Microsoft Surface

[Puddle Jumper]

I tried running Windows 8 on a Dell Latitude ST and it was far better than I expected. I think it will be a terrible os for desktops and laptops but it works well on tablets.

 

[Red Storm]

So you have some vendetta for the platform and probably wont budge no matter what they do?

Yes, Windows is expensive and bloated. If I wasn't a gamer I would have no need for it. The thought of running x86 Windows on an expensive, thick, actively cooled tablet is not very appealing to me.

 

[arod]

Yes, Windows is expensive and bloated. If I wasn't a gamer I would have no need for it. The thought of running x86 Windows on an expensive, thick, actively cooled tablet is not very appealing to me.

So you want winRT then.... they cater to that need to and still make it far more functional than ipad/android.

 

[Dominato3r]

Yes, Windows is expensive and bloated. If I wasn't a gamer I would have no need for it. The thought of running x86 Windows on an expensive, thick, actively cooled tablet is not very appealing to me.

Expensive? Unlike Android, MS does the software support itself, not through some manufacturer proxy like Android. A benefit to the OEM, who now doesn't have to budget for a skin/OS development team. On the end user side, it's a laughable expense to be honest. The upgrade is $40, $15 if you bought a PC lately. And IIRC the Windows 7 upgrade was similar. Most people get a new version of Windows when they buy a new machine anyway, the number of people who upgrade is very small.

Regarding bloat, Windows has been trimmed down a lot over the past few years. I have Windows 8 running on an early Vista era AIO with all the drivers working, and it's not out of the ordinary to see late XP era machines running it with ease. Android, Jelly bean in particular, has crippled my phone completely. Skype will take ages to load, and takes up pretty much all my phones memory. Whatsapp, a messaging app I use as been rendered useless, and overall OS UI is slow with the terrible performance masked by transitions animations. Project butter, more like Project molasses, and my phone is under 2 years old by the way.

 

[Rottie]

not sure who your roommate is, but I'm interested in how he's the deciding factor in the Surface's success

I will wait until Windows Surface comes out this October I will let him know for test drive. Maybe he will change his mind?

 

[jhansman]

I hope MS hits a homer with Surface. They need to stay relevant in that market, and this may be their last shot at it. I watch with interest. And, Win8 was (IMO) never really meant for the desktop, but since I qualify for the $15 upgrade, what the hell, I'll dual boot it and see if it can hold it's own against a solid Win7.

 

[Dumac]

So you want winRT then.... they cater to that need to and still make it far more functional than ipad/android.

Windows RT not WinRT

 

[Dumac]

I just find it funny that people say the Pro is for serious professional users looking to do actual work but they don't mention that doing such work on anything but a real keyboard is not exactly an enjoyable process. Even on the Transformer keyboards or those iPad BT keyboards is not very feasible because of how cramped it is.

Doesn't it have a keyboard flap or something?

Or is that a 'transformer keyboard'.

I just use my desktop so I don't know all this fancy jargon

 

[dguy6789]

Windows RT not WinRT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbreviation

 

[Lifted]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbreviation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Runtime

Not to be confused with Windows RT.

Windows Runtime, or WinRT, is a cross-platform application architecture

 

[Dumac]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbreviation

As the user above stated, WinRT is its own thing, so nobody should abbreviate Windows RT as WinRT.

WinRT is an API that is available on both Windows 8 and Windows RT. It houses all the Metro graphics APIs as well as a ton of other things.

 

[BladeVenom]

As the user above stated, WinRT is its own thing, so nobody should abbreviate Windows RT as WinRT.

WinRT is an API that is available on both Windows 8 and Windows RT. It houses all the Metro graphics APIs as well as a ton of other things.

Metro? There is no Metro. It's Windows 8.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I've tried two of the earlier previews and wasn't crazy about Windows 8 initially. I figured this might be something I could skip. But I'm running the RTM 90 day evaluation copy on my laptop and am starting to like it a bit now. I suspect between the gradual improvements and me proceeding through the various stages of grief over the loss of the Start button, I've started to come around and like Windows 8 now.

I used the Splashtop Metro Testbed app on my iPad and used that to remote desktop to my Windows 8 machine. I am really impressed with both the Splashtop app and how nice Windows 8 feels on a tablet. There is some delay, but all the touch gestures worked perfectly for me, I really felt like I was using a Windows 8 tablet.

 

[Dumac]

Metro? There is no Metro. It's Windows 8.

???

Not sure what you mean by this. There is definitely Metro all over Windows 8.

You've seen the Metro start screen for Windows 8, right?

 

[BladeVenom]

They've dropped the Metro name, and nothing associated with Windows 8 is to be called Metro now.

 

[Dumac]

They've dropped the Metro name, and nothing associated with Windows 8 is to be called Metro now.

Yeah, like I'm gonna call it "Modern style" instead of "metro style"

It has been called Metro forever. Just because of legal or whatever issues, they changed the name. And not even everywhere.

example

 

[Deeko]

As the user above stated, WinRT is its own thing, so nobody should abbreviate Windows RT as WinRT.

WinRT is an API that is available on both Windows 8 and Windows RT. It houses all the Metro graphics APIs as well as a ton of other things.

People can and will abbreviate Windows RT to WinRT. The average person does not care if there is a set of APIs already called WinRT. They don't know what an API is. They don't want to know, either.

Yeah, like I'm gonna call it "Modern style" instead of "metro style"

It has been called Metro forever. Just because of legal or whatever issues, they changed the name. And not even everywhere.

example

Ironic that you raise a stink over Windows RT vs WinRT, but you refuse to use the official naming for the UI style.

 

[Dumac]

People can and will abbreviate Windows RT to WinRT. The average person does not care if there is a set of APIs already called WinRT. They don't know what an API is. They don't want to know, either.

I'm sorry, but since this is a technical forum I thought that it was an appropriate point. This has been a topic of great confusion to many developers, so it is important to make the distinction.

Ironic that you raise a stink over Windows RT vs WinRT, but you refuse to use the official naming for the UI style.

I will when Microsoft does Did you click on the link?

 

[Deeko]

They haven't changed it everywhere but its clearly going to happen sooner or later. Calling it "metro" is just as incorrect, if not more so, than abbreviating Windows RT to WinRT. Its just an abbreviation, no one actually thinks there's a product called 'Win7' but its still how people refer to Windows 7.

Anyway this is a stupid debate that I will not continue.