Liveblog: Microsoft demos Windows 10 S, Surface Laptop and a bunch of educational tools

Panay: We want to create products to empower the students of today to create the world of tomorrow.

You can pre-order the laptop right now. Deliveries will start from 15 June.

Prices start at $999 (around Rs 65,000) for the base, Intel Core i5 powered model.

The pricing puts it in direct competition with the MacBook Air.

The Surface Dial is supported.

It’s also context aware, so it adjusts, say, volume in a music app and scrolling in Word.

The speakers are underneath the keyboard. The sound permeates through the cloth. There are no speaker grills.

It’s faster than a MacBook Pro, and lasts much larger.

Panay: Charge your device, leave the charger at home, go to school, go to the library, binge-watch Netflix, cram a little, then charge it.

Microsoft is promising 14.5 hours of battery life.

This is no Chromebook alternative, it’s a full-fledged, Microsoft-designed, Windows Ultrabook.

Oh, and it’s powered by a 7th gen Intel i7.

The laptop is 14.5 mm thin, weighs 1.2 kg and has a 13.4-inch screen 3.4 MP screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio.

It also supports the Surface Pen, and possibly, the Surface Dial.

Just soak in that texture. “We want to move from something that feels like a machine to one that feels more personal.”- Panay.

The surface of the bottom portion is covered in some sort of fibre

That’s one GORGEOUS looking laptop. Images don’t do it justice.

Panay: It’s going to last you from the day they walk into orientation to the day they graduate.

Panay is unusually excited about the Surface Laptop. “It’s beautiful because it’s personal.”

Panay: These students are asking for a laptop. A Surface Laptop.

Panay: We wanted to put our focus into the next 4 years of a student’s life, to build a product that they’ll have confidence in, even if they don’t know what their major is.

Panay: Our products help you do what you love doing most. But it’s not the product, they must disappear into the background.

“If any of you haven’t picked up a Pro, you should.” – Panay

The most soulful expression of Windows needs to run on the most soulful of Windows devices.

Are we going to see a new Surface device?

Panos Panay on stage to demo it.

Terry Myerson is back on stage.

Immersive Windows mixed reality headsets are coming this “holiday season” starting at $299 (around Rs 19,000).

Microsoft is now demoing a bunch of educational Hololens apps. It’s too bad that the headset still costs $3,000 though.

In school year 2018, any student can take any mixed reality course on any Windows 10 device.

This is immersive education.

Cheap mixed reality headsets are coming.

View Mixed Reality: Use your screen and webcam to enhance your reality. It’s brilliantly simple.

A presentation in 3D.

Adding 3D images in PowerPoint will be as easy as inserting a 2D image. PowerPoint can even animate 3D objects.

Creating 3D images using Paint 3D

Saunders: Research shows that engagement increases dramatically with 3D tools. Girls, in particular, show more interest in math and science.

Megan Saunders will talk about 3D for everyone

Next up, 3D, mixed reality and education.

Minecraft Mentors is a source of Minecraft lesson plans, code, and other teaching utilities.

Microsoft has introduced Code Builder for Minecraft: Education Edition. You build, create and move around using code.

Quarnstorm: Women make up only 25 percent of coders wolrdwide.

Students created a Mars habitat in Minecraft. They used math to manage resources.

Deifre Quarnstrom is on stage to talk about how Minecraft Education Edition can be a learning tool.

Students are learning to create robots from junk. This is exceedingly cool.

Teams is available today as a private preview and will launch this “summer”.

Collaborative editing is nothing new, but it can be more powerful, and useful, with Teams integration.

Microsoft claims that it’s a more natural means of interaction.

Polls, gifs, emojis, video chat, OneNote and more, these are all supported in Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams can best be described as a Slack competitor, but with Microsoft services integration.

“it’s impressive to see how students are taking more and more academic risk as they get more comfortable with reading.”

Catherine Boeger is on stage to discuss Microsoft Teams

Myerson: Mixed reality is a magical experience, and it will work with Windows 10 S

Myerson: Our partners are offering a new range of Windows 10 S devices starting at just $189 (around Rs 12,000).

All of these will come with a 1-year Microsoft Education license.

Office365 for education for all teachers and students worldwide.

Windows 10 Enterprise tools have been streamlined for school use

Using a “setup my PC” app, it’s easy for a teacher to setup a PC with just a pen drive. This doesn’t take more than 30 seconds.

Login times are faster on 10 S

Third party apps are can’t run directly. Microsoft will try to suggest alternatives. Teachers can, however, switch from 10 S to 10 Pro mode to allow the installation of third-party apps.

Introducing Ohbot, designed by students on Windows 10 S

Everything on Windows 10 S is downloaded from the Windows Store. As suspected, it only supports UWP apps.

Of course, this is more secure, and you get access to the full Office suite.

Windows 10 S runs on the full range of hardware. This includes the Surface Book.

Introducing Windows 10 S: Designed for simplicity.

Myerson: We’re taking a new approach: Simplify to magnify.

Myerson: A complete solution to education needs to scale from student to student, classroom to classroom.

Myerson: Our mission with WIndows is to create a platform that inspires creativity

Terry Myerson on stage.

“This is the next generation of creators.”

“I want to read every book in here” – random kid

Students discuss how Microsoft’s learning tools are changing their lives.

Nadella: Reading is an essential competency. Once you fall behind, it’s hard to catch up. This is something we’ll address with the OneNote learning tool.

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Nadella: Teachers know that computational thinking is important for a broader future.

Nadella: Any classroom can promote learning with the right tools. Educational opportunities get better with empowerment.

Nadella: Technology is only a tool to empower the creativity and ingenuity of teachers and students.

Nadella: Democaritasing educational opportunity speaks directly to our mission.

“Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Today’s event is about education and technology.

It’s about empowering the students of today to create the world of tomorrow.” – Nadella

Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, is talking about the importance of education.

Satya Nadella is on stage. He’s talking about his past.

Here’s what we’re expecting from the event today:  http://bit.ly/2prYMkX

It looks like the event is about to start!

The event will begin shortly.