Microsoft Releases Windows 8 Tablet Ad Highlighting iPad's Flaws, High Price [Updated]

charlituna · May 24, 2013

Liquorpuki said:
So I guess workers who need to create Office docs aren't typical either. They must be fringe elements in the workforce

Those that absolutely must do all word processing etc with Office and not some other program including but not limited to iWork or a cadre of Office clones,yes.

And work is about more than just typing documents in an office. Some folks are sales people who need email, phone calls and perhaps access to a proprietary database system. Some are airline pilots, some police. At my own job we have one 'office' style document, our call sheets. Done just fine in iWork. The rest is custom apps etc.

----------

patt2k said:
well you gotta admit that being able to add micro sdcard in a tablet is just amazing..

32GBcard can be bought for 20$ and having already preinstalled 64gigs..

But what isn't amazing is that you must buy that card if you want anything close to that 64gb because as much as 35 of it is sucked up by the OS and built in apps. Unlike an iPad where it's more like 8 GB if that.

And the whole thinness and weight is more smoke blowing than useful specs. Things they should have been looking at are for like battery life, screen you can read in bright sunlight etc

seecoolguy · May 24, 2013

charlituna said:
Those that absolutely must do all word processing etc with Office and not some other program including but not limited to iWork or a cadre of Office clones,yes.

Those guys arguing about not being able to type on an iPad should try a Windows Tablet w/o the keyboard, Asus sells their tablet w/o, it's painful. If you are buying the keyboard on the MS tablets, buy one for the iPad and then compare. I like that the keyboard magnetically attaches to the MS tablets (asus, or surface), but I don't like is that you can's use it anywhere but on a desk

iPad 3rd party keyboards also attach to the device and allow for some sort of prop, and can generally be used on a desk or other surface, (preferably a desk).

charlituna said:
But what isn't amazing is that you must buy that card if you want anything close to that 64gb because as much as 35 of it is sucked up by the OS and built in apps. Unlike an iPad where it's more like 8 GB if that.

yeah, on an iPad, you buy a 64gb device, you get nearly all 64gb to use for your own music, pictures, movies, and apps.

and who wants to keep track of a tiny microSD card anyways? have you tried managing it? sucks.

charlituna said:
And the whole thinness and weight is more smoke blowing than useful specs. Things they should have been looking at are for like battery life, screen you can read in bright sunlight etc

advertising is not about what is useful. it's about promoting a product and make you feel that it's not only useful, but NEEDED. I like the new MS commercials. They are witty and fun, I say good job.

very I'm a mac, I'm a PC -esq... I miss those commercials

Liquorpuki · May 24, 2013

seecoolguy said:
Those guys arguing about not being able to type on an iPad should try a Windows Tablet w/o the keyboard, Asus sells their tablet w/o, it's painful. If you are buying the keyboard on the MS tablets, buy one for the iPad and then compare. I like that the keyboard magnetically attaches to the MS tablets (asus, or surface), but I don't like is that you can's use it anywhere but on a desk

iPad 3rd party keyboards also attach to the device and allow for some sort of prop, and can generally be used on a desk or other surface, (preferably a desk).

W8 virtual keyboard is fine. Personally I think the layout is better. Numbers have been arranged as a number pad instead of a row. Symbols are grouped better. The widescreen let them put in extra keys too so you got a CTRL key plus arrow keys to help you position your cursor.

Far as a physical keyboard, you can also tether a BT keyboard to a W8 tablet just like on the iPad, so you can use it however you want.

SanderEvers · May 24, 2013

Sorry guys,

Windows 8 (no, NOT RT) is far superior on a tablet compared to iOS.
I got an Acer W510 and I'm loving the full Windows 8 capabilities of it.

Pro's to Windows 8:
- Awsome Modern UI.
- Ability to use classic windows apps beside Modern UI apps.
- Connect your own hardware to a (Micro-)USB port. Like an USB flash / disc drive, keyboard, mouse, gamepad, or even your iPad. :+
- It runs Visual Studio, Photoshop, etc.
- Offers (almost) the same as my PC. (just less powerful, so no Crysis

)

Cons Windows 8:
- OS is bigger in filesize, so less available to use.
- Classic apps are often not that good for touch controls

--

Pros iOS.
- Full immersive OS, everything has been optimized for touch control.
- Smaller OS footprint.
- More optimized applications
- Beter support for modern games (which are optimized)

Cons iOS
- No real multitasking
- Required to buy expensive adapters for cardreaders, etc.
- It doesn't offer the same as a MacBook or iMac.
- NO support for your own software.

All Apple needs to do is make an iPad / MacBook hybrid like Windows 8 tablets. All the easy to use apps from iOS combined with all powerful apps of OSX.

