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With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

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Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

Is Microsoft losing the battle for the classroom?

5 min. read

Published onSeptember 13, 2016

published onSeptember 13, 2016

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If your current work makes you sit in front of a computer every day, there is a good chance that use Microsoft’s software such as Windows and Office to accomplish your work tasks. Microsoft clearly remains a productivity giant in 2016 and its software products are still ubiquitous in businesses.

However, the situation is clearly different in the education market where the Redmond giant is currently challenged by both Google and Apple. While Microsoft previouslydismissed Google’s Chromebooks as poor laptops replacementsin a series of video ads during the Ballmer era, the company can no longer deny that Google’s lightweight laptops are now quickly gaining ground in the classroom.

Fast Companypublished this week a lengthy story that explains how Google managed to make its Chromebooks the most popular laptops in U.S. schools. While the first Chromebook introduced back 2011 was nothing more than a glorified Chrome machine that couldn’t do more than just browsing the web (and was pretty useless without an Internet connection), Google successfully iterated on the product in the following years to include multi-user support, offline apps, and pretty soon, Android apps as well.

According to research firm Futuresource Consulting, Google today beats both Apple and Microsoft in U.S. education sales as it shipped more than 5 million devices to U.S. buyers in 2015, which is approximately twice the total of each of its rivals. Additionally, Chromebooks accounted for 51% of devices shipped to US classrooms in the first quarter of 2016 and overall we’re talking about a $43 billion worldwide market for educational hardware and software which is expected to double by 2020. As for users, Google already claims more than 60 million students and teachers using Google Education accounts, and all these users who are already familiar with Google’s productivity apps are likely to continue to use them in both their personal and professional lives in the future. Is this a threat for Microsoft’s productivity apps?

As for users, Google already claims more than 60 million students and teachers using Google Education accounts, and all these users who are already familiar with Google’s productivity apps are likely to continue to use them in both their personal and professional lives in the future. Is this a threat for Microsoft’s productivity apps?

Google’s first move in the education market was Google Apps for Education, a free software suite that bundled Gmail, classroom-management tools, and more back in 2006. A few years later, the company tried an unconventional strategy to sell its first affordable Chromebooks to US schools: instead of trying to beat Apple and Microsoft at their own games (which implies lengthy negotiations at the district level and multimillion dollar contracts), the company directly pitched Chromebooks to schools and teachers and offered bundles including 30 Chromebooks plus a charging cart and a printer.

Rajen Sheth, director of product management for Android and Chrome in business and education explained to Fast Company:

…we found teachers who were able to secure budget and go and buy those for their classroom. Chromebooks were flying off the shelves.

It’s also easy to understand why schools like Chromebooks so much: Chrome OS is a very lightweight operating system that is versatile enough to provide students and teachers enough capabilities to accomplish their work. It’s also very secure and schools don’t need a lot of IT resources to manage the devices as well as the Google Education accounts. Nearly everything can be administrated remotely.

While Microsoft is still leading education sales outside of the U.S. today, the company is well aware of Google’s strong competition in the area. That’s why the company introduced Office 365 Education with a Classroom offering that pretty much covers the features of Google Apps for Education. But while there are already a decent selection of affordable Windows laptops in the market, Chromebooks are likely to keep an edge according to Adam Newman, founding partner at education advisory firm Tyton Partners: “There’s a complexity to what Microsoft is offering, and in a lot of places that complexity can be overwhelming,” he explained to Fast Company.

Microsoft also introduced Minecraft: Education earlier this year, which is a new version of the cult-classic sandbox game tailored for the classroom. The game is designed for helping students learn computational thinking and is now available on Windows PCs at a cost between $1 and $5 per student. Tony Prophet, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for education marketing said to Fast Company that the game has generated “huge excitement from educators around the world.” and that “there’s really nothing like it among our competitors.”

However, as Chromebooks are soon expected to support Android apps, it may soon become even harder for Windows laptops to compete in the education market. Getting millions of Android apps may also eventually help Chromebooks get out of the niche education market to become a more mainstream option with consumers.

Do you think Microsoft is doing the right things to stay relevant in the education market? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

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Radu Tyrsina

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount#

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier#

Is Microsoft losing the battle for the classroom?#