The increased demand for laptops running Chrome OS operating system and tablet devices has forced Microsoft to take measures to increase the attractiveness of its own products. in 2012, the giant began offering the Windows operating system on favorable terms for the manufacturers of laptops and tablets SFF. Microsoft expects that this measure will reduce the cost of portable devices up to a competitive level.
Meanwhile, the explosive growth in Chromebooks popularity was preserved in 2013, while the laptop running Windows continue to lose ground. This caused Microsoft to release Windows 8.1 with Bing, which is also offered to producers at a reduced cost compared to the standard edition Windows 8.1, but imposes on the number of devices hardware limitations (in particular, the size of the screen).
Microsoft will continue to support the initiative. In addition, manufacturers will be able to install Windows 8.1 with Bing on laptops sizes 14 and 15 inches.