From PC World: For years, Apple Macs dominated the classroom. Then Chromebooks took over. Now, Microsoft is once again pushing for kids to learn via new, cheap Windows 10 PCs, managed by a new Intune application designed specifically for education.
Chromebooks aren’t much more than web browsers built on top of a bare-bones OS. That can be a drawback for businesses, who demand a rich platform for computing. In classrooms, though, the relative simplicity of the platform can be a positive, as they’re easier to manage.
To counter that advantage, Microsoft is debuting Microsoft Intune for Education, a cloud-based version of the Intune application- and device-management service to make managing 30 or 40 laptops per classroom less of a chore. Schools can customize over 150 granular settings, assign them to a student, and apply them to hardware, apps, browsers, the start menu, Windows Defender, and more, Microsoft said in a blog post. For example, a particular student can be assigned to a specific group, and be automatically assigned the same apps as other members of the group.
Managing a few devices can be handled by just logging into the service with an Office 365 login. A separate “set up school PC” app can handle larger deployments, Microsoft said. Intune for Education will be available in preview in the coming weeks and more broadly available this spring for $30 per device, via volume licensing.
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