Microsoft has begun sending out invitations for its next big event, which is to be held on May 2 in New York City. It takes place just eight days before the company"s Build 2017 developer conference.
As you can see, the only clue as to what it will be about is the hashtag "#MicrosoftEDU", indicating that Microsoft will be talking about education. Yesterday, it was reported that the codename for the event is Bespin, which is the home of Cloud City in the Star Wars universe.
Based on that, it would appear that the company is finally ready to talk about Windows 10 Cloud, a version of the OS that only runs apps from the Windows Store, which Microsoft has refused to even acknowledge thus far, despite numerous leaks. It"s likely to be a competitor to Chrome OS, which is strong in the educational market.
It"s also possible that the firm might show off the Surface Pro 5. Being that it"s rumored to be a minor iteration of the Surface Pro 4, and we"re probably not going to see a Surface Book 2 or Surface phone, it seems feasible that Microsoft may hold an event that focuses on Windows 10 Cloud but with hardware as a sort of sidenote.
There was also a rumor last month of a clamshell-style laptop. The idea at the time was that it might be a new form factor for an upcoming Surface Book, but it seems more reasonable that if it actually does exist, it would be a lightweight Windows 10 Cloud notebook - perhaps even targeting the education sector.
In summary, you can expect that Windows 10 Cloud will be the focus of the event, and new hardware is a possibility. It starts at 9:30am ET on May 2, and you"ll be able to livestream it right here.