I've been an avid Apple fan for a number of years, but recently I have actually been quite amazed at the progress Microsoft has been making in revolutionizing
the way touch screens are used in computers. Though many people may laugh at me when I say this, Windows 8 and the Surface RT/Pro remind me of the old days when Apple used to really innovate. I just wish Microsoft had the marketing expertise that Apple has in appealing to the average consumer.
I don't understand why people keep bashing the RT/Pro and saying it should be priced at $99, and such nonsense. It can do so many more things than the iPad and includes a full version of Office. It's the perfect mix of productivity and casual tablet use.
Also, why on earth should the Surface Pro be priced to compete with an iPad? It's a full-fledged computer, for goodness sakes! I'm not going to write a mid-term paper on an iPad, nor can the iPad handle programs like Visual Studio or Civilization. Please do your research next time and stop listening to tech blog writers who don't take the time to fully research the benefits/drawbacks of both products.
Yes of course, because I always use visual studio and play Civ V on my surface RT. Er, well, I can on Surface Pro. Kind of, with a bit of work (to adjust the settings for magnification for Civ 5's touch interface for instance). Is it a full computer? Yes. And it performs like an underpowered computer smashed into a tablet, legacy and all. They can be nice enough, but you aren't going to be using one as a dev machine. Microsoft needs to get into the "do a few things and do them well through design and optimization" strategy before they slosh more unneeded cruft on every device that makes it out the door. Surface is the perfect opportunity to release an OS with the legacy portions stripped out and the OS streamlined. People are not going to be using those machines to run legacy dos apps, and businesses who need that functionality have other options, such as VMs. Their entire approach is silly.