After Google and Asus decided to launch the ChromeBit ‘Computer on a stick‘, Intel has come out with its own version running Microsoft Windows 8.1. It must be noted that Intel had earlier revealed the device in January at the Consumer Electronics Show. Intel Compute Stick has been priced at $150 and is available for pre-order in US. Intel has impressively crammed in a quad-core Atom CPU, 32GB of storage and 2GB of RAM, along with a USB port, WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 support and a mini-USB connector for power (HDMI power will come later). If you don’t want to invest $150, there’s a $89 version too that runs on Linux and has 1 GB of RAM.
The Intel Compute Stick can conveniently plug into your TV’s HDMI Output and run Windows 8.1 apps like Youtube. The device also lets users add a keyboard and mouse for use. Unlike Google which targets students with its ChromeBit, Intel assures that the Compute Stick is “Business Ready”. Intel aims to capture the ‘Enterprise Market” through the Compute Stick as it would lead to huge cost cuttings and increased employee mobility within the enterprise.
The Intel Compute Stick is another initiative by Microsoft to push out its Windows For All strategy. Microsoft is already offering a Windows 10 upgrade even to the pirated users of Windows 7 and above. It is also offering free versions of Windows 10 for budget board computers such as the $35 Raspberry Pi 2 and Qualcomm’s $75 DragonBoard 410c. This means sub-$100 Windows 10 PCs, albeit not in dongle form, could also reach the market soon.
Microsoft is making sure that its enterprise users remain with them and steer clear of Google’s Chrome OS. If given an option between ChromeBit and Intel Compute Stick, we can’t see many enterprises switching to the ChromeBit simply because of the familiarity and compatibility of Microsoft Windows OS.
