Hey now, stop making sense.
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Some additional hands on:
http://gizmodo.com/5919459/hands-on-with-microsoft-surface-for-windows-rt
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Microsoft Announces New 'Surface' Tablet, New Hardware and Software Based on Windows 8
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Hey now, stop making sense.
----------
Some additional hands on:
http://gizmodo.com/5919459/hands-on-with-microsoft-surface-for-windows-rt
Looks impressive. Will be a very good thing for Apple to be challenged. Apple is WAY to confident and arrogant and they could probably use some competition. If this is everything its described, it will be a leap ahead of the iPad. (except of course the App Store)
Kudos to MS for at least coming out with something. What I don't understand is why manufacturers are trying to turn a tablet into a laptop. MS talked about the keyboard for half the presentation. If I want a keyboard with a screen I will buy a Macbook. The Pro version is going to be priced in ultrabook territory, or around $1k. The other one will be an iPad competitor but with less resolution and hell of a lot less Apps. Basically a scaled up windows phone.
In typical MS fashion they don't talk about battery life (which I'm sure at the moment sucks) , price or availability (next year). Overall though I think competition is good and hopefully this will light a fire under Apple to at least make some serious advancements in iOS, which they have not done in 2 years.
In typical MS fashion they don't talk about battery life (which I'm sure at the moment sucks) , price or availability (next year). Overall though I think competition is good and hopefully this will light a fire under Apple to at least make some serious advancements in iOS, which they have not done in 2 years.
I think a key thing to remember here is the fact Windows 8, no matter if its a "failure" or not will sell millions of devices in a short time frame.
App developers will be on board. Hell in the consumer preview there are a ton of apps....when it launches public I see no reason why there won't at least be 1,000 apps ready to go. iPad is most certainly the top you want to go after, but first things first.....make sure Android doesn't stand a chance.
The Surface will have a "built in" on-screen touch keyboard as well, but you have the option of using the physical keyboard if you choose. Just like you can buy a physical keyboard to use with your iPad. And the kickstand is optional too, you don't have to open it every time you use the tablet!
Ridiculous post which clearly indicates you haven't read a real word about the product nor know how it is used. See comment below.
I do use an Air instead at the moment.
But virtually every day I sit with my Air on my knee while reading something, need to go to the kitchen and think "I'd really like to be able to snap the screen off and carry it through to continue reading". Because there are a lot of times I do wish that. Or that I want to read something in portrait.
And you know what, the iPad doesn't deliver that at all, because it doesn't run a proper operating system. Meanwhile this does. In spades. AND I can draw on it.
Interesting Concept
Although I am a hard-core Apple fan, and would never trade my iPad for the Surface, I must admit that I was impressed with the new concept used here. Innovation from many companies, not just Apple, is a very good thing for us as consumers.
Although I am a hard-core Apple fan, and would never trade my iPad for the Surface, I must admit that I was impressed with the new concept used here. Innovation from many companies, not just Apple, is a very good thing for us as consumers.
You realize this isn't such an arbitrary detail, right? This is especially the case when they failed to describe important details such as battery life and price sufficiently. Additionally, you have people who are mixing up the abilities of the pro version with the base version. How many people are going to be mad when they get home with a base Surface 2 and are presented with a device that cannot run their old Windows apps?
I hate people who just throw out the name Vista as if that just means bad without understanding why Vista had problems at launch (such as calling every recent version of OS X "Apple's Vista"). Vista was a problem due to user confusion. It had overly optimistic requirements to run. It was incompatible with a lot of old devices. And changes to the UI confused people (e.g. UAC).
Windows 8 and Surface 2 really do seem to have the potential for all of that with a combination of a fuzzy distinction between Windows-RT and full Windows 8 devices. Then there is the issue with the Start menu going away and change quite a bit of the UI metaphor with it (e.g. how to do you quit a Metro app).
By not confronting these real issues and instead glossing over them by saying "Microsoft is innovating!" there are going to be a lot of users who are very angry with their purchases (people didn't gloss over the fact that iPads cannot run OS X apps but they gave very realistic battery life values and price points).
The cover they have developed is one of the smartest things I have seen in a while, maybe even the most compelling selling point this device has.
