Microsoft to Relaunch Windows Slates Again at CES

[xnu]

How about MS gets Office running on an iPad first and then they could try to design a whole operating system by themselves. Baby steps. A working product, any working product would be nice.

I am on my third xbox, if it does't have a ring of death it is burning my dvds with its laser. Why do I keep supporting the insanity??????

 

[rdowns]

Microsoft doesn't get it. A desktop OS will not suffice for a slate/tablet. See iOS, Android and Web OS if HP ever gets their act together. I do n't see any place for Windows in this market segment.

 

[ericinboston]

The company believes there is a huge market for business people who want to enjoy a slate for reading newspapers and magazines and then work on Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint while doing work,” explained a person familiar with the company’s tablet plans

MS if poorly mistaken if they think everyone in the world (still) runs or needs MS Office. Yes, Office is still very mainstream in the business (because businesses buy the whole suite for all employees at an incredible discount) world but it does NOT mean that everyone in the business world uses it (or even most of it) all day long. Adobe PDF is just as big (if not larger) than Word for actual reading of documents.

The business world is (and has for 5+ years) doing more and more thin apps...stuff powered by app servers and dished up via browsers.

If all MS does is concentrate on MS Office-focused features, their tablet(s) will fail miserably.

 

[res1233]

Microsoft doesn't get it. A desktop OS will not suffice for a slate/tablet. See iOS, Android and Web OS if HP ever gets their act together. I do n't see any place for Windows in this market segment.

The sad part is, Microsoft could easily adapt its Windows Phone 7 for a tablet form factor and at the very least be competitive. This offering, if it indeed runs Windows 7, will be a failure.

 

[Popeye206]

Ballmer is building a Slate coffin for the death of his career.

It does make me wonder though if the reporter of the original article was confused and meant Windows Mobile 7, as that would be more logical. Mind you, logic and Microsoft are not the best of friends!

Phil

Phil... if they base it on Windows 7 Mobile, like their cell phone commercials, they will be showing people not using them!

I think that is the WORST ad campaign I've ever seen. The only differentiator they could come up with is with Windows 7 Mobile you'll use it less? I guess the same will be for the Tablets.

The introduction of their tablet will be key at CES... if it does not blow everything out of the water... MS is in big trouble... or I should say Balmer is in big trouble. One more flop under his command and shareholders will want him out. My prediction... another "me too" play and their "big thing" will be off base and lack luster. No vision and no leading.

 

[Stella]

It's scary to think how far Microsoft would have fallen had Apple not been around to create new markets.

microsoft wouldn't have fallen so much. More people would have been buying microsoft instead of apple.

It's true. In just about all the markets Microsoft is in, the market was created by Apple. One notable exception is the gaming market.

EDIT: Before the trolls jump me, some of those markets were not CREATED by Apple, but took off once they entered it, so it's almost the same.

Anyone who disagrees with you is a troll? That is baiting yourself.

Microsoft bought the computer to the masses. Apple didn't create the market, in fact, people flocked to alternative 8 / 16bit home computers, and later window PCs. Apple computers were too expensive for the average joe and no one really cared about Apple until recently. OSX was certainly a turning point.

Sure Apple created some markets, but to say " In just about all the markets Microsoft is in, the market was created by Apple" is pure fanboyism.

The Anti-virus software market is doing very well, without Apple's intervention.... ;-)

 

[iPhoney:)]

You mean he's still going to have a job by ces, amazing...

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Microsoft needs to realize that a hassle-ridden desktop operating system doesn't work well on a tablet, and there's not a significant market for it.

You could have Microsoft Office on a tabletized Windows Phone 7, just like you have iWork on the iPad. I don't want to run Windows 7 on a tablet; it's bad enough with a keyboard and mouse.

True. If it doesn't work well on a desktop, forget about a tablet.
My WM6.5 phone feels like a desktop due to its constant lags, freezes, need to reboot, aagh!

Well, let's see what S.B. brings to the show this time.

 

[xnu]

You mean he's still going to have a job by ces, amazing...

That is funny. I guess you found the real story in the article. Balmer survives another year!

 

[*LTD*]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

So these "re-launches" will become an annual thing, then? LMAO

 

[bonaccij]

Holy Cow...

Finally somebody with a brain. You get sick of all these people going 'hurf durf micro$oft' that you just start looking for a valid post. Took half a page to find it.

