Consider another rumor confirmed and moved into the true column.
This morning Microsoft Blogger Brandon LeBlanc posted at the Windows Experience Blog about how Windows with Bing will be beneficial to their hardware partners. You might recall Windows 8.1 with Bing hit the rumor-mill several weeks ago around the tech press and blogs.
In this post he begins by pointing out the recent efforts Microsoft has made to help their partners be successful:
- Scaling Windows Phone, evolving Windows 8 which summarizes the Windows and Windows Phone related announcement at the Build conference that happened back in April.
- Windows 8.1 Update – important refinements to the Windows experience which talked about Windows 8.1 Update and how it further tweaked Windows 8.1 to improve the system experience for mouse and keyboard users.
- Thoughts on Day 1 of Build 2014 which provided more info on Microsoft’s decision to offer the Windows Phone OS at no cost to handset manufacturers.
The timing of this post is tied to the upcoming Computex event in Taiwan when there will be quite a few new systems introduced by Microsoft partners and those inexpensive Windows devices will be sporting the previously rumored Windows 8.1 with Bing.
According to LeBlanc Windows 8.1 with Bing provides the same experiences that Windows 8.1 Update gives users and it will have Bing as its default search engine. Makes sense right? Well he also confirms that that default can be changed if the end user wants to do that.
Windows 8.1 with Bing will only be available pre-loaded on OEM devices so if you were hoping for a cheap Windows download that is not going to happen.
Brandon summarizes the idea being Windows 8.1 with Bing like this:
The end result is that more people—across consumer and commercial—will have access to an even broader selection of new devices with all the awesomeness that Windows 8.1 provides, and get Office too, all at a really affordable price. Additionally, as reach expands, the opportunity for developers and their apps also increases.
So free licenses for both Windows Phone and now some Windows devices.
Do you think this will have a long term impact on the adoption of Windows 8.1 and the growth of low-end Windows 8.1 devices?
Source: Helping our hardware partners build lower cost Windows devices (Windows Experience Blog)
