The $40 Raspberry Pi 2 is ready to tackle Microsoft Windows. 
 
 The $40 Raspberry Pi 2 is ready to tackle Microsoft Windows.
Free copies of Windows 10 for this palm-sized PC show that Microsoft is moving with the times.
The tiny Raspberry Pi isn't the only bare-bones PC out there, but it's certainly gained the most attention. For around $40 you get the bare essentials to get you up and running. There's no keyboard, monitor or mouse. The Raspberry Pi doesn't even come with a case, power supply or built-in storage. You just get the very heart of a PC, ready for you to build something cool.
One limitation of the Raspberry Pi is that it's built around an ARM processor rather than an x86/x64 Intel chip, which means it can't run Windows – similar to the early netbooks. Truth be told, most Raspberry Pi enthusiasts wouldn't see this as a limitation, as they're happy to run the various flavours of Linux optimised for the Raspberry Pi.
One of the Raspberry Pi's strengths is the vibrant developer community which has grown up around it. You can run a Windows-esque Linux desktop on the Raspberry Pi, but it's also worth checking out the distros pre-configured for specific tasks, such as the OpenELEC media centre and Raspicade arcade game emulator.
We've seen several hardware revisions since the release on the original Raspberry Pi in 2012, but the new Raspberry Pi 2 is the biggest leap yet. It's upgraded from a single-core 700MHz processor to a quad-core 900MHz powerplant and doubled the onboard RAM to 1GB. It doesn't sound impressive compared to the latest high-end PCs, but it's a lot of computing power for $40.
With the extra grunt the Raspberry Pi becomes useful for more tasks, but the most significant change is that it's upgraded from an ARM v6 processor to ARM v7 – the same used by Windows RT. While stripped-down Windows RT devices were an unmitigated disaster, they laid the groundwork for Microsoft to embrace a new generation of devices – devices which were developed as a backlash against the WinTel cartel.
New Microsoft chief Satya Nadella has come to terms with the fact that the computing world no longer revolves around the WinTel platform. He can see that Microsoft's best course of action is to embrace change and stay relevant rather than assume it's too big to fail.
While bringing Office to Apple and Android devices, Nadella has also vowed to develop a free version of Windows 10 optimised for the new Raspberry Pi. It will likely have some of Windows RT's limitations, but they're easier to tolerate when you're getting something for nothing.
There was a time when Microsoft would have scoffed at such an idea, especially when it involves giving away something for free, but it's another smart move from Nadella. Windows 10 is a free upgrade for Windows 7/8 users, killing off one of Microsoft's twin cash cows. That leaves Office as the big money spinner, especially cloud subscription services like Office 365. Putting Windows on more ARM-powered devices keeps people in the Microsoft ecosystem and therefore makes Office more attractive, putting money in Microsoft's coffers.
By offering a free version of Windows 10, Microsoft might also be hoping to drive a wedge into the Raspberry Pi developer community – as the tiny PC has been a poster boy for the Linux movement. Bringing Windows to netbooks destroyed Linux's last effort to conquer the desktop. By coming to ARM it might also thwart Linux's Internet of Things ambitiions.
The new Raspberry Pi will still run Linux, better than ever, but the option of Windows will shake things up. Even with Nadella at the helm, it would be naive to assume that Microsoft's insidious "embrace, extend and extinguish" strategy is completely dead and buried.
Have you tinkered with the Raspberry Pi? What would you do with a $40 computer running Windows 10?