Frankly iWork is a joke compared to Office. Mobile Office on my WP7 compares with iWork on the iPad. Phone, tablet. Personally, following how evidently hard they've been working on WP7 can't wait to see what they do for the tablet form factor. I can only hope it won't be just regular Windows 7 running in tablet mode because that is made for stylus input, not fingers, and certainly not multi-touch. But even if it's running Windows, it will be in all ways more useful than the iPad. Many times have I been surfing the internet to find a video that won't load or a site that features non-loading menus. Why? Because Steve doesn't like flash. I used to be all apologetic about it. "Pff, it will ruin battery life, it will be slow, it will be non-secure." So what about Frash? It was never slow, it didn't ruin the battery life, and it sure as hell didn't introduce viruses or the like to iPads. But it worked. That's what they need to do on the iPad before anyone could even think about considering it as useful, even as a mere content consumption device. I love my iPad but its uselessness is just overwhelming when it comes to actual productivity, and its flashlessness has me doing a ton of extra steps to get the content working. Instead of having no flash, why not have toggle-able flash? Why not give users the choice? It used to be all Apple was about, so why did they stop? Did they get mad with power? They can't call themselves masters of UI and UE when they can't deliver on something so necessary and mainstream.

"Almost all videos on the web are available to the iPad through HTML5 or other formats," says Jobs. So what about the ones that aren't? And what about menus? What happens if I want to go to Domino's site and order pizza? Why should I have to go to my room and get my laptop and do it from there? The entire point was that the iPad was supposed to be an excellent window to the web and one that requires minimal effort to get working properly. In my opinion, it's a rather subpar window when the browser doesn't have the tools to view it properly.

This tablet they will introduce will run and support Flash, and will run full Office, Firefox, and the millions of applications out there that run on Windows 7 will run on it. So you tell me which is the better window.

So, I have to wonder how much this guy actually uses his iPad. If his main concern is not having flash... I dunno, I just feel sorry for the guy. I use my iPad non-stop, all day, every day - and whaddaya know - even for work. The lack of flash doesn't effect me at all because I am usually going to sites that either don't require it or have a completely useful HTML5 interface that works with iOS devices.

Here's the thing this guy is missing. Flash IS going away. Poo poo Apple for forcing the hand early, but it's GOING AWAY. The sites that have actually made reparations for that and switched over to HTML5, well, they are doing quite well. And, again, this is a non- issue. What if Apple DID allow flash... then what would all these ding dongs say? If the only thing this guy can bitch about is flash I don't consider this to be valid at all.

Now, about the article - Maybe MS will come out with something that can compete with either Android's or Apple's tablet offerings, but I seriously doubt it. There is too much hierarchy at that place to do anything truly innovative and productive. Wait, before y'all start - WP7 is not innovative. It's the same old (tired) idea with a new skin. PERIOD. I've used one. Utilitarian. It gets stuff done and that's it. iOS and Android are popular because people want to use the devices. They are fun. Anyone who says "NAY" to that is just kidding themselves. I think MS had a window (no pun intended) of opportunity and they missed it - just like they'll miss it again.

 

[toddybody]

Nothing says "were a great iPad competitor" like..."uhhh, yeah...this is our same tablet"...I sure do love Grand-Re-Re-Openings.

 

[Mazda 3s]

Microsoft even demoed an HP slate PC which never ultimately came to market.

Uhh, did anyone even research this article?

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/e...l?jumpid=re_r602_slate_body_psg_oct10_product

 

[Bilbo63]

iWork does not compare to Microsoft Office.

But, I'm not sure how usable Microsoft Office would be on a slate device. I had a slate tablet a few years ago from Motion Computing (although it was not touch-screen based). Productivity apps were not exactly productive in that form-factor.

Microsoft Office is far too bloated, slow and resource hungry for most people's needs. iWork is more than adequate for what most people really need an office suite to do and it has a very small footprint and is not a resource hog.

 

[tdstom]

Flash is not dying. HTML5 is getting more popular, but Flash is not even close to slowing down. Two million developers don't stop just because 5% of the market says so.

Yeah, and that's what the buggy whip maker said when Ford released his new invention called the automobile.



Thomas

 

[Amazing Iceman]

microsoft wouldn't have fallen so much. More people would have been buying microsoft instead of apple.




Anyone who disagrees with you is a troll? That is baiting yourself.

Microsoft bought the computer to the masses. Apple didn't create the market, in fact, people flocked to alternative 8 / 16bit home computers, and later window PCs, since Apple computers were too expensive for the average joe.

Sure Apple created some markets, but to say " In just about all the markets Microsoft is in, the market was created by Apple" is pure fanboyism.

