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

Compton said:
1500 comments on one day. We are on a Apple-centric website and I don't think that any Apple related news item has gathered so much attention.
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Apple Centric yes, amount of people who are MS Windows Fangirls from the post is big also. Any way its nice to have a story about the competition and what its doing, lets everyone evaluate news that could impact Apple products in the future.

Personally I see only bloatware but if this starts to eat into Apples market shares you better believe Apple is going to put some major mojo behind the next iOS (iOS 7)
 
HMMMMMM.... Anyone else remember that HP thing that came out but then never actually CAME OUT. NO PRICE NO DETAILS. Look what we can do....ONCE.
 
Avicdar said:
Battery life? Will be interesting.

I'm a little surprised in a good way. Didn't think Microsoft had this in them. They spent way too long in their presentation talking about the keyboard though. They still don't understand ecosystem, content, apps.

We'll see.
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Disagreed. They don't care about the toy-app ecosystem, they're creating a new one: the ultraportable, touchscreen, productivity-focused tablet workstation. I see a few intersections with the current tablet status-quo, but for sure they're proposing a new use for a tablet.
 
Oh my goodness people.

In summation. Xbox was a success. Zune was a failure. Microsoft is one for two on hardware. Their previous success or failure is not a reliable indicator of the success or failure of their third major hardware release
 
AppleScruff1 said:
Show me where I said it was? I didn't. I said that Microsoft was primarily a software company. There, that was easy, wasn't it?
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AppleScruff1 said:
Microsoft has primarily been a software company. We'll see how this entry into the hardware field goes. Lots of hot air in this thread from both sides with very little posted with any kind of substance.
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....very

Edit: I guess that phrase could be taken to mean mutliple things. Obviously at least 2 of us felt the phrase implied this was Microsoft's first entry into hardware. Either way, they have a track record. Not stellar, but I'm thinking they've learned from the past mistakes as the current Xbox line would reflect.
 
Geckotek said:
Welcome to 2012. Leave your old jokes back with your XP based PC. Thanks.
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XP is great, it ran much better then the competing OS X at the time. Old OS X had really bad performance. It might just be that hardware got faster so OS X is ok now.
 
markintosh said:
Tim Cook and Co should take out a full page ad in every major US Newspaper (so the Microsoft people will actually see it) that simply states....

Microsoft...welcome to the party.
Too bad there's no beer left.
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The best part of the tech party: There's always more beer to be had.
 
October? Sure. I'll take that action.

coolbreeze said:
I'm not sure why people didn't catch this, but the Surface will be released alongside Windows 8. So October.
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Yes. They SAY that, but their track record isn't the best when it comes to release dates.
 
Sensation said:
XP is great, it ran much better then the competing OS X at the time. Old OS X had really bad performance. It might just be that hardware got faster so OS X is ok now.
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XP was the benchmark of an operating system. It was so great, it lasted like 9 years. It was so great, it sunk Windows Vista.
 
I hope they're not serious with the Fisher Price looking icons and color schemes on the OS. It's also just a laptop with a kickstand and detachable keyboard.

I hate to be smug but Apple "probably" already has them beat with a new iPad that'll destroy this thing. It's Zune all over again.
 
jsbaugh said:
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.
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Well, if you read just about every ipadreview out there, the main gripe is that it is a real pain to type on.

Plus, to all those expecting it go go at 399, wake up, man! This has specs comparable to the higher end iPad. I expect its price to be more on par with the 64gb version!
 
Sensation said:
XP is great, it ran much better then the competing OS X at the time. Old OS X had really bad performance. It might just be that hardware got faster so OS X is ok now.
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Was just trying to point out that the BSOD is a thing of the past and jokes about it now are just pathetic at this point.
 
ZBoater said:
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...
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There is no hype we are in a post PC era, your just not looking at it logically. Today I do half if not more of my work needs on the following products.

1. iPhone
2. iPad
3. laptop

No where is there a desktop for work even my iMac is not a server and I hardly use it. I need to be mobile and so do a lot of people. PC does not mean MS Windows it means Personal Computer which to me was always Desktop Platform. There is no fantasy story of David & Goliath here.

MS is no Goliath in the market any more. They are still big but so is Apple , Gooogle. The desktop is not going away, the Tower is not going away, the Laptop is not going away any time soon, maybe never in all our lifetimes. But the world has moved away from the bloated big ugly box on the floor. Now is the post PC era where a lot of energy and brain power is been used to create products for tablets and smart phones.

I give you something that in the PC era would never have existed in the medical field.

http://www.tonicforhealth.com/

Nothing like this was possible just 3 years ago. So pick your tool for the job and stop been old and irrelevant in the new world. Even games may take a back seat in PC once the finally bring out net Gen. consoles which if you look at what MS is doing there is already hinted. We are not yet there but another decade we should see everything change radically.
 
brdeveloper said:
Disagreed. They don't care about the toy-app ecosystem, they're creating a new one: the ultraportable, touchscreen, productivity-focused tablet workstation. I see a few intersections with the current tablet status-quo, but for sure they're proposing a new use for a tablet.
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Good point. Although I find far too many productive apps to over generalize and call the App Store a toy app ecosystem.

However, wouldn't you say that Microsoft trying to do what tablets were trying to do 4 years ago? That is, create a laptop replacement, instead of a companion product.

Part of the reason why people thought the iPad would not succeed was because it was limited. And it was for that very reason that it did succeed, because it created a new segment.

It will be interesting to see if, with the success of the iPad, if the market is ready for a full-scale tablet/laptop replacement.

what are your thoughts?
 
Geckotek said:
....very

Edit: I guess that phrase could be taken to mean mutliple things. Obviously at least 2 of us felt the phrase implied this was Microsoft's first entry into hardware. Either way, they have a track record. Not stellar, but I'm thinking they've learned from the past mistakes as the current Xbox line would reflect.
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Now I understand the confusion. I should have been clearer and not said hardware, I should have said tablet or computer. I know they make XBox, mice, keyboards etc. Sorry for not being clear about what I meant.
 
Jasoco said:
They haven't even announced the price. If priced right, it could give the iPad a run for its money. If priced wrong, it'll be the Zune of tablets.

If it is priced well, I hope Apple has something really special up their sleeve for the iPad 4. Problem is this is full Windows. What we need is a full Photoshop for iOS. Not just another "touch" version. Real full PhotoShop.
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I expect to see Windows ARM binaries for open-source apps like Apache, MySQL, PHP, Netbeans, Gimp, Cygwin and so on. This will be the end of easy-development, toy-apps, currently made for tablets.
 
AppleScruff1 said:
They're almost there. They have the MBA. All it needs is a touchscreen that can be removed from the keyboard and used separately. New processors and advances in battery tech etc will make these as powerful as today's notebooks. It will be an iPad on steroids.
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They could have also turned the Macbook Air into a Netbook (ultra cheap portable).

I just do not see the Air being turned into a convertible. Apple doesn't like mixing their chocolate and peanutbutter that way.

brdeveloper said:
This will be the end of easy-development, toy-apps
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Are you trying to discredit yourself?
 
Screen resolution? Or have they not announced that yet?

Interesting device, it has some potential but too soon to judge before all the details are out. Including pricing.

I suspect to really compete they'll need to take a loss on the hardware.
 
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