TIMN: Windows 8 on Samsung Tablet

[boswd]

Originally Posted by =X=

It's what the tablet versions of Android and iOS should have been all along. I