla while they were taking advantage of IE's suckiness a decade ago.

Also, I'd rather stick with Bing for privacy reasons because google's recent policy, even said by Larry Page I believe, is to "get close to the line of creepy, but not to cross it." They've screwed up youtube quite well and continue to do so, google chrome is a resource plunderer especially on battery powered PCs, and their google+ pushing is getting annoying.

 

[Fredledingue]

Nothing against Bing. What surprise me more is that they consider a minimum of 16 GB storage an improvement... This is a huge and the most enormous bloat ever created.

 

[Coke Robot]

Nothing against Bing. What surprise me more is that they consider a minimum of 16 GB storage an improvement... This is a huge and the most enormous bloat ever created.

There is literally NO given reason why NT 6 kernel Windows versions require that much space by default. I've easily installed both 32 and 64 bit Windows on literally half their requirements just fine. It's just bizarre that xp required a mere few gigs of space, vista came out and quadrupled it. For what? All those added features can't possibly justify THAT much space; even Windows Embedded doesn't take that much space and you can run a WHOLE Windows version with an Embedded SKU with everything in it. Not even Windows Phone 8 doesn't use so much space and that's an NT 6 kernel platform... Just weird.

 

[RBS]

I've been solely on Bing for months now, and don't miss Google.

That's interesting, I should try this.

Bing It On - Take the Bing versus Google Challenge. Would you bet against Bing?

LOL, I took the test and chose Google results 4x out of 5... Not sure Microsoft should offer that challenge

 

[alphanumeric]

Nothing against Bing. What surprise me more is that they consider a minimum of 16 GB storage an improvement... This is a huge and the most enormous bloat ever created.

There is literally NO given reason why NT 6 kernel Windows versions require that much space by default. I've easily installed both 32 and 64 bit Windows on literally half their requirements just fine. It's just bizarre that xp required a mere few gigs of space, vista came out and quadrupled it. For what? All those added features can't possibly justify THAT much space; even Windows Embedded doesn't take that much space and you can run a WHOLE Windows version with an Embedded SKU with everything in it. Not even Windows Phone 8 doesn't use so much space and that's an NT 6 kernel platform... Just weird.

Some of that is the "Add Features" option. If you install Core all the Pro files are installed too, they just aren't enabled. The Media Center files may be in there too. They may be compressed but they still take up space on an install. Even then though it is a big footprint, must be all those preinstalled Apps.

I'm still trying wrap my head around how adding Bing lets them give it out for free. I'm guessing you'll be able to disable it but not actually uninstall it. They must be assuming a lot of people will not switch to something else and use what comes preconfigured.

 

[Fredledingue]

Alpha, just look at the money Google has been doing in recent years and the answer is obvious. They want Bing to be #2 with adds revenues. Worth a few entry-line windows licenses IMO.

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As for the bloat, I think you can gather all the softwares you can imagine that could come with a windows install and you will never reach 10Gb mathematicaly. How they manage to reach such a volume at Microsoft is beyond me.