Microsoft gives in to Chromebook bullies and drops Windows 11 SE
- Reference: 1754064189
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/08/01/microsoft_abandons_windows_11_se/
- Source link:
Microsoft didn't formally announce the end of Windows 11 SE, instead it simply updating both the SE product overview [1]page and [2]FAQ this week to inform customers that support for Windows 11 SE would be ending in October 2026.
"Microsoft will not release a feature update after Windows 11 SE, version 24H2," Redmond noted in the updates. "While your device will continue to work, we recommend transitioning to a device that supports another edition of Windows 11 to ensure continued support and security."
[3]
Note that's 24H2, not 25 - in other words, Windows 11 SE has already seen its last feature update, and now it's the slow walk toward sunset.
[4]
[5]
For those unfamiliar with Windows 11 SE, the stripped down, cloud-based and centrally managed Windows 11 variant came out in 2021. It was designed with a look and feel akin to Google's ChromeOS, which powers the [6]education-dominating Chromebook. Microsoft also premiered a budget-priced $250 Surface SE laptop to go along with the SE OS, with the aim to sell the devices to schools by the cartful.
Microsoft didn't state whether the Surface SE laptop was being discontinued as well, although based on the recommendation for affected users to transition to new hardware, it doesn't look like it'll remain a priority. Microsoft [7]does not support OS upgrades or switches on the Surface SE.
[8]Google's 10-year Chromebook lifeline leaves old laptops headed for silicon cemetery
[9]Please, FOSS world, we need something like ChromeOS
[10]4 in 5 Chromebooks sold to US students in Q2 as demand rises
[11]Google Indonesia tangled up in $600 million Chromebook corruption probe
We reached out to Microsoft with questions about the decision to kill this relatively young and narrowly focused Windows variant, but didn't immediately hear back.
With the end of Windows 11 SE, it appears Microsoft has shifted tactics in the education market: Instead of trying products that could [12]compete with Chromebooks , Redmond is trying to [13]convince schools that the full version of Windows 11 is great for educational uses and is definitely what they want.
[14]
Making inroads in the education space may be tough for Microsoft, with Chromebooks being dominant in the space thanks to easy management and low hardware prices. That said, educators have been [15]noticing in recent years that cheap Chromebooks aren't able to take the abuse that children dole out on them, forcing frequent replacement spending that can add up across hundreds or thousands of devices. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/education/windows/windows-11-se-overview
[2] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/education/windows/windows-11-se-faq
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aI049tJAbqbT_UXxyh6LvgAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aI049tJAbqbT_UXxyh6LvgAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aI049tJAbqbT_UXxyh6LvgAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2024/09/30/teachers-schools-rely-on-chromebooks-screen-time-in-classrooms/
[7] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2334880/load-windows-10-11-pro-on-surface-laptop-se
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/06/chromebook_end_of_life/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/foss_chromeos_please/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/08/4_in_5_chromebooks_sold_to_us_students/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/14/asia_tech_news_roundup/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/08/4_in_5_chromebooks_sold_to_us_students/
[13] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/windows
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aI049tJAbqbT_UXxyh6LvgAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/chromebook-churn-report-highlights-problems-of-short-lived-laptops-in-schools/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
When you're a tech bro, things like strategy, long term planning, they're just sooooo last century.
If you're big, then you just milk the cow until it dies of old age and sneer at small projects for being inconsequential top the cow. Look at IBM, HP, Intel....has it harmed their executive pay?
If you're small, the game is to take money off deluded "investors" and burn it, whilst muttering about MVP, agile, AI, and any other snake oil that can make the investors go misty eyed, not forgetting the advantages of being first mover. Basically, just channel your inner Liz Holmes.
In either world there's no need for any competent planning.
Was about to allude to something similar.
Microsoft does this a lot when they see someone having already succeeded with something that they'd never have risked trying themselves first. They want to get in on it, launch a "me too" version and put a certain level of effort into shoving it down peoples' throats for a while.
Despite the huge advantage of being able to use their size- and abuse their monopoly- to this end, they still often fail because they *are* chasing an already-successful product and don't have the first mover advantage. For example, Zune (the "me too" iPod), Silverlight (the "me too" Adobe Flash), etc etc.
