What a big surprise! Despite none of us expected a new version of the Raspberry Pi until 2017, the company just went ahead and launched it anyway. Now, we're not talking Raspberry Pi A++, B++, or whatever incremental change that would come next, but an entirely new model of our favorite credit card-sized computer. The new board is called the Raspberry Pi 2 B+, and it has all the function you love, and a lot more, for the same $35 price everyone loves.

So, why should we be excited about the Raspberry Pi 2 B+? Well, Geek.com says it's got around 6 times the performance and double the memory of the original. For the technical term lovers, Model B+ featured a 700MHz single-core Broadcom BCM2835 system-on-a-chip. The new Model 2 B+ features a 900MHz Broadcom BCM2836 quad-core system-on-a-chip, including four 32-bit ARMv7 Cortex-A7 cores. Memory is up as well, from a 256MB/512 MB of RAM option, to an upgraded 1GB of RAM in the Model 2 B+ (Gizmodo).

The Raspberry Pi has always been a working DIY PC, but the Foundation's Eben Upton describes the new model as a “great PC”, saying the company “removed the caveat that you had to be a bit forgiving with it”. Boot time is quicker than previous versions, apps and software load faster as well, and the Pi's Raspbian software has a new design. Most importantly is the following upgrade: the introduction of Windows 10. The OS will come free of charge, and be available to the maker community at some point this year (PC Mag).

No need to worry about the new Model 2 B+ killing off its little brothers, all previous models will still be available as long as there is a demand for them. The Foundation has made 100,000 units ready for interested consumers, and can be purchased for $35 today.