(lively music)
- Up next, we have a special show for education
as we take a closer look
at both the new Windows 11 SE edition,
along with the new Surface Laptop SE,
built exclusively for education.
Now we'll show you the combined learning experiences
along with how to deploy and manage
all your Windows 11 SE devices at scale
using Microsoft Intune for Education.
To walk us through all of this,
here today by Steve Dispensa, VP for Windows Management.
Welcome back to the show.
- Thanks a lot. It's great to be here.
- Now a few months ago, we announced Windows 11 SE,
and the new Surface Laptop SE.
So these also represent purpose-built software
and hardware for education.
How does this change things compared
to what we've done in the past?
- Well, there's a lot to unpack here.
We focused heavily on the end-to-end experience
with an education-specific OS that is streamlined
and secure, and it brings Windows 11
to new device price points.
And this addresses a key technology gap
in software and hardware that's existed
for primary and early secondary students,
or K through 8, as we refer to them in the US.
First, Windows 11 SE is a new edition
of Windows built off of Windows 11.
It's a cloud-first operating system,
specifically designed for students
and teachers that brings the best of Windows
and Microsoft 365 with Office.
And while we are cloud first, we're not cloud dependent.
Students can also continue to work offline,
especially if they don't have reliable internet connectivity
at home, and they can sync their local work
to the cloud with OneDrive when they're back online.
Second, at the endpoint,
Windows 11 SE experiences come to life on a new class
of super affordable OEM partner devices,
as you can see here, which start at $249 in the US.
And of course, we've also launched
the Microsoft Surface Laptop SE,
which is purpose built for education
and Windows 11 SE.
This brings streamlined performance
and more efficient hardware,
which leads to greater all day battery life.
For example, on the Surface Laptop SE,
the battery will last up to 16 hours.
- So it's a powerful
and tailor-made experience then for students.
So how have we thought about management?
- So there's lots of good news there.
This is the first version of Windows
that's purely managed from the cloud.
In fact, Windows 11 SE is designed
for efficient cloud-based management
for the full range of tasks across the device lifecycle.
Additionally, using our firmware management controls
via Intune, with Surface Laptop SE
you can manage hardware components like you're seeing here.
Additionally, this level of cloud-based management
is combined with tailored productivity
that brings inclusivity to learning.
Here, for example, you're seeing OneNote
with Immersive Reader.
I'll pause here, so you can hear it.
- [Immersive Reader] Bearded dragons are uniquely adapted
to survive in arid forests and inland desert.
- And in addition to native voice controls
in Windows 11 SE, these accessibility features
make the learning experience more inclusive for students.
So there are a ton of benefits,
especially when you compare Windows 11 SE to Chromebooks.
- And really something to reiterate here
is that these devices are only available
for education organizations.
You're not going to find them, for example,
in stores or online, but why do we go deeper
into the student experience for Windows 11 SE.
Can you show us what you can do with one of these devices?
- Yeah, absolutely.
So at the core of this
is the familiar Windows 11 experience.
It has the same simplified user interface,
great multitasking with Snap Assist
and cloud file sync with OneDrive.
Windows 11 SE is optimized for running apps
that run in the browser either in Edge or in Chrome.
In fact, as you can see, I have Edge pre-installed
on this device.
And another benefit of Edge
is that because it's based on the Chromium engine,
Google Chrome extensions will run on it.
Here you can see,
we have quite a few popular extensions installed.
And from the browser, you can see the social learning app,
Flipgrid, where students can also connect
with others using video.
The Microsoft Teams desktop app is pre-installed,
which is perfect for remote learning
and working or chatting with other students
and your teachers.
And for the best productivity experience,
you can see Word here and you can see,
we have the desktop apps for the rest of Office,
including Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
These apps are the full Office desktop apps
that you know, which by design work offline
and they're great for hybrid learning outside
of the classroom.
And we've also pre-installed Minecraft Education Edition,
with its built-in capabilities specifically designed
for learning environments.
- And one thing to point out here is that Teams,
the Office apps and Minecraft like you just showed,
those are all native Win32 apps.
