Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Microsoft Announces New 'Surface' Tablet, New Hardware and Software Based on Windows 8

seeing it in action is going to matter. need more specs...battery, etc.
i think it's well-designed, altho the color keyboards make me nauseous...or something. the black one looks good tho.

i do want to check it out. but, at the end of the day, am a os x / iOS person (i tried, then sold, an android tablet recently).

we'll see...:D
 
I'm a long-time PC guy who only recently started buying into Apple's ecosystem. I have to say, this is a good effort by Microsoft to steal some of Apple's thunder. And let's be honest, competition in any marketplace makes for better innovation.

I can see myself using a Pro version of Surface with the Touch Cover, and completely eschewing an Ultrabook. Lately, as much as I want to like the iPad, I find it lacking for some of the power-user tasks I would like to throw at it. Heck, I can't even leave an IRC client running in the background and have it stay connected... iOS will cut off any active connections for apps that stay in the background for more than a few minutes. That's hardly a power-user task and yet it is vexing that I can't do it on iPad. In theory, I'll have a full Win 8 desktop on the i5/Pro Surface... so that is definitely interesting.
 
AppleScruff1 said:
Time will tell if it will be competitive or not. Price and functionality will go a long way toward that. Perhaps Microsoft will do what they did with the XBox and keep throwing money at it until it gets market share.
Click to expand...

The biggest positive news to come out of all this is that Symantec, Mcafee, and other AV companies are just foaming at the mouth right now. They can't wait to release coughcoughmorevirusescoughcough I mean antivirus scanner programs on these things.

XBOX360 was a hit because Sony was being sony at its best. Sitting around creating crazy stuff that no one can use easily and the fact they make something so brilliant yet make it really very counter-intuitive. This goes for nearly all of their product lines including the infamous MD walkman recorders.

----------
flameproof said:
iPad can't even multitask.

Ever tried to surf the web during a boring movie scene....?
Click to expand...

Come on - if you don't enjoy watching the movie, you don't watch it. What's the point of watching a movie and surfing at the same time. This is not multi-tasking. It's just basically ADHD.
 
Stupid product. Feel free to flame me later when this thing dies.

Here's why. Apple nailed the tablet because it built something very simple that is easy to use. Microsoft meanwhile gives you the choice between Arm and Intel. Consumers will be dazed and confused (and the Apple marketing machine will have a field day).

Second it runs Windows. Yes that same Windows that has never been friendly to work with. Microsoft needs and OS designed purely for tablets. Metro and Windows 8 is yet another attempt to leverage the Windows name.

Third, Steve Ballmer is an idiot. He knows nothing about usability and has assembled a company that is largely dysfunctional.

Believe it or not, I think Microsoft has done some decent work with Enterprise products. But they continue to live on the past with little new innovation. Little doesn't mean none, Kinect is pretty cool in the consumer space.

iOS has a huge head start and Microsoft is late to the game yet again. Hello to the Zune Tablet.
 
This is a cool

A tablet that can actually replace my work laptop on business trips!

Love my iPad, but it really is a web surfing toy for me on the road
 
larrybeo said:
I heard rumors saying the MSRP was reaching $1,000. If it's not $199, someone at Microsoft should finally be fired.
Click to expand...

Maybe they don't aim at the iPad and aim more at the ultra-notebook market? Prices there are higher. The larger then iPad size points into that direction too.

A hybrid between tab and notebook is certainly a good idea and I am sure Apple will have something similar too.
 
Eidorian said:
Wait, who won that again? I can not remember if it was units sold or which company had the worse rate converting it back into ¥.


That sounds more like accessibility add-ons with a hint of managem...Oh wait it is.

I was more interested in multiple user accounts on the same tablet.
Click to expand...

Yup, and I fully admit it isn't multi-user. Just saying, it solves similar use cases that Apple cares about. They obviously do not care if more than one person is using an iOS device and would like to have different homescreens or whatever.

