Octopus Overlords

Less than one year ago, Microsoft unveiled a new version of its Windows platform called Windows 10 S. It was a curious endeavor right from the get-go. Intended as a rival for Google’s Chrome OS, which continues to gain substantial ground in important markets like education, Windows 10 S is something of a “Windows 10 Lite” solution. It is only capable of running apps downloaded from the Microsoft Store, and Microsoft claimed that the “S” stood for “Simplicity.”

Now, for the strange part. While Windows 10 S was launched to be a lite version of the Windows platform that could power lower-cost laptops to compete with Chromebooks, it actually hides the full version of Windows 10 inside. For a $50 fee, any Windows 10 S machine can be transformed into a full-fledged Windows 10 computer.