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

What's with Microsoft saying "Coming soon"? Whenever Apple announces something it's available immediately. Also I did a google search for "microsoft surface" and found a Microsoft page saying "Welcome to Surface 2.0". What happened to 1.0?
 
jgg204 said:
don't be sorry, i'm the one who feels sorry for your pathetic self.

your life depends on Microsoft and their products whether you like it or not. so instead of pretending like you F''ing know everything there is to know and that Apple is supreme, take a step back and realize there is more in the tech industry than consumer toys

think outside of the box, or evaporate yourself from these forums
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A little harsh on the commentary and language, but know this. I work for a company that is now moving over 10,000 people to the Mac OS platform. The toys turned out to be Dells that break so often we had to keep hundreds on standby. The other issue was the increasing (and alarming) unreliability of windows.

We are moving to Mac as much for the OS stability as for the hardware reliability.
 
Eidorian said:
I listen to reviews while checking a page on the product. The previous example with YouTube snapped alongside a web browser sounds like something I would benefit from.

Lately I have had NPR on in the background while I am building model kits.
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Okay. Just saying that most people cannot do multiple tasks like that at once (e.g. pay attention spoken word while reading).

As far as things like NPR, the app can run in the background while you do things (I have the MLB app on in the background sometimes, myself).
 
KevinN206 said:
Tell me how do I watch YouTube videos while surfing the web with Safari? I now do that with Windows RT tablet. YouTube app on the left, IE 10 on the right. Amazing! Or how do I chat with a friend while using the Internet? Or maybe do a video call while typing something?
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AirPlay?
 
This will fail just because if its priced similar to an iPad people will stay in their ecosystem, and everyone knows iPhone is king.

If people actually choose android or this, its Metro, and I have beta tested Win 8 and its so weird and clunky....I personally will be sticking to Win 7 on my computer for a long time, but I will stay in my iPad/iPhone ecosystem
 
KevinN206 said:
Tell me how do I watch YouTube videos while surfing the web with Safari? I now do that with Windows RT tablet. YouTube app on the left, IE 10 on the right. Amazing! Or how do I chat with a friend while using the Internet? Or maybe do a video call while typing something?
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wait, so you can can WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEOS at the same time you are surfing. Makes so much sense now...
🙄
 
Right off the bat, their failure is to converge on a single design.

I'll admit, they're doing a lot better than a lot of other companies, but the issue I consistently see is that they can't just make ONE PRODUCT!

A fundamental rule is that people DO NOT know what they want! Don't make it worse by providing them with options!
 
I like the design, it's basically saying here is a tablet that might replace you laptop or even for some become there main computer.

IMO the personal computer is going this direction, most will only need/want a tablet style computer. Add a KB for easier typing. sent video to you TV for playback. The days of the desktop are numbered for many users.

atomicbloke said:
This is the beginning of the end for the iPad and Apple.
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That's going a bit far.

But it does mean Apple will need to bring out something special next year for the iPad.
 
The keyboard idea is cool but it's going to get pretty nasty real quick. The covers we by for our iPads are made of the same materials on the inside and don't encourage us to touch it the way this surface keyboard will,yet they still get dirty.
 
AppleScruff1 said:
I didn't think a high school student would be familiar with Windows 98. How much experience did you have with Vista? So people who buy Macs but know nothing about them are intelligent? 😕
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I used Windows 98 on my mom's Sony VAIO until I got my iMac G5. My dad got a tower with Vista (he knows nothing about Windows), and my school also used it for 3 years.

I'm not saying that Windows users are dumb compared to Mac users. I know that there are a lot of Mac users who don't really know anything about computers and get a Mac because they can't deal with Windows. I was just saying that the fact that so many people went out and bought Vista shows how few people really know anything about computers. Anyone at my school will say right away never to get Vista.

Speaking of that, how does everyone know that I'm in high school? I thought I only mentioned it a couple of times, not that I care.
 
Shabbis said:
I just don't get the innovation behind the attached "touch" keyboard. The onscreen iPad keyboard works just fine for forum posts (like this, from an iPad1) and emails, etc... If you need a physical keyboard, just get the Apple BT keyboard. At least that way you aren't physically tethered to your device, and you get full keyboard experience, not some compromise.