So can I install other Win32 apps on these devices?
- Yes, so we've designed Windows 11 SE
to be compatible with Win32
and with Universal Windows Platform, or UWP apps.
Here, you can see, we have both types
of apps represented in Intune for Education.
These apps can only be installed by device admins,
and students themselves can't install apps,
which helps remove a lot of security risks
and even prevent distraction.
And if you're using enterprise-grade security tools
for Microsoft, those work like they would
with other versions of Windows.
And to make sure you can access the right apps,
we've worked with educators and their IT teams
to curate a supported list of third-party apps
that all promote learning outcomes,
which we are continually updating.
We have allowed categories for browsers and apps
for test taking, accessibility,
classroom communication, content filtering,
and device management,
which we've documented at aka.ms/Windows11SEapps.
So if your school uses Zoom or Google Chrome,
these will work perfectly on Windows 11 SE.
- Okay, and this is one of the biggest differences,
you know, compared to Windows 11 Home or Pro
and SE, in that there's a set of defined
and approved apps that are supported
and that can be installed, which, you know,
given the potential for malware risks
and really the need
to keep these experiences specifically scoped for learning,
these can solve for better security
and also bring better student productivity.
And we're going to touch a lot more on these aspects
when we get to device management.
But before we go there,
I see that you also have a Surface Laptop SE
in front of you.
So can we take a look at that?
- Sure. I'd be glad to.
The Surface Laptop SE is our most affordable Surface.
It's designed with the same attention to detail
that Surface is known for.
It has a super durable polycarbonate
outer shell in glacier white,
and it comes with all the connections
that you need to connect and learn with a headset jack,
full-sized USB-A and USB-C ports,
which also can be used for device charging,
and it supports a dedicated power connector.
And on the other side of the device
is a Kensington-compatible security lock.
Then importantly, it's designed to be easy to repair
with replaceable components using commonly available tools.
And as we move to the inside,
you'll see there's a selection of Intel Celeron processors,
virtual TPM 2.0 for security, 4 or 8 gigabytes
of memory and 64 or 128 gigabytes of eMMC internal storage.
And it supports Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE
for wireless connectivity.
- Great. So it's durable, it's serviceable.
It's got a lot of great ports on it.
You know, I know a lot of people watching
probably have those charging carts with USB-C connectors
that they're using in their schools,
so it's going to make it really easy to deploy.
- That's right.
This is specifically designed with education in mind.
Moving back to the hardware, the display is beautiful.
It measures 11.6 inches diagonally with a
1366x768 pixel resolution.
In fact, its size and lightweight
make it perfect to carry and fit into a school backpack.
It's keyboard and touchpad are designed to have
the same premium typing and precision touchpad navigation
that you've come to expect from Surface.
And there's an onboard HD webcam,
which is great for online learning
and optimized for producing accurate colors and skin tones.
It also has stereo speakers and crystal clear microphones
for an optimized experience with Microsoft Teams
or with video discussions using Flipgrid.
And you know, having just spent some time with this device,
I really appreciate the comfortable typing experience.
The touchpad, camera, speakers, and microphone
are also great, especially considering
a $249 starting price.
- Great. So now you've touched on serviceability.
So let's dive in and really show you what's possible here.
So what's key to this are these seven Torx screws
on the base of the device,
because they're not hidden by the rubber feet
like they often are, and that's by design.
And you just need to remove, effectively, what's visible.
Now the great thing here is that the feet
are also replaceable.
And before I show you the process,
I'm going to flash up a disclaimer,
as we recommend that you seek professional assistance
before dismantling, especially if you're new
to device repair.
Now here you're are seeing our Microsoft Surface engineer,
Branden Cole, demonstrating.
You can see that he starts by removing the screws
from the base of the device.
And it's going to take a few moments to do this.
He then moves to the front of the device
and starts unclipping all the clips
around the keyboard and touchpad panel.
Now with that complete, there are two ribbon cables
that are connected via ZIF connectors
that you need to unclip to remove the keyboard panel.
