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Microsoft Announces New 'Surface' Tablet, New Hardware and Software Based on Windows 8
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Hi. Mostly been lurking here. Wanted to share my thoughts probably mostly repeats of others...
Very edgy ad from Microsoft. A great tease if you will.
Not a big fan of the orientation of the MS tablet. One of the main reasons I liked the iPad over the Xoom was the portrait orientation. The ipad looks and works like how I use a pad of paper. Very normal feeling. I know this was part of the design of the ipad and I'm not sure why MS would stray from that fundamental of tablet design.
This isn't a real win or lose here but I hope the MS tablets have success in the demographic they're targeting. I'm excited to see MS gain market share in their demographic to help push innovation within the Apple ecosystem. I'm not saying its direct competition initially but this should help drive Apple to do even greater things, and that as an avid Apple user is what I care about. No amount of marketing or hype would draw me or many other Apple users to that side.
Apple has shown how and what to do to be successful in winning customer satisfaction and loyalty. It's been outlined in many posts already, but MS has to know that app support, intuitive OS design, customer support, and multiple device integration are the cornerstones for this venture. Google has yet to really adopt the policy of device integration. Again (since this is an Apple forum) I can gush why I love Apple products, they just work together so well and the pilar for all Apple devices is the robustness of iTunes. MS really needs a hook to tie everything together.
In closing, in a selfish way I hope to see MS break down the barriers that seem to hold up other tablet devices and provide some challenge to Apple for all our own good.
Very edgy ad from Microsoft. A great tease if you will.
Not a big fan of the orientation of the MS tablet. One of the main reasons I liked the iPad over the Xoom was the portrait orientation. The ipad looks and works like how I use a pad of paper. Very normal feeling. I know this was part of the design of the ipad and I'm not sure why MS would stray from that fundamental of tablet design.
This isn't a real win or lose here but I hope the MS tablets have success in the demographic they're targeting. I'm excited to see MS gain market share in their demographic to help push innovation within the Apple ecosystem. I'm not saying its direct competition initially but this should help drive Apple to do even greater things, and that as an avid Apple user is what I care about. No amount of marketing or hype would draw me or many other Apple users to that side.
Apple has shown how and what to do to be successful in winning customer satisfaction and loyalty. It's been outlined in many posts already, but MS has to know that app support, intuitive OS design, customer support, and multiple device integration are the cornerstones for this venture. Google has yet to really adopt the policy of device integration. Again (since this is an Apple forum) I can gush why I love Apple products, they just work together so well and the pilar for all Apple devices is the robustness of iTunes. MS really needs a hook to tie everything together.
In closing, in a selfish way I hope to see MS break down the barriers that seem to hold up other tablet devices and provide some challenge to Apple for all our own good.
Looks good. I haven't even tried Windows 8 yet, but if this runs the full OS it could be an amazing option for connection to a TV for streaming content. The ipad is finicky with streaming many types of content. Interested in pricing and availability.
No different than having to buy a mac computer AND an ipad to do something ANY microsoft tablet will do. Im not the only one who thinks that Apple are just totally money motivated and couldnt give a toss about building the right product for the general public. Microsoft with their "one os fits all" will knock the stuffing out of Apple, mark my words.
Problem is how you access the registry makes it easy for people who don't know what they're doing to screw things up if they're trying to adjust something relatively benign. With how OS X handles plists, it is very unlikely you'll be mucking around in a plist that could do any actual harm (my user's Safari plists can't screw up anything except my user's Safari).
Tons of comments!!
BTW, what do you want Apple to make for competition with MS?
Please, no more Giant iPhone.
BTW, what do you want Apple to make for competition with MS?
Please, no more Giant iPhone.
I got the impression it will compete with "Ultrabooks" which are hovering
just over the $1K figure here.
So there is a Surface, and a Surface Pro?
It's got no price point yet, still doesn't know if it wants to be a tablet or a laptop, and is once again proving Ballmer is a liability. He mocked the iPhone when it was unveiled, and now they're behind. He mocked the iPad, and now they're behind.
Come back from healing the world, Bill ... your pal is making an arse of it.
It's got no price point yet, still doesn't know if it wants to be a tablet or a laptop, and is once again proving Ballmer is a liability. He mocked the iPhone when it was unveiled, and now they're behind. He mocked the iPad, and now they're behind.
Come back from healing the world, Bill ... your pal is making an arse of it.
Fair enough that it's not one big database. But it is *far* less granular than the plist system. Per-user may sound OK until you realize that most computers have a total of one user.
With the Surface news, Microsoft changed strategy. Build Windows HW on their own for the first time ever.
I think Microsoft could soon make another bold step: Buy Nokia, or at least Nokia's consumer division (Lumia and other smartphones).
Why stop at tablets? They could make their own smartphones and try to bring/bing Windows phone market share back, their handset partners have failed them.
( I imagine Ballmer in a Vader suit at next meeting with handset partners:
'We are preparing for better Windows8 phones, Darth Ballmer'
'You have failed me for the last time...'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYbwbYx82_I )
keyboard. so what?
What'd really make an iPad killer is a device with a tactile ergonomic keyboard... and a DVD drive, oh, and an actual mouse (hover states anyone?), plus the screen needs to be bigger, like maybe 22", and those little speakers suck (who wants to wear headphones) so a pair of integrated bookshelf sized speakers please. In addition, I need ports for my firewire, thunderbolt, hdmi, optical, usb3, PS/2, vga, s-video, RS-232, and CN36 devices. Plus it should have wheels, serve candy out one side, and make omelets, and be offered in a hot pink paint job.
