I think Pro on a 8" screen is pushing too far. OK for the common W8 stuff it's fine but you can do all that on RT, and I don't think regular apps will suit a small screen. Plus trying to fit a fully fledged x86 PC in an 8" case is really sounding hard to me.
Surface Mini on shelves NEXT YEAR – and it will run Windows RT
Microsoft isn't done with its second round of Surface tablets, but a Mini version with an eight-inch or smaller screen and running Windows RT probably won't arrive until next year, according to the latest rumors. Longtime Redmond-watcher Mary Jo Foley's sources say Microsoft is readying a pint-sized portable to round out its …
-
-
-
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 09:47 GMT Dave Fox
"non-RT apps (i.e. all those Windows applications) will look crappy on 8" and be hard to use."
Yes, they will but:
a) They can be used in an emergency - in much the same way that I currently occasionally use my Galaxy Note 8 to RDP to a server when I'm not carrying a laptop. Not perfect, but workable.
b) It's likely that an 8" Surface would still have a micro HDMI connection, so could be connected up to a monitor where those desktop apps become much more usable.
I know a lot of people believe that RT should drop the desktop, but in this case, I'm of the opinion that more is more. I would make the desktop more open on RT so that ISVs can compile their existing desktop apps up for the ARM platform. I have a SurfaceRT, and I'd find it much more useful if I could get apps like Chrome up and running on it.
-
-
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 09:55 GMT qwarty
JDX you are assuming developers won't make the (often minor) mods necessary to make Windows desktop applications work well on an 8" multitouch screen. I for one have several apps that would work well on this kind of device but have enough complications (e.g. 3rd part libraries) porting to WinRT that I simply don't have the incentive to invest the time while RT-only accounts for such a tiny part of the market.
The new Atoms from Intel fit just fine.
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 10:15 GMT John Smith 19
@qwerty
"I for one have several apps that would work well on this kind of device but have enough complications (e.g. 3rd part libraries) porting to WinRT that I simply don't have the incentive to invest the time while RT-only accounts for such a tiny part of the market."
Which I think is rather the point,
Increasing the "ARM is rubbish" meme and supporting their long term partner in crime (and I mean that literally give the number of cases they've been involved with) Intel.
-
-
-
Wednesday 25th September 2013 22:12 GMT Henry Wertz 1
That's why I like ARMs too!
"But Foley's sources say Microsoft likes ARM chips for tablets because they offer both lower price points and longer battery life than Intel's offerings."
What do you know? That's why I like ARMs too. Ship with an unlocked booloader, and I can get one of these, ditch RT and put some nice software on it.
-
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 08:00 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Will they still be around next year?
"Lync, Microsoft’s enterprise-focused communications suite brought its parent company $1 billion in revenue during its 2013 fiscal year....Lync grew 30% in the fiscal fourth quarter,"
.
"Office 365 is currently generating revenue at a run rate of $1.5 billion per year at the end of Microsoft’s fiscal fourth quarter, up 50% from the number quoted at the end of the company’s fiscal third quarter"
.
I'd love to own a company "that's up to it's neck in crap" with figures like those.
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 08:52 GMT Hans 1
LostALLFaith: Will they still be around next year?
Maybe, but they lost $1bn with the RT disaster and just bought a $5bn Titanic ... Windows Phone loses more money every day and Xbox One looks like a Fail on launch ... they can earn as much as they like, if they are throwing more money out of the window than they make, they are doomed ... and they do not look like they will dump Windows RT & Phone, their only option to stay afloat....
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 09:08 GMT JDX
Re: LostALLFaith: Will they still be around next year?
MS is STILL profitable even with all those losses. Even if they make NO profit, that means they have paid all their staff and kept the business running and their cash-pile intact.
When you can 'waste' $5bn and still be in profit, you're not about to disappear.
-
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 12:16 GMT launcap
Re: Will they still be around next year?
-------------
"Lync, Microsoft’s enterprise-focused communications suite brought its parent company $1 billion in revenue during its 2013 fiscal year....Lync grew 30% in the fiscal fourth quarter,"
--------------
Probably more to do with the fact that they massively increased the price rather than it selling like hot cakes..