And Apple NEEDS to step up in this direction or they will lose this battle. As tablets are more and more like laptops soon that line will fade. When that happens Apple needs to have an OSX Tablet out there.

BaldiMac · May 24, 2013

SanderEvers said:
Sorry guys,

Windows 8 (no, NOT RT) is far superior on a tablet compared to iOS.
I got an Acer W510 and I'm loving the full Windows 8 capabilities of it.

Pro's to Windows 8:
- Awsome Modern UI.
- Ability to use classic windows apps beside Modern UI apps.
- Connect your own hardware to a (Micro-)USB port. Like an USB flash / disc drive, keyboard, mouse, gamepad, or even your iPad. :+
- It runs Visual Studio, Photoshop, etc.
- Offers (almost) the same as my PC. (just less powerful, so no Crysis )

Cons Windows 8:
- OS is bigger in filesize, so less available to use.
- Classic apps are often not that good for touch controls

--

Pros iOS.
- Full immersive OS, everything has been optimized for touch control.
- Smaller OS footprint.
- More optimized applications
- Beter support for modern games (which are optimized)

Cons iOS
- No real multitasking
- Required to buy expensive adapters for cardreaders, etc.
- It doesn't offer the same as a MacBook or iMac.
- NO support for your own software.

All Apple needs to do is make an iPad / MacBook hybrid like Windows 8 tablets. All the easy to use apps from iOS combined with all powerful apps of OSX.

And Apple NEEDS to step up in this direction or they will lose this battle. As tablets are more and more like laptops soon that line will fade. When that happens Apple needs to have an OSX Tablet out there.

I'm not sure if your post is better summed up by:

1) I prefer a hybrid OS on a convertible device.

or

2) The iPad is not a laptop.

LOLZpersonok · May 24, 2013

seecoolguy said:
the RT is ARM isn't it? as such it won't run regular windows Apps unless you go the route for jailbreaking and emulating x86, which I believe is still experimental isn't? so yeah many regular apps will run on it, but not out of the box.

So yes, you could run regular windows apps, but would you? Having played with iPads, Android Tablets and Windows Tablets, it seems that running windows apps on a tablet are less than ideal.

why?

Windows makes heavy use of right clicking on the desktop, you need to have a tool that allows you to do this, the pen that you can pickup for use with a PRO tablet, is great, but you have to get used to using it. It has been a pain to keep track of the damn pen. Why don't they add the stow away pen compartment like they used to back in the days?

I like the power of the Surface PRO it's fast, but I dislike the battery life, and the slow response to the sleep/wake button.

I prefer the iPad for

Performance / Battery life Ratio

Retina Screen

response time (Sleep/Wake).

gestures

weight ratio

integration with my iTunes Music Match

Air Play

Air Print

Siri

I like my Nexus 7 for:

Google Apps Integration

Google Now

Ability to use an app as a Wifi Analyzer

The more I use the Surface Pro, the more I think it should have been an UltraBook, with Touch. I think it would have excelled there instead of trying to make it a tablet.

Damn I wish I didn't get an iPhone. I know, totally unrelated. Can't say I hate it though.

The fact that the Surface Pro is an ultrabook in a tablet form factor I think is pretty cool.

szw-mapple fan · May 25, 2013

iSayuSay said:
Or if we want to be more relevant to the earlier discussion, Apple once tried making iPad to be a laptop/tablet mix too.

Remember this? http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/apple-ipad-keyboard-dock/
Perfectly a prototype of Surface Pro.
And it's designed by Apple in California, not third party

No company, including the mighty can stay "pure" with their products.

That is not what I meant by a laptop/tablet. A keyboard stand hardly makes a tablet a laptop. By hybrid I mean the combination of a PC and tablet in an OS, not the hardware.

elppa · May 25, 2013

SanderEvers said:
- Classic apps are often not that good for touch controls

Often = never.

Lacas · May 27, 2013

elppa said:
Often = never.

That's not really true. Foxit reader and various image viewers have steller touch support.
Personally I think even RT is a better tablet os than iOS purely because it makes better use of the extra real estate. There really is no reason why we shouldn't be able to use 2 apps at once on a tablet, it seems perfectly sane. The fast app switching and app manager I would say are more intuitive and the charms bar should be on every tablet os in my opinion. The phone style status bar on top doesn't belong on a 8 or 10" device, unified settings, unified search, instant access to system settings(no notification center unfortunately but trivial to add) remove the need for redundant navigation and free up space for use by the app.
Of course iOS has those all important apps, and while you'll see windows and android fans shouting "need another fart app, do ya barney?" to iOS users, iOS not only has the most but the highest quality apps

beautifulcoder · May 28, 2013

Tablets are designed around battery life. Offering multi-tasking forces tasks to be put in the background which drains battery life. This has an impact on the user experience.