People who are focused solely on the HW, seem to miss the point as to why the iPad is so successful. Besides any 'feature' I might add, wouldn't necessarily make a better iPad, just a better iPad for me, and a more costly one for you.
What'd really make an iPad killer is a device with a tactile ergonomic keyboard... and a DVD drive, oh, and an actual mouse (hover states anyone?), plus the screen needs to be bigger, like maybe 22", and those little speakers suck (who wants to wear headphones) so a pair of integrated bookshelf sized speakers please. In addition, I need ports for my firewire, thunderbolt, hdmi, optical, usb3, PS/2, vga, s-video, RS-232, and CN36 devices. Plus it should have wheels, serve candy out one side, and make omelets, and be offered in a hot pink paint job.
People who are focused solely on the HW, seem to miss the point as to why the iPad is so successful. Besides any 'feature' I might add, wouldn't necessarily make a better iPad, just a better iPad for me, and a more costly one for you.
I agree, MS is labeling it as a tablet, but its really just a thin Net/Ultra Book. I suspect, price point will start at about $800, $900, $1000 & $1100 respectively. Still more than an iPad, and apps/programs will be what make it worth getting.
And I still dont see a lot of developers re-making apps just for Windows 8. And playing any real PC game isn't viable. The REAL QUESTION IS, what is this going to be good for? Reading? Typing? Business? Mobile Gaming?
All companies are motivated by money, so nothing new there, and having used MS products for a very long time, I can assure you that they don't always score top marks in "building the right product for the general public". It remains to be seen whether they have done so here. In my opinion, they've struggled a lot with vision and execution in the past and they'll need to really execute well here, not only from the standpoint of the OS, but the hardware as well, in order to "knock the stuffing out of Apple".
I don't know what the actual product will be like or if it will ever be able to compete with the iPad, but I DO like the video for it. That's one slick presentation. They did a great job with it.
First off I am not down on Windows 8. I think it is a great solution. And I see your points. Putting 2 products into one package likely has it's advantages overall. Apple is starting to dabble with this all in one option too (it appears at least).
Judging by how well the current options are selling, it appears that the general public doesn't miss having a full OS when using these devices. But keep in mind, most of us on here are not the general public.
We (I am talking all of us posting here) have to remember, that users of Tech forums and websites tend to ask a bit more from our devices than the general consumer. It is highly likely that iOS and Android are not a great fit for everyone (and I never said it was), it simply is enough power to do what most of their consumers need.
I think the writing is on the wall for Apple to bridge the gap between iOS and Mac OS, by either making OS X more mobile and touch screen aware, or, combine the two Operating systems into one unified OS. Feels like every OS X update brings in more iOS features (often with it's share of people complaining about them).
Perhaps they will release an iPad Pro, and or, finally unleash OS XI which will function on either device.
One question tough..
Would you expect to see more Android, or iOS users flock to the Windows 8 tablets? My guess would be android, simply because of iOS and Apple products having more of a walled garden.
I have no idea what the future will hold, just posting my opinion, so just take it as that and ignore the moderator tag
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And what exactly is a tablet, since you seem to be so knowledgeable on the subject.
Is it an iPad? That's the answer that would make the most sense, considering it's the one tablet that's seen the most success in the market. But does that mean that's what all competiting tablets should ever aspire to from today to infinity? A simple media focused device with minor editing capabilities?
The Surface is a neat idea because it manages to be two things at once without (potentially) sacrificing the quality of either. In your hand it's a tablet. It runs touch oriented apps, launched from a touch optimized start screen. In this regard, it's very much like an iPad. On your desk, it's a capable ultrabook, able to run Office, Photoshop, or any other Windows oriented desktop application you feel like throwing at it. It's a machine capable of doing what you want to do when you want to do it.
But does it work? Hell if I know. I, like the rest of you, haven't touched one yet. It could work beautifully, being the perfect combination of the iPad and Macbook Air. It could suck completely, being a device that tries to be both, but doesn't excel as either one. I see the potential for the device though, and give MS props for trying something that's honestly a pretty good idea, albeit a risky one.
Also, what's the deal with all the kickstand hate anyway?
They're already bridging them. It is called iCloud. Difference between Apple and Microsoft here is that Apple is doing it one piece at a time while Microsoft is pretty much making some sort of weird hybrid to try to force the issue. Maybe MS is right and a weird hybrid is the right way. I don't prefer it, though.
Nobody was surprised about an impressive MBP.
But an in impressive tablet by Microsoft? Pure shock
Because it's so laughable that this is a 'feature'.
This is just one of many after-market ipad cases that include 'kickstands'. How is this exactly 'innovative'?
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A tablet is a device where the main input device is the screen, using a finger or a pen.
Anything else is a hybrid.
Probably because it's built into the device itself, and is a rather more elegant solution than the shot you provided.
Yeah. It's a hybrid. You can use your finger or pen as the main input method, or go with the more traditional desktop forms of input. Whichever you prefer. You're not forced into either one.
Judging from my Windows 8 experiences, it does both very well. With that in mind, what does it matter that it's not really a tablet by your definition? As long as it works, it works.
And users can't screw up anything outside their user registry.
Again folks : the registry is a bunch of independant hives. A user has as much control over certain parts as he has rights on the system. OS X handles plists the same. Both have strict ACLs to prevent modification by unauthorised users.
If you're running as administrator on OS X or Windows at all times and muck around the Registry or the /Library folder, bad things will happen on both systems.
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Not any different than ~/Library.