Microsoft hasn’t really made it’s fear of Chromebooks a secret. After all, the company embarked on an entire campaign that focused on the Google OS-running laptops. Regardless of what you think of the platform, it is selling well and that obviously concerns the maker of Windows. So what to do?
Microsoft is opting to stop spreading FUD via the Scroogled campaign, and go after Google with real competition. A $199 HP notebook was announced at the Worldwide Partner Conference 2014 (WPC).
Now specs for the laptop have apparently leaked out. It will be a bit larger than average Chromebook, sporting a 14 inch screen, whereas rivals tend to be a bit smaller. HP has also passed on the ATOM processor, opting instead to go with AMD — an A4 Micro-6400T Quad-Core SoC with 1.0 GHz, to be specific. Customers can also expect 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB and 64 GB of storage, depending on the model you choose.
As with many Chromebooks, hardware is not be upgradable, but the low-end specs have worked well for Google, mostly because of price. Devices like this are certainly not designed for power-users, but average folk mostly just check email and browse the web, so low-end, cheaply priced, computers make sense.