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 12:55 GMT Tom 35
Re: Will they still be around next year?
"I'd love to own a company "that's up to it's neck in crap" with figures like those."
But that is all about cash cow Office money. It has zero to do with pathetic phone sales, worse tablet sales, or pushing Windows under the bus to try and force people to use their phone UI on computers (even on servers).
-
-
-
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 21:22 GMT John Smith 19
Re: Will they still be around next year?
"It would have made his argument no more or less valid. The old AC straw man argument is so feeble."
Wrong.
Because in 5 or 10 years time we'd know who made such a remark and recall that either they were a)Farsighted and wise or b)A fool with no knowledge of history.
I'm no great fan of MS (which you can check my posts to confirm). They've released many s**t products over the years, sometimes multiple fails in the same year.
But they are so damm big (and have so many lawyers and PR types to do
lyingdamage control for them) that the odds on bet is they will survive this, just as Linux will not be the desktop OS of 2014 either.
Their "argument," as you (they?) put it is simply an assertion.
Mine is based on historical evidence.
-
-
-
-
Wednesday 25th September 2013 23:39 GMT Goat Jam
The irony here is that MS (and their god forsaken OEMs) would likely sell more of these sorts of things if they didn't insist on locking the UEFI down tighter than a duck's arse.
Of course I realise that the reason that they do that is because the whole point of them selling these things is to lock you into their <ahem> "ecosystem", tie you to their Windows store and basically nickel and dime you for eternity, just like apple do.
No thanks, I'll pass.
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 10:10 GMT Anonymous Coward
Deja Vu
So, following the late arrival of the first generation Surface Pro this year, the 8" tablet is going to be a 2013 device clad in 2014 clothing (and if Microsoft marketing continue with their current thinking, priced at state of the art hardware levels).
I like the whole Surface concept but looks like its going to be generation 3 before Microsoft get all their ducks in a row. Must be terribly frustrating for those guys working on the Surface family in Redmond to be screwed around by bad high level decision making and marketing.
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 10:22 GMT John Smith 19
Doing everything to try to help Intel.
You've got to ask if this is bumping up Intel's sales of their processors more than it's costing MS.
Can you say "Inter company cross subsidy?"
Seriously MS had to put in significant effort to make winRT different to Win 8.
If your business is selling software you don't care whose processor it runs on as long as you get paid. Which should be determined on how useful that software is.
But as we've seen once MS gets anywhere near a level playing field it usually gets stomped.
-
Thursday 26th September 2013 18:45 GMT Anonymous Coward
I've been willing to give the Surface strategy the benefit of the doubt and I actually like Windows 8 on my PC and don't feel Windows 8 RT is a pox but what is the point in a 8" Surface? The whole differentiator between Surface and other tablets was Office and the keyboards...how the hell am I going to comfortably type on an 8" keyboard?
Look, Nokia are bringing out a snazzy Win8 RT tablet under the lumia brand, just bring out an 8" Lumia RT tablet.
GDR is General Distribution Release, it's what Microsoft has been calling the minor updates on WP8 in between the big updates such as WP8.1. They've been coming out with names so don't expect it to be a point release such as Windows 8.11 RT
-
Friday 27th September 2013 08:17 GMT Psiwriter
RT (Right for Tablets) vs Windows 8 (right for desktops/laptops)
First you have to understand and accept that you're using a TABLET and not a miniature PC. I suspect that if Microsoft had not created the Surface Pro and confused the public, the Surface RT would have sold a whole lot better. Fact is, on an 8" (or so) tablet RT will shine. I have one of the current crop and it works just fine, thank you, as well or better than either the 7" or 10" Android slabs I own. Windows RT (which should stand for "Right for Tablets") is a TABLET OS, just as iOS and Android are. (You don't see Android on many desktops or even laptops, right? And iOS is on NONE.) THINK of it as a tablet OS ... USE it as a tablet OS ... and suddenly it will make sense. And you'll find just how fun it is to use.