Chromebook

[TylerM4]

FYI - got my new system today. As also supported by everything I've read about s-mode, you absolutely cannot change to another default search engine. Others are listed in the settings but in 'more actions' the 'make default' option is not there as it is in windows 10 (non s-mode). Oh well, I will live with Bing for now.

Learn something new every day. Did some quick research myself and you are right. Looks like you can download and use Chrome from the windows store (and set the default search engine in Chrome to google) but Edge will remain as the default browser and bing as the search engine when using edge.

Perhaps try downloading chrome via the windows store and see if that will work for you? Not having your preferred browser as the default browser isn't so bad in my experience. It's just annoying when following a web link from a document as it'll open the website in edge vs chrome. Thankfully that's not a frequent occurrence for most people. I have a fair bit of experience with corporate managed devices and being forced to use a default browser I didn't want to use. I found it wasn't a big deal to manually use the browser I prefer but everyone uses a device differently.

[Nooby]

I got impatient and just switched out of s-mode. I really just wanted the comfort level to be equal to what I was used to on my previous laptop - Chrome browser, Duckduckgo search (including ad block plus so I don't get the annoying ads on Youtube - I'm always on Youtube for some reason), ability to download Adobe reader and a music player I use, etc. I really have no concerns about security and safe browsing, etc. I can see how s-mode would be useful and safer for, e.g., a senior with little experience on computers. Not for me. And I do not like being forced to use something I don't want

I'm happy with my purchase and glad I did some research. It's a nice little 2 in 1 laptop (Acer Spin), perfect for my needs.

[kelownman]

Just curious, is there a price difference with a laptop purchase that has windows 11 S-mode vs windows home or windows pro?

Given a laptop that has windows s-mode can be switched to windows with the caveat that one cannot go back once it is switched to windows, does M$ charge you a fee?

[Nooby]

Just curious, is there a price difference with a laptop purchase that has windows 11 S-mode vs windows home or windows pro?

Given a laptop that has windows s-mode can be switched to windows with the caveat that one cannot go back once it is switched to windows, does M$ charge you a fee?

Not sure I can really answer the first question - but for the Acer products in particular, it looks like most of the more expensive ones have Windows 10 or 11 Home, but there are also a few pricier (than mine) ones that have either 10 or 11 s-mode. So I'm not sure if s-mode has a direct influence on the price, it would be a combination of features and factors?

For 2nd question - no there is no fee to switch out of s-mode, but I read somewhere yesterday that initially MS did plan to charge $50 but that was never implemented.