True, I never like Apple until Leopard was launch. Their marketing strategy didn't make any sense. Their computers were expensive, and applications almost non-existant (except for shareware and freeware).
I was an Assembler/C programmer back then, and there was very limited information available about the hardware. The general feeling was that Apple was a black box and it's inside was being kept too secret.
With some exceptions, people who bought Apple computers were not 100% happy with them. Windows was the main driving force for the PC market, until Windows ME was released, then Windows Vista (that's when I said goodbye).
For the past few years Apple has done great things with the iPod, iPhone, iPad and new Intel Macs, but this doesn't mean they have created the all the markets or invented the wheel. They may have revived markets that were a failure in the past. Just to name one, the Tablet market.

 

[nylonsteel]

It's so cool to see aapl make things happen - like the ipad - and see other behemoth companies - like msft - try to catch up
It's like aapl is the R&D department for the rest of the world
msft should invent their own cool stuff
Go aapl ! - Bring on more cooler stuff

 

[cocky jeremy]

I can't even comprehend how such a large company can be this stupid. Oh well, sit back and enjoy the mess they're about to make - again.

 

[Stella]

Yup. Apple indeed have revived markets, which is a great thing. They've revived markets in unexpected ways / methods.

Before OSX, I was using linux. OSX had all the benefits of Linux while far less admin time.

Mind you, OSX until Pather was fairly slow and clunky. Panther was great - it was far more optimized.. Windows couldn't even resize smoothy! Having said that, OSX will still way ahead of windows.

Apple is very much a blackbox.... which they use to create hype and anticipation for marketing purposes.

True, I never like Apple until Leopard was launch. Their marketing strategy didn't make any sense. Their computers were expensive, and applications almost non-existant (except for shareware and freeware).
I was an Assembler/C programmer back then, and there was very limited information available about the hardware. The general feeling was that Apple was a black box and it's inside was being kept too secret.
With some exceptions, people who bought Apple computers were not 100% happy with them. Windows was the main driving force for the PC market, until Windows ME was released, then Windows Vista (that's when I said goodbye).
For the past few years Apple has done great things with the iPod, iPhone, iPad and new Intel Macs, but this doesn't mean they have created the all the markets or invented the wheel. They may have revived markets that were a failure in the past. Just to name one, the Tablet market.

 

[ChrisTX]

I wonder if they will use Android? Apple will not sell them the OS, I don't think they will like doing business with Google, but they will need to get the OS from someone.

Who are you talking about here? Microsoft won't make tablet hardware, or any hardware for that matter outside of the zune, xbox, and mouse/keyboard, etc... MS are doomed here because they are following Apples lead just like every other tech company that exists right now. Leave it to Apple to once again dominate the market with it's innovation.

Not sure that Ballmer should be scraped, but they need to hurry up and bring to market Windows embedded compact 7 or just scrap the tablet idea all together and let Apple dominate as usual.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Microsoft has been long talking up the tablet or slate form factor over the years, but none of their products have reached mainstream success.

biased much? Just because it wasn't a consumer success doesn't mean no one used it... I know a lot of people who have used tablets, but no consumers. They've all been professionals in the field, where an ipad would only work as a 2nd device

 

[Mac21ND]

If he starts going on about how "The operating system is called Windows 7" I'm going to loose faith in the company as a whole. Ballmer shouldn't be in charge anymore, he's missed the boat on so many things now.

Completely agree. Microsoft has gone so far down hill with him at the helm.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

If it's Windows 7 mobile they are running then great, however if it's Windows 7 the full OS then it will be a disaster. Full Windows OS's barley work on netbooks, so having one on a pad computer will be no good.

It's good that Microsoft are atleast going to try and challenge Apple.

 

[womble2k2]

Phil... if they base it on Windows 7 Mobile, like their cell phone commercials, they will be showing people not using them!

Yep! As I say, MS and logic don't get on well!

I deliberately said Windows Mobile 7 as this is the logical name for the platform, but MS renamed it to Windows Phone 7, suggesting it is only destined for phones and not other devices such as Zune or tablets. This is the reverse of Apple who renames iPhone OS, iOS as it was a cross-device OS.

There are so many things MS has done under the leadership of Ballmer which is illogical, but maybe he sees it differently!

 

[NAG]

biased much? Just because it wasn't a consumer success doesn't mean no one used it... I know a lot of people who have used tablets, but no consumers. They've all been professionals in the field, where an ipad would only work as a 2nd device

Not that I don't believe you but where there any examples here? Just curious to see what these needs are that require a Windows tablet and would not work with either an iPad or Android tablet.