The question is it a tablet or a ultrabook becomes almost irrelevant when the keyboard is so cleverly integrated into something as practical as the protective cover.
That said the only downfall I see it the the need to have a desk environment to be able to use the keyboard properly, which raises the tablet ultrabook argument all over again.
The question is it a tablet or a ultrabook becomes almost irrelevant when the keyboard is so cleverly integrated into something as practical as the protective cover.
That said the only downfall I see it the the need to have a desk environment to be able to use the keyboard properly, which raises the tablet ultrabook argument all over again.
Please cite your evidence for this somewhat amazing claim.
In the past twelve months Apple has introduced the Retina display; Siri; and a new Maps initiative. The iPhone 4S was item most successful product launch in history. The company continues to push the boundaries of Cloud computing, investing heavily in its data centers; and continues to develop and file patents on innovative, ground-breaking consumer technology.
Apple doesn't need to put a kickstand and a stylus on the iPad. Steve Jobs (and Tim Cook) understood that very well. Thats not "complacency" - its a matter of good taste.
What is ridiculous is to present a keyboard-cover as a selling point for a "tablet".
Microsoft. Think backwards.
This would be true if Windows 8 was Windows. Windows-RT doesn't run old Windows apps. Then there are the massive departures in UI with the removal of the Start menu. Just because you name it Windows doesn't mean it is Windows. How many of those Windows business computers are still running XP? To business, Windows often = XP.
There is also the push toward BYO in business now (often due to restrictive IT policies that can be bypassed if you own the device). BYO is a threat to the Windows hegemony.
Simply put, there are a lot of changes happening and you just can't say "Windows" and everything reverts back to the PC era.
1. Hope the pricing starts around $399 or less.
2. Needs to be simple(intuitive) to use like the iPad. After all, most tablet users are simpletons who just want to browse the web, email or play games with no instructions.
3. Needs to support flash. This is one of my pet peeves with my iPad. I should not need to use a 3rd party website/app to perform simple web browsing.
4. If this a file system that allows files to be copied to/from the USB and attachment to email, this will be a great advantage over the iPad.
5. Apple may have ample APPS but most people only use/download a handful. MS just needs to make sure that popular APPS/utilities/Games are available for the majority of tablet users.
On tablets, the OS just needs to simple, fast, intuitive & reliable. Doesn't matter if it's MS, Apple or other 3rd party. Most don't care as long as it works.
2. Needs to be simple(intuitive) to use like the iPad. After all, most tablet users are simpletons who just want to browse the web, email or play games with no instructions.
3. Needs to support flash. This is one of my pet peeves with my iPad. I should not need to use a 3rd party website/app to perform simple web browsing.
4. If this a file system that allows files to be copied to/from the USB and attachment to email, this will be a great advantage over the iPad.
5. Apple may have ample APPS but most people only use/download a handful. MS just needs to make sure that popular APPS/utilities/Games are available for the majority of tablet users.
On tablets, the OS just needs to simple, fast, intuitive & reliable. Doesn't matter if it's MS, Apple or other 3rd party. Most don't care as long as it works.
Seems like the same delay as this "Surface" to me (5-6 monthish).
Am sorry, seems that I have missed the part where MS have said they will release the Surface after 5-6 months......
Don't hold your breath regarding the price. If the price would undercut the iPad like that they would be flashing the price point every few minutes. The reality is the price is probably going to be more expensive than you'd like.
And then you listed a bunch of PC requirements. Might as well go back and tell everyone using a GUI that they need a bunch of CLI features in order to be viable. And that is the issue with Windows 8, it mixes and matches and doesn't give old and new equal treatment (touch is more intuitive than a mouse in Windows 8 yet they spent most of their time showing off their physical keyboard).
It looks sweet, but I'm a mac guy. They'd have to integrate it well with OS X and promise me big time that I was getting 100% metro - no legacy Windows OS.
You mean revert to this morning?
The Apple hype about the PC era is just that, hype. Sure, the iPad has pushed the envelope considerably on what you can do with a tablet, but PCs (MacBooks and iMacs included) reign supreme. And as much success as Apple is experiencing, it's still a David vs. Goliath thing with Microsoft. And in these type of scenarios David doesn't always win...