By introducing multi-tasking, Microsoft is showing that they are all about bad design.

It is sad to see this in a company with so much potential.

Nuvi · May 28, 2013

beautifulcoder said:
Tablets are designed around battery life. Offering multi-tasking forces tasks to be put in the background which drains battery life. This has an impact on the user experience.

That is complete nonsense. Even iOS allows multitasking but with very limited API set. One thing iOS allows is use of GPS which eats way more battery then running something like word processor and browser windowed side by side. Anyway, there is a jailbreak which allows app windowing and more modern multitasking on iOS and that jailbreak has no apparent effect on battery life. The fact remains, iOS is becoming the dinosaur of mobile operating systems.

beautifulcoder · May 28, 2013

Nuvi said:
Even iOS allows multitasking but with very limited API set.

Precisely, Apple limits what you can multi-task. They are called services, btw. This does not entail that you should be allowed to run multiple apps at the same time. This limit is precisely one of the things that makes the user experience superior.

benny007 · May 28, 2013

Google to the rescue - Quick Office

I guess no one has seen Quick Office for the iPad.

Google purchased the company but the iPad version looks better than Microsoft Office.

b

Nuvi · May 28, 2013

beautifulcoder said:
Precisely, Apple limits what you can multi-task. They are called services, btw. This does not entail that you should be allowed to run multiple apps at the same time. This limit is precisely one of the things that makes the user experience superior.

BTW. API aka application programming interface is the way to access services. However, since you're only allowed to use documented API the multitasking is very limited. You are running multiple apps simultaneously in iOS but since the services accessed using documented API are very limited you can't do much more exciting then navigate and talk on the phone at the same time. Therefore, as said the fact that using GPS eats way more battery then vast majority of other uses makes your argument irrelevant. If you call limited user experience superior then you will probably loath Apple when they introduce proper multitasking in iOS.

Liquorpuki · May 28, 2013

beautifulcoder said:
Precisely, Apple limits what you can multi-task. They are called services, btw. This does not entail that you should be allowed to run multiple apps at the same time. This limit is precisely one of the things that makes the user experience superior.

On my Surface, I can do things like this
- pull up my finances/stocks on one side and a calculator app right next to it
- watch a movie in Netflix and pull up imdb in a browser right next to it
- Keep Skype/Groupme/NBA.Com open on one side and and read an eBook on the other side

The Apple solution is called app switching and believe me it doesn't make for a superior user experience.

otismotive77 · May 28, 2013

hahaha...clever ads.
i'd have brought a windows 8 tablet if they had more apps in the app store.

beautifulcoder · May 29, 2013

Nuvi said:
Therefore, as said the fact that using GPS eats way more battery then vast majority of other uses makes your argument irrelevant.

How do you know that? Any app that utilizes the CPU drains the battery. The CPU ranks on top in terms of battery consumption along with the screen brightness. GPS is using built-in hardware so it may not even require the CPU at all. When you switch between tasks iOS puts the app in suspend mode which does not use the CPU at all.

I think the battery drain you are seeing is from doing to many things at once (running the GPS and CPU at the same time) which corroborates my point. This is why Apple puts a limit on this, to stop you from doing dumb things that could only hurt you. :apple:

Liquorpuki said:
On my Surface, I can do things like this

This sounds like a wretched user experience to me. But to each his own I guess.

Personally, even when I'm on the desktop I find multiple windows side-by-side distracting. This is why Microsoft was smart enough to put a Maximize button that allows you focus on one thing at a time. Something that Mac OS X does not do very well might I add. In my experience, Ubuntu owns in this particular functionality.

fourthtunz · Jun 17, 2013

Mainsail said:
For those that think Microsoft office or multitasking would be great on a tablet, please go to your local Best Buy and try out Windows 8 on one of the numerous tablets gathering dust.

Trust me, it is a miserable experience with a touch interface. Give it 15 minutes and you'll be done.

I've heard the same thing!
I love the competition actually though!
I would love for apple to put an sd slot in the iPad.
The price on this tablet is attractive but not to me.

Hillsalive1 · Jul 9, 2013

jpmcnown said:
Only 3000 Windows app? Mmmk. The VivoTab Smart is Full Windows 8, not RT.

Owned(autocorrected)

What the heck are you doing here for if you suport Windows?

<----

audunhaugland · Aug 12, 2013

And now it's discontinued

And now the Windows 8 Tablet is discontinued, and will not be replaced. Aritcle from WSJ

(PS! I use this old article for my first attempt posting on MacRumors

)

Microsoft Releases Windows 8 Tablet Ad Highlighting iPad's Flaws, High Price [Updated]

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