Now, as an Xbox gamer, allow the Surface to use an Xbox controller and to RDC to my Xbox over the net..... Endless possibilities!
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I can see the allure of a portable keyboard that doesn't take up too much space. Just imagine, you are outside at starbucks, just prop up your MS Surface, swing down the cover and type on it.

If you are on the move, the apple keyboard can be quite bulky, not to mention in an origami workstation to protect it. However, I have also had crappy experiences with those bendable bluetooth keyboards. The typing just sucks!

I also have my reservations about the touchpad, implying the tablet will still be mouse-based? I find I am okay typing on what is basically a touch-screen laptop (on my zaggfolio). For me at least, the screen is near enough that it isn't anywhere near the hassle people are making it out to be, and often quicker and more intuitive than using a mouse. 🙂

Tell me how do I watch YouTube videos while surfing the web with Safari? I now do that with Windows RT tablet. YouTube app on the left, IE 10 on the right. Amazing! Or how do I chat with a friend while using the Internet? Or maybe do a video call while typing something?
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I find that if I were to try and do both at the same time, I may as well not be doing anything at all. If I am reading a webpage, I am likely not paying attention to the youtube video, and vice versa, so I am just wasting bandwidth, screen size and battery life.

I stopped messaging for the same reason, I just found it annoying and disruptive to what would otherwise have been a smooth and seamless web-surfing experience. I can be reading a great article online, and keep getting interrupted by notifications and incoming messages I feel I just have to respond ASAP. It's why I disabled push notifications on my email as well.

Same thing with the video call. Why should I be typing something else at the same time? Isn't it basic courtesy to give that someone your full undivided attention? How would you feel if I talked to you and you were obviously more interested in playing your PSP?

I don't do this on my 27" imac, and I likely don't see myself doing it on a 10" ipad either. So yeah, I am not entirely bemoaning the fact that I can't really do any of these on the tablet. 😎
 
Funny if this smart cover/keyboard is so innovative, so all that, how come this minute long commercial didn't even snobs some pone using it? In fact not one minute of that ad showed the product in use. So we have a product with very few specs, no price or release date and no one showing it in use, no one demonstrating Office or some other software on it. Seems like vapor ware to me.
 
Winni said:
Of course, I completely disagree. Microsoft totally understand THEIR ecosystem - and the keyboard IS a killer feature for customers like ME.

Typing on the iPad or any other tablet sucks. Microsoft solved this problem elegantly. It's innovation Apple should have come up with to make the iPad an attractive device for people who have to WRITE a lot. But since Apple is mostly interested in selling content, that was the last thing they worried about.

With the Surface tablet, Microsoft is well positioned to bring tablets into businesses - their concept makes tablets actually USEFUL.
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In general, if I want a keyboard and I want to write a lot, I want a laptop of some sort. Not sure that a keyboard for a Pad-type device is innovation. Yep -it can be useful - but innovation?
 
SuperBuck27 said:
A little harsh on the commentary and language, but know this. I work for a company that is now moving over 10,000 people to the Mac OS platform. The toys turned out to be Dells that break so often we had to keep hundreds on standby. The other issue was the increasing (and alarming) unreliability of windows.

We are moving to Mac as much for the OS stability as for the hardware reliability.
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your Dell computers broke so much you had to keep hundreds on standby? so let me get this straight. your company has 10,000 people, so 10,000 computers. you have to keep hundreds of extra brand new computers on standby? that makes absolutely no sense. who is running your IT department? a college intern?

i work for an entity (i'm not saying who), that has 300,000+ users. i know the IT people for my division. they don't keep thousands of standby computers. they have plenty of hard drives though because hard drive failures are just as common on Macs as PCs.

if your organization has that badly of a dysfunctional workforce that requires that level of excessive IT cost and expense, it seems like the solution is not to then give them even more expensive equipment. it's to provide better training, or heck...give someone a six sigma green belt (or black belt...it seems that bad) to figure out why your organization is so dysfunctional
 
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