Windows 10 S at 6 (Months): Is it Ready Yet? (Premium)

Over the summer, I used Windows 10 S every single day for two weeks and wrote about my experiences. My conclusion was as predictable as it was inescapable: Windows 10 S was not ready for prime time. No one—literally, no one—could use this system without making a lot of compromises and without experiencing a lot of pain.

But three months has gone by since then. Windows 10 S has been updated to the Fall Creators Update, and some of the core built-in apps, like Mail and Calendar, have improved. The Microsoft Store—previously called the Windows Store—has been updated and enhanced with a better apps selection. Is using Windows 10 S any less painful?

The answer is a bit complicated. I mean, yes, it is generally less painful for the reasons noted above. So maybe the better question is whether it’s good enough for a normal person to use. That answer, too, is complicated. Because we all have different needs.

And that’s the point with Windows 10 S, really. Microsoft feels that it does meet certain needs. That there is a class of user who values the reliability, performance, and security of this system and can get by with Microsoft Edge for web browsing, Microsoft Office, and a handful of Store apps.

My argument remains unchanged. I agree that that person exists. But as I noted up front, no one can use Windows 10 S in the real world and not be bitten by its limitations. Not me. Not you. Not Terry Myerson. No anybody. This is a fact.

But, my job is to keep trying. I do this with Microsoft Edge, as I’m sure you know, and I will keep doing it with Windows 10 S. So let’s see where we’re at six months after Microsoft first announced this new Windows 10 version, and three months after my last check-in.

I’m doing this testing on the Surface Laptop I recently received for review. This is a positively stunning device, and I expect Microsoft to sell millions of them. I also expect virtually all Surface Laptop users to immediately upgrade, for free, to the more capable and usable Windows 10 Pro. But I will using Windows 10 S for as long as I can.

The Windows 10 S out of box experience works as it does for other Windows 10 product editions. So much so that I’m wondering whether Microsoft should provide a screen in Setup that would let people switch immediately to Windows 10 Pro so that they aren’t surprised the first time they try to download Chrome or whatever from the web and install it.

For me, setting up any Windows 10 PC involves the same basic steps: Sign-in with my Microsoft account, ensure the PC is up-to-date—I had to install the Fall Creators Update on this PC, but that wasn’t surprising—update the built-in apps through the Store, configure OneDrive to sync the folders I need, and then start installing apps.

With the exception of that last step, Windows 10 S handles all that identically to other Windows 10 product editions. I normally head to the web to install Chrome (and, just this week, Firefox), Microsoft Office, and a few other applications, and to the Store to install Photoshop Elements and a few other Store apps.

Windows 10 S cannot install non-Store apps. So I need to find alternatives in the Store. In my case, that means I can’t use MarkdownPad 2, which I normally write with, Google Chrome, or any developer tools. It means I can’t (efficiently) use web apps like Google Inbox, Google Calendar, and Twitter Lite, which I normally pin to the taskbar through Chrome.

So I can use a Store app for writing, like Markdown 10 or Appy Text. I can Office in the Store. I can use Mail and Calendar instead of Google Inbox and Google Calendar, and the Twitter app in the Store instead of Twitter Lite. These are not ideal choices, to a one, but each does work fine.

Microsoft Edge has, of course, improved tons this year. There are many new features in the Fall Creators Update, and more extensions than there were even just a few months ago. Would I rather use Chrome or Firefox? Obviously. But with Windows 10 S, you have to use Edge. It could be worse.

I can even run games on this thing, though I don’t normally do that on any PC. Cuphead installed and runs just fine, for example. And it appears that Windows Mixed Reality would “work,” though the CPU and integrated graphics in this particular PC means I’d see a less-than-ideal experience. I may actually try that just to see what it’s like.

This is all good, of course.

But Windows 10 S still breaks at the seams. If you read my recent Microsoft Surface Precision Mouse Mini-Review, you know that that device’s customization features require Microsoft’s Mouse and Keyboard Center software, which—wait for it—is a desktop application. It will not run on Windows 10 S.

So, yes, the mouse does work. But I have to accept the default configuration for all of its buttons. That this is a Microsoft product pretty much says it all. But regardless, this is a great example of what I’m talking about when I say that Windows 10 S won’t actually work for anyone. Eventually, you will need an application or a hardware device that simply will not work—or work fully—in Windows 10 S.

Overall, I guess I’d say that Microsoft has, in small ways, moved the needle a bit on Windows 10 S. But the experience, overall, hasn’t really changed. It has the same challenges as ever.

But I’ll keep using it. Because you never know.