Microsoft may introduce a new Surface CloudBook device that runs Windows Cloud

Microsoft recently announced its upcoming Spring event that will be happening on May 2nd. The event will be highly focused on education, and we believe Microsoft will introduce Windows Cloud at the event.

Windows Cloud is expected to be Microsoft’s take on Google’s Chromebooks, so it is a pretty big deal for Microsoft. Windows Cloud is essentially a new version of Windows 10, but the key difference on Windows Cloud is that users can only download apps from the Windows Store — this includes Win32 and Universal Windows Platform Apps. Microsoft will also likely make Windows Cloud a lot cheaper than other SKUs of Windows 10 such as Home or Pro, but we aren’t too sure about that just yet.

Along with Windows Cloud, Microsoft may launch a new device at the event called the CloudBook. ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley actually speculated the name of the device earlier this month. Now, Microsoft recently pushed out an app collection in the Windows Store which has an ID of “cloudbook” and it is a collection of some of the educational apps in the Windows Store. That indicates that there is a device called “CloudBook” and considering the fact that the app collection includes educational apps, the device will most likely get launched at the May 2nd event in New York City.

We can confirm that a device called “CloudBook” does indeed exist, so it isn’t just a speculation anymore — but we don’t have the exact details regarding the specs of the device as of yet. Rumors suggest that the CloudBook will have an ARM processor, possibly the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 — but as this is just a rumor, make sure to take it with a grain of salt.

More importantly, it isn’t clear if the CloudBook is going to be a part of Microsoft’s Surface brand just yet — but chances are it will most likely be a part of the Surface line. That’s because of a couple of different reasons — for one, Microsoft is expected to introduce three new Surface devices this year, two of which are the Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2. Second, it would simply be pretty weird if Microsoft creates a new brand for its laptops considering the Surface brand is already quite popular.

For those wondering, don’t expect Microsoft to introduce a new Surface Pro 5 or Surface Book 2 at its May event. Even though the Surface Pro 5 is an incremental upgrade, the company will possibly have a bigger launch event for the Pro 5 and Book 2 later this year.