I was watching TV on Sunday evening when I saw an advert for the new Surface Tablet, the advert did not mention any OS but the price impressed me. Recall that Microsoft said in their announcement of WMD (Windows Managed Desktop) they said the new Surface would have it preinstalled? Well the price on the Surface Go was $399.00, the Surface to customers was selling for $899.00 a huge drop. So why $399.00?
I looked it up and learned that the Surface Go has Windows S-Mode on it. Now Windows S has been around a few years but for Education, now it is going to consumer use.
Windows S-Mode is worse then WMD, WSM is perhaps a below the belt hit. A device with WSM on it is a Microsoft based device ONLY. You can only install Microsoft software from the Windows Store. You can’t install 32 or 64 bit software from ANY other company.
You MUST use the following exclusively...
1) Edge for Internet
2) Office 360 for production
3) Bing for searrching
etc etc...No Firefox and NOTHING made by Google, no Corel, no Openoffice, no Watchtower Library.
Any software that runs on WSM must e produced by Microsoft.
So if you use the Watchtower Library it will NOT run on a Windows device with Windows S-Mode. This discovery caused me to dig deeper and I learned a very disturbing thing. With the Redstone 1803 update ALL Windows 10 devices had the Windows S-Mode downloaded and installed and it is sitting quietly by the side.
So does it make sense for Microsoft to announce the release of Microsoft Managed Desktop for all Windows 10 devices and install Windows S-Mode on those very same devices? Think it through, Microsoft announces the future WMD for all Windows 10 devices then it is learned that all Windows 10 devices was installed with WSM...
Here is what I think Microsoft intends to do. I did not find this stated anywhere, but logic dictates that releasing WSM whiling announcing WMD lends itself to this conclusion.
Microsoft will offer users 2 options. When the time comes....for all Windows 10 devices
1) Downgrade to Windows S-Mode and continue to use you very expensive Windows 10 device. However choosing this option menas you must let Microsoft make all the choices of what software you will use and how you will use that software. But you will still be able to use the physical device that you paid for.
2) Pay the monthly fee to continue to use your Windows 10 device and allow Microsoft to control the security, updates, etc...and you pay each month to use it.
I learned some other things on Sunday. Microsoft will bundle some items. Windows 10 + Office 360 users will pay less overall. I am sure that Microsoft will also make deals with other software companies to bundle their software as well.
So all the above is nerve racking enough, well perhaps this will make you cry. Microsoft said with they announced the WMD that the new Surface would not be released until after March 2019, it is NOT March 2019, it is August 2018, 7 months before. So Microsoft released the new Surface (if this is the one they were talking about) 7 month ahead of when they said they would. Could it be that WMD will be released sooner than January 2020? With Microsoft S-Mode already installed and ready to go, how easy would it be for Microsoft to flip the switch any time they want.
I would view Microsoft’s announcement of a January 2020 released date as a diversion and every day be prepared to make that awful forced choice.