Windows 10 Cloud hardware specs leak

Martin Brinkmann
Apr 22, 2017
Updated • Jul 5, 2017
Windows, Windows 10
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Microsoft's not-yet-officially unveiled -- Windows 10 Cloud operating system is likely going to be unveiled on Microsoft's May 2, 2017 event in New York City.

While we will have to wait another week to find out whether that is indeed the case or not, Windows 10 Cloud hardware specs and performance targets were leaked online recently on Windows Central.

Windows 10 Cloud, according to rumors, is Microsoft's answer to Google's Chromebook. Designed specifically to compete with Google in education, rumors have it that it will be a low-cost device that will run well on hardware that regular versions of Windows 10 don't run that well on.

Read: our first impression of Windows 10 Cloud

Windows 10 Cloud hardware specs

windows 10 cloud

Microsoft's performance targets for Chromebook competitor highlight what the company wants manufacturers to deliver. It wants its Windows 10 Cloud devices to compete on an eye to eye level with Chromebook's battery life, and resume, and come close to the cold boot, first-sign in and consecutive sign-in times of devices powered by Google's Chrome OS.

As far as minimum hardware specs are concerned, they hold some surprises considering that Microsoft needs to compete with Google in performance and price:

  • Quad-core (Celeron or better) CPU.
  • 4 Gigabytes of RAM.
  • 32 Gigabytes of storage for 32-bit, 64 Gigabytes for 64-bit.
  • Battery larger than 40 WHr (WattHour).
  • Fast eMMC or SSD storage.
  • Optional pen and touch support.

How does this compare to regular versions of Windows 10?

  • Processor with at least 1 GHz
  • 1 Gigabyte of RAM for 32-bit, 2 Gigabytes for 64-bit.
  • 16 Gigabytes of hard drive space for 32-bit, 32 Gigabytes for 64-bit versions of Windows 10.
  • A DirectX 9 or higher compatible graphics card with WDDM 1.0 drivers.
  • A 800x600 display.

And Google's Chrome OS?

Google does not list minimum requirements for its Chrome operating system.  If you check out the devices that are available currently, you will notice the following minimum specs:

  • Intel Celeron processor or comparable.
  • 2 Gigabytes of RAM.
  • 16 Gigabyte of SSD storage

It is interesting to note that Microsoft's Windows 10 Cloud operating system requires better hardware than Windows 10 in some areas. Most notable RAM and storage.

On the processor side, Windows 10 will run on ARM processors eventually as well which should boost battery life and reduce the cost of devices.

Windows 10 Cloud may look an awful lot like Windows RT on first glance. Microsoft launched Windows RT alongside Windows 8, but has not really mentioned the operating system since the launch of Windows RT 8.1. The company's is still pushing out patches for Windows RT, but that is about it.

One of the points of criticism in regards to Windows RT was that users could only use the apps that shipped with the operating system, Internet services and apps, and what was available in Windows Store at the time.

This is similar to how Windows 10 Cloud operates, but with two notable differences.

  1. The Windows Store has matured a lot, and UWP applications deliver a better user experience on average. This includes options to run legacy Windows programs that were converted to run as Windows 10 apps. (hacks may circumvent that restriction)
  2. Windows 10 Cloud comes with an option to upgrade the operating system to a Windows 10 Home or Pro license.

Closing Words

Microsoft wants to establish a Chromebook competitor, especially in the US, a market where Google has been conquering the Education sector with its low-cost Chrome OS powered devices.

It remains to be seen how well this is going to work out for Microsoft. While Windows 10 Cloud looks to be better in all aspects than Windows RT, price, battery life and functionality will determine whether the operating system will have a chance to break Google's domination in the niche.

Now You: Will Microsoft's Windows 10 Cloud do better than Windows RT?

Summary
Windows 10 Cloud hardware specs leak
Article Name
Windows 10 Cloud hardware specs leak
Description
Windows 10 Cloud has not been unveiled officially yet by Microsoft, but the minimum hardware specs and performance targets of Microsoft's Chrome OS competitor have leaked online already.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Dan Donx said on January 15, 2023 at 10:29 am
    Reply

    What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?

    Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.

    If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.

  2. Dexter said on January 15, 2023 at 11:14 am
    Reply

    5. Rufus
    6. Ventoy

    PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.

    1. cdr said on January 15, 2023 at 3:32 pm
      Reply

      I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.

  3. sv said on January 15, 2023 at 6:40 pm
    Reply

    bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.

    ps…. time travelling?
    written. Jan 15, 2023
    Updated • Jan 13, 2023

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on January 16, 2023 at 5:49 am
      Reply

      This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.

  4. Anonymous said on January 16, 2023 at 8:24 am
    Reply

    Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.

  5. basingstoke said on January 16, 2023 at 11:18 am
    Reply

    I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:

    1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)

    2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)

    3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””

    4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows

    5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss

    Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:

    6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now

    Have I missed any group off this list?

    1. Heinz Strunk said on September 19, 2023 at 3:57 pm
      Reply

      You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.

      Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.

  6. ilev said on August 24, 2023 at 7:34 pm
    Reply

    Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update

    1. EP said on August 24, 2023 at 9:21 pm
      Reply

      only from windows update though
      KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site

  7. Anonymous said on August 24, 2023 at 11:05 pm
    Reply

    1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.

    2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.

    3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.

    This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
    Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.

    Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.

  8. john said on August 24, 2023 at 11:17 pm
    Reply

    Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.

    1. John G. said on August 25, 2023 at 12:08 pm
      Reply

      Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.

  9. EP said on August 25, 2023 at 3:10 pm
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215

  10. EP said on August 29, 2023 at 7:32 pm
    Reply

    check out the following recent articles:

    Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
    https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/

    BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/

  11. Leonard Britvolli said on August 30, 2023 at 10:33 pm
    Reply

    While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.

  12. sembrador said on September 5, 2023 at 9:32 pm
    Reply

    My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.

  13. EP said on September 6, 2023 at 11:55 am
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):

    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277

  14. Raphael Benzo said on September 24, 2023 at 9:52 pm
    Reply

    I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
    Tank you for your help

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