That being said, Apple is making huge leaps when it comes to accessibility which is very important for some markets.
 
mcsenerd said:
I can't fill you in...and if you knew Apple...you'd know why ;)
Click to expand...

I love Windows. I love the iPad and iPhone. I hate Macs. Can anyone seriously object that this is a market that Microsoft is doomed to fail in? No way a Tegra quad core is going to be price competitive. It needs to be $199-$299 if it wants to compete with the iPad.
 
larrybeo said:
I heard rumors saying the MSRP was reaching $1,000. If it's not $199, someone at Microsoft should finally be fired.
Click to expand...

I love how a non-Apple product should cost pennies just because.

Guess heads will roll at MSFT. This is well worth the assumed ~$500-$1000 it may go for. Businesses don't want toys (nor do I anymore).
 
$*~AAPL~*$ said:
How many iPads do you see in the wild? I see more 7" tablets. Luckily both Wall Street and Apple knows a smaller form factor does indeed make sense. Maybe if you were a shareholder or an investor remotely worth their salt you would understand this. Regardless, my hope is this Surface will push Apple to ramp up their competiveness yet even further, whether it be different tablet form factors, or laptops. My money is definitely on Apple moving forward, though naturally as a Apple shareholder/Trader this thing will present problems in the interim, IMO.
Click to expand...
LOL
Judging by your later post, you sitting in your car would never actually see what's happening on the street kid...
And as such... if you actually knew what you were talking about...AKA 7 inch tablets... [Not e-readers] you'd plainly see that Android 7" tablets are not very popular....
We humans who see people in the street actually see iPads used by commuters, restaurants, business, aerospace, engineering, medicine... etc,.

When you are ready to emerge from your troll cave next time... make some sense kid... ;)
 
Anti-Lucifer said:
NOBODY is a bit too much there. There will be people who buy these devices. They are the exact same idiots who bought the ZUNE, ZUNE HD.
Click to expand...
Right, because for people who prefers the Zune Pass is an idiot. By that logic, people are idiots to use the iPod Touch!
 
DopeyFish said:
The keyboard, track pad, USB and pen input are what really drives the differentiation

I i think I may pick up a pro version because of these features
Click to expand...
Agreed, assuming the price is reasonable. Though I may wait a bit to see if that Xbox Surface thing pans out after all. Not sure how an Xbox targeted model would differ, if at all.
 
silroc said:
This is a cool

A tablet that can actually replace my work laptop on business trips!

Love my iPad, but it really is a web surfing toy for me on the road
Click to expand...

You're gonna be disappointed! It just sounds as if you are really looking for an existing device called the MBA.

The iPad does what it does best - luxury item that complements the laptop/desktop.

----------
KevinN206 said:
Right, because for people who prefers the Zune Pass is an idiot. By that logic, people are idiots to use the iPod Touch!
Click to expand...

If you bought the zune pass, you are truly an idiot! People are not idiots if they bought an iPod touch. Don't get it all twisted up.
 
coolbreeze said:
I love how a non-Apple product should cost pennies just because.

Guess heads will roll at MSFT. This is well worth the assumed ~$500-$1000 it may go for. Businesses don't want toys (nor do I anymore).
Click to expand...

It has to be cheaper than the iPad or offer significantly greater functionality than the iPad. That's what happens when you're three years behind the market leader. You have to undercut them or do something a lot better. We don't know about prices, but it's hard to tell whether or not the product does anything a lot better.
 
flameproof said:
iPad can't even multitask.

Ever tried to surf the web during a boring movie scene....?
Click to expand...
Frankly, I have rarely used an iPad. I try to keep up but I find WWDC incredibly boring and Apple's product pages come off as well... saccharine marketing material more than anything else. Not that I really expect anything else.

I am more interested in am multi-user device. It is good enough to use when I am not around and I want to keep my files my files.

My sibling could try out an iPad from work for a week but well...what would we do with it?