And also because these are "throw enough mud at the wall" attempts where- in many cases- if they're not immediately as successful as they'd hoped, they drop them like a hot potato.
In short, "If at first you don't succeed, abandon whatever it was and all the suckers you conned into investing their time and money in it and move on to the next bandwagon."
Microsoft does have a long term plan
But it is about cloud where they are currently making huge sums of money, and AI, where they hope to be making additional huge sums of money in the future. Windows, where they make huge sums (but far smaller huge than they make from cloud) just isn't that important to them anymore. And a niche market for Windows in schools where they are essentially giving it away trying to hook kids is DEFINITELY not important.
Yeah...comma...right!
Redmond is trying to convince schools that the full version of Windows 11 is great for educational uses and is definitely what they want.
Good luck wi' dat!
Surprise, surprise?
<< leaving schools that chose Microsoft over Google in the lurch just four years after >>
No surprise there from an avaricious yank entity then. Microshaft REALLY want you to buy new PCs, don't they. It's definitely a cartel with hardware manufacturers.
Bad taste
First Nokia now this.
Good job there’s Linux to keep the hardware going for a while.
Way to put the “win” in Windows, Microsoft(!).
Etc etc.
Re: Bad taste
Not really an issue. Most SE devices had so little ram that upgrading to a 25H2 or whatever would be pretty near impossible without re-install.
Got one recently for less than £40 which is a perfectly adequate lapbook with another OS. Thank you Microsoft for bowing to the inevitable.
I'm pretty sure there is a cheaper, more resilient alternative.
Exercise books, pens, whiteboards, marker pens, teachers.
You don't have to give GAFA a tonne of cash every few years just to do something that we used to do without computers quite happily for generations. Maybe someone could give it a go.
Can Chrome OS Flex be installed on those soon-to-be-unsupported Surface SE laptops?
Why aren't the likes of REG standing up and taking a stand against the likes of Microsoft to unlock devices they are abandoning allow owners who have bought for hardware that is now their property from using alternative OS's, time for somebody to challenge this in court! - The EU "Right to Repair" Directive, officially titled Directive (EU) 2024/1799, aims to promote the repair of goods and extend product lifespans, reducing electronic waste.
"recommend transitioning to a device that supports another edition of Windows 11"
And if you're lucky you might get a whole couple of years out of that too.
So it went from Windows 10 to 11, now it goes with Windows 11 SE. There's something rotten at the heart of Microsoft - hardware, landfill, and the environment are all somebody else's problem.
Re: "recommend transitioning to a device that supports another edition of Windows 11"
Windows 11 SEP
Re: "recommend transitioning to a device that supports another edition of Windows 11"
Some years ago my old company wanted us all to use cheaper hardware and some of us were given Chromebooks as a trial. I was one of the guinea pigs. My Chromebook lasted exactly 2 hours until my first customer rang up and asked my to look at certain gas dispersion modelling files which needed a piece of software that only runs under Windows. The Chromebook trial lasted about three weeks until 18 of the 20 trial machines were thrown back at the IT manager as being unable to manage the work we were doing. We never saw Chromebooks in the office again.
Shortly after that the company decided that the frequent travellers like myself would ditch our laptops for super lightweight MS Surface machines. Only the equivalent surface machine cost 30% more than our HP company issue laptops for a lower specification and could not be upgraded. As I and several others had lots of company software on our machines along with copies of several databases which were mission critical *my* Surface ran out of HDD space in 6 weeks, as did several of my colleagues who were also struggling with a miserable 4GB of ram.
Strangely, the consultancy team had several programs and multiple data files on their machines and sometimes went to places where there was either no, or a very slow, internet connecton.
IIRC the MS machines were cascaded down to light users who rarely left the office and we got our HPs back.
Chromebooks for students are cheap and cheerful and perfectly adequate for homework tasks and at the price are more or less disposable. That said, if they are getting broken then asking the parents for a returnable deposit or bond would be a way forward.
Obviously M$ wants to get children sucked into the M$ money sucking gravy train as early as possible as once they're used to M$ they are likely to stay with it not knowing any different.
I've heard a thing about businesses that have a long-term plan, and stick with it. The sort of business that gives you real confidence. The sort of business that I'd like to deal with.