An imaginary Windows version of the Chromebook

Acer and HP have cloudbooks - laptop computers outfitted with Windows and a browser - but they are not really the equivalent of a Chromebook.

A Chromebook is a lightweight laptop computer (in both physical weight and computing power) equipped with a browser and just enough of an operating system to run the browser. (And some configuration screens. And the ssh program.) As such, they have minimal administrative overhead.

Cloudbooks - the Acer and HP versions - are lightweight laptops equipped with the full Windows operating system. Since they have the entire Windows operating system, they have the entire Windows administrative "load".

Chromebooks have been selling well (possibly due to their low prices). Cloudbooks have been selling... well, I don't know. There are only a few models from Acer and a few models from HP; much fewer than the plethora of Chromebooks from numerous manufacturers. My guess is that they are selling in only modest quantities.

Would a true "Windows Chromebook" sell? Possibly. Let's imagine one.

It would have to use a different configuration than the current cloudbooks. It would have to be a lightweight laptop with just enough of an operating system to run the browser. A Windows cloudbook would need a browser (let's pick the new Edge browser) and stripped-down version of Windows that is just enough to run it.

I suspect that the components of Windows are cross-dependent and one cannot easily build a stripped-down version. Creating such a version of Windows would require the re-engineering of Windows. But since this is an imaginary device, let's imagine a smaller, simpler version of Windows.

This Windows cloudbook would have to match the price of the Chromebooks. That should be possible for hardware; the licensing fees for Windows may push the price upwards.

Instead of locally-installed software, everything would run in the browser. To compete with Google Docs, our cloudbook would have Microsoft Office 365.

But then: Who would buy it?

I can see five possible markets: enterprises, individual professionals, home users, students, and developers.

Enterprises could purchase cloudbooks and issue them to employees. This would reduce the expenditures for PC equipment but might require different licenses for professional software. Typical office jobs that require Word and Excel could shift to the web-based versions of those products. Custom software may have to run in virtual desktops accessed through the company's intranet. Such a configuration may make it easier for a more mobile workforce, as applications would run from servers and data would be stored on servers, not local PCs.

Individual professionals might prefer a cloudbook to a full Windows laptop. Then again, they might not. (I suspect most independent professionals using Windows are using laptops and not desktops.) I'm not sure what value the professional receives by switching from laptop to cloudbook. (Except, maybe, a lighter and less expensive laptop.)

Home users with computers will probably keep using them, and purchase a cloudbook only when they need it. (Such as when their old computer dies.)

Students could use cloudbooks as easily as the use Chromebooks.

Developers might use cloudbooks, but for them they would need tools available in their browser. Microsoft has development tools that run in the browser, and so do other companies.

But for any of these users, I see them using a Chromebook just as easily as using a Windows cloudbook. Microsoft Office 365 runs in the Chrome and Firefox browsers on Mac OSX and on Linux. (There are apps for iOS and Android, although limited in capabilities.)

There is no advantage to using a Windows cloudbook  -- even our imaginary cloudbook -- over a Chromebook.

Perhaps Microsoft is working on such an advantage.

Their Windows RT operating system was an attempt at a reduced-complexity configuration suitable for running a tablet (the ill-fated Surface RT). But Microsoft departed from our imagined configuration in a number of ways. The Surface RT:

- was released before Office 365 was available
- used special versions of Word and Excel
- had a complex version of Windows, reduced in size but still requiring administration

People recognized the Surface RT for what it was: a low-powered device that could run Word and Excel and little else. It had a browser, and it had the ability to run apps from the Microsoft store, but the store was lacking. And while limited in use, it still required administration.

A revised cloudbook may get a warmer reception than the Surface RT. But it needs to focus on the browser, not locally-installed apps. It has to have a simpler version of Windows. And it has to have something special to appeal to at least one of the groups above -- probably the enterprise group.

If we see a Windows cloudbook, look for that special something. That extra feature will make cloudbooks successful.