Microsoft Event In New York On May 2

Microsoft have announced that it will hold a Microsoft event in New York on May 2, followed by the hashtag #MicrosoftEDU. So what to expect?

(UPDATED: See update on the Microsoft Surface Laptop launch.)

For us tablet computer geeks, there have been leaks and rumors on the new Surface Book, Surface Pro 5, and other devices for a long time actually. But the first clues may actually come from Microsoft itself.

In the RAM-heavy .gif file for the invitation, the clouds in the animated .gif file are moving, and so are the cars. Seems quite normal in a way, but you can also interpret it as a tease or pun for Cloud and Drive, which leads us to “Microsoft Cloud Drive”.

Microsoft have been expected to launch Windows Cloud OS as a lighter version for cheaper Windows devices, which again is presumably aimed at the education sector first of all, where it will compete against the Google Chromebooks that have been introduced over the last few years. The hashtag #MicrosoftEDU provides a similar clue.

The leaked details for the Windows Cloud OS are sketchy so far, so we still need for Microsoft to announce it and unveil it before we can pass any verdict on it. And rumors concerning a cheap “Cloudbook” are even thinner.

As for the introduction of any new Surface tablets, we may also get to see a Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2 unveiled. The only person to stick their neck out and say something personally have been Microsoft tracker and podcaster Paul Thurrott who said in a Tweet on April 6th after talking to someone that have seen the Surface pro 5, that the Surface Pro update is nothing dramatic, just a bump up to the new Kaby Lake processor.

But leaks have leaked out from the manufacturers and supply chain since May 2016. The first leak said that the Surface Book 2 would launch in April 2017, with Kaby Lake processor. And then last month, supply chain sources were quoted, now saying that the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 had gone into production, that Microsoft would cut the introduction price from $1499 to $1000, and that Microsoft is swapping the belt-hinge design of the Surface Book for a new clamshell hinge design of the Surface Book 2.

Chinese-language media Economic Daily News launched a rumor in December, saying that the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 would feature a 4K display, but nobody else have been able to confirm that. But they also believed that the SP5 would launch in Q1, and that didn't happen.

Microsoft is the best in class when it comes to preventing leaks, so the only piece of hardware that has leaked officially so far has not been a Surface device, but a new Microsoft keyboard called Microsoft Modern Keyboard.

So now Microsoft really does have the ability to surprise us all on May 2nd. The Microsoft event will start at 9:30 AM Eastern Time.

– Jim Miller