Anti-Lucifer said:
Come on - if you don't enjoy watching the movie, you don't watch it. What's the point of watching a movie and surfing at the same time. This is not multi-tasking. It's just basically ADHD.
Click to expand...
How many people use their phones and computers while watching TV?


NAG said:
Yup, and I fully admit it isn't multi-user. Just saying, it solves similar use cases that Apple cares about. They obviously do not care if more than one person is using an iOS device and would like to have different homescreens or whatever.

That being said, Apple is making huge leaps when it comes to accessibility which is very important for some markets.
Click to expand...
I have seen it. Kids love it.
 
flameproof said:
iPad can't even multitask.

Ever tried to surf the web during a boring movie scene....?
Click to expand...

Multiuser ≠ multitask.

Just because they both have multi in front doesn't mean they're even remotely the same thing. Might as well say the iPad can't do extensible markup languages well because it doesn't take system extensions.
 
macmyworld said:
Stupid product. Feel free to flame me later when this thing dies.

Here's why. Apple nailed the tablet because it built something very simple that is easy to use. Microsoft meanwhile gives you the choice between Arm and Intel. Consumers will be dazed and confused (and the Apple marketing machine will have a field day).

Second it runs Windows. Yes that same Windows that has never been friendly to work with. Microsoft needs and OS designed purely for tablets. Metro and Windows 8 is yet another attempt to leverage the Windows name.

Third, Steve Ballmer is an idiot. He knows nothing about usability and has assembled a company that is largely dysfunctional.

Believe it or not, I think Microsoft has done some decent work with Enterprise products. But they continue to live on the past with little new innovation. Little doesn't mean none, Kinect is pretty cool in the consumer space.

iOS has a huge head start and Microsoft is late to the game yet again. Hello to the Zune Tablet.
Click to expand...

I think iOS was a good idea for older tech, but in the next couple years tablets are going to be fast as todays laptops? it doesn't make any sense to have to operating systems doing the same thing?

I know it very hard thing to do but if the system could organically readjust itself to the hardware it running on, culling features in the code either on install or as it's running this would be ideal.

The shortcummings of iOS really irk me, I constantly feel pile are dumbing the operating system down on each release.

Personally i think the surface sounds great!

Real question is can you hackingtosh it! :apple:
 
macmyworld said:
Stupid product. Feel free to flame me later when this thing dies...
Click to expand...

I don't think it's stupid and I do think it's inflammatory to say it is. It is reactionary however and not at all innovative. I actually think this is the sort of thing that MS "HAS" to do. To me...if anything...this lends credence to them being scared to death of this "post-PC" talk coming from Cupertino.
 
flameproof said:
iPad can't even multitask.

Ever tried to surf the web during a boring movie scene....?
Click to expand...

No, I just fast forward to an interesting part of the movie...:p

That said, I don't see the fuss over some of the tablet's supposed "innovations".

The ipad doesn't have a retractable stand because that's what the smart cover (or basically any other ipad cover in the market today) does - prop up your ipad on a flat surface. It would basically be redundant.

Want a smart cover that doubles as a keyboard? Where have I seen that idea before?

But given what we know about the specs, I can't see it being cheaper than the ipad unless Microsoft is willing to subsidise the product in order to garner market share.
 
I'm glad apple will get some real competition in the tablet market. Microsoft will have to price this competitively or it will be a giant fail. I hate windows 8 so I would never buy one, but I am sure they would sell well if priced right.
 
I'm not a Windows fanboy, but I like it. It seems like you have the choice to use or not to use the keyboard, in which case this tablet looks pretty handy. At this point you can say that any other tablet than an iPad is an 'imitation'--it's rather unfair and narrow-minded IMHO to be so dismissive about this machine just because it doesn't bear an Apple logo. The Windows 8 tablet appears to offer an interesting option with its more traditional desktop-like OS while most other tablets (iPad, Android) seem more like over sized smartphones. I'll still likely end up buying an iPad, but I'll be interested in seeing what happens with this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back