Then before he does anything, it's always a good idea
for safety, he disconnects the battery
and other connectors on the board.
And this leaves him free to remove the battery.
And in the end, he's able to remove the motherboard,
which also includes the replaceable Wi-Fi module.
Then you've got the display module,
the speakers, and those are removable too.
And so you can replace those items as needed
with available parts.
And by the way, once the keyboard panel was removed,
as you saw, Branden only needed
to remove Phillips head screws
and everything else was fastened just with clips
and without using adhesives.
So that's serviceability.
But I want to switch gears to the management experience,
because I know a lot of IT or tech-forward educational staff
are probably weighing up their options
between Windows 11 SE devices and other platforms.
So what's the management experience like?
- Well, the good news is,
for anybody that's managed Windows devices
in the cloud before,
this should be a very familiar experience for them.
In fact, let me do a demo of this for you here.
First, importantly, Windows 11 SE requires Intune
as a cloud-based and simplified management solution.
And the service is included with the device.
Using Intune for Education,
you can start the device management life cycle
using Windows Autopilot.
And what this does is it lets you centrally configure
and provision your apps and policies
for all of your Windows 11 SE devices from the cloud,
without needing to take delivery of,
or even touch the devices themselves.
So it's super easy for IT and even easier
for students setting up a new device.
They just need to sign in with their school account.
And if they're using Autopilot now
the configuration process works the same
as with other version of Windows 10 or Windows 11.
Using Intune, once you configure which apps you want
to provision and which policies you want to enforce,
you can work with your hardware providers
to assign that profile to the devices
before they even leave the factory.
And once you or a student takes delivery
and connects the device to the internet,
it'll be provisioned to your specification
with all the apps and policies that a student
and your IT team needs automatically.
Some of the configurations you can make
in Windows 11 SE from Intune
include wireless or connectivity profiles,
so your students stay connected to trusted networks.
And remember when we talked about Win32
and UWP app support?
Intune for Education
is the mechanism that you'll use to add
or remove apps from Windows 11 SE devices.
You can see here, I have a long list
of learning apps and management tool packages imported
into my Intune environment.
And these can all be targeted, in my case,
to devices running Windows 11 SE.
Now from the Surface Management Portal,
you can keep track of your Surface devices,
including their warranty status
and any open support requests that you might have.
And you can even make new support requests directly
from Endpoint Manager.
- Makes sense, and it should be
pretty familiar for all the IT admins
who are watching today.
So what does the process then look like
to reset a Windows 11 SE device?
- Well, the good news is you never have
to reimage a Windows 11 SE device.
In fact, all the actions you have to take
to reset a Windows 11 SE device can be done entirely
from the cloud.
Let's say you want to reset a device
like this one for a new school year or for reassignment.
In Intune for Education, I'll go to my Windows devices
and I'll pick this one here that you can see
is running Windows, and the model is a Surface Laptop SE.
From here, I just need
to select Autopilot reset and confirm.
And finally, I'll go back to the Windows 11 SE device
and connect to the internet.
It gets the reset command from Intune
and it'll reset the device to a clean state.
And note that this device could have connected
to the internet from anywhere,
whether it was at a student's house,
or lost or misplaced, or even in your lab at school
for the reset to take place.
And this ease of management and familiarity
goes through everything we do in Windows 11 SE.
- And it's great seeing, you know, the hardware
and software experiences and management experiences
on Windows 11 SE and Surface Laptop SE.
So if somebody's watching maybe from education
and looking to learn more, what do you recommend?
- So the good news is Windows 11 SE devices
are starting to ship now.
To learn more about Windows 11 SE
and our OEM partner devices go to aka.ms/Windows11SE.
And for more information about the Surface Laptop SE,
go to surface.com/education.
- Thanks Steve, for joining us,
and the great tour of Windows 11 SE Intune
and the Surface Laptop SE.
Of course, keep watching Microsoft Mechanics
for the latest in tech updates, subscribe to our channel
if you haven't already.
And thank you for watching.