Microsoft’s $999 Surface Laptop looks surprisingly good

Microsoft unveiled a $999 computer called the Surface Laptop today at an education-focused event in New York. You can learn much more about it, and the Windows 10 S operating system it runs on, at The Verge.

Most striking: At least from the video, this is a very good-looking laptop for the price, with obvious attention to its industrial and visual design.

Microsoft’s hardware business hasn’t been a huge hit, but it has generated some interesting products. (Last quarter, Surface revenue declined 26 percent year over year to $831 million — a fraction of Apple’s Mac or iPad businesses.) In particular, Microsoft has aggressively tried to integrate touch controls into Windows computers, something Apple has so far resisted with the Mac.

This one, specifically, could potentially give Google’s inexpensive Chromebooks — which have had recent success in the education market, at Microsoft’s and Apple’s expense — a run for their money. It will also go up against Apple’s lower-end MacBook Air laptops, which haven’t been significantly updated in years.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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