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At work we have a large network of around 40,000 Windows workstations, and so have a dedicated Microsoft support team under contract. A couple of weeks ago Will, the lead MS weenie brought in a prerelease Dell tablet running Windows 8. It was an Intel Atom with 4 GB of RAM, 10” capacitive touch screen, SSD drive (don’t know how big) and all the peripherals one would expect on a high end 10” tab.
Will gave me a little demo, and I have to admit the Metro interface was impressive, and sort of looked like a giant Windows Phone, but the legacy interface was kind of useless. All of the buttons were too small to use accurately with a touch interface. But the biggest problem was with the apps; have you ever tried to use the desktop version of Word or Excel on a touch screen? It’s just too hard to use the ribbon bar and the drop down menus. He kept hitting the wrong selection, and having to go back and correct it. Luckily the “go back” button worked fine.
I have an old Asus 9” touch screen netbook running Windows 7 that I relegated to the dead IT stuff closet years ago. When Will was showing me the slick new tablet, my feelings of déjà vu were overwhelming. All of the same old problems not yet addressed.
I am interested in seeing how da buggah runs on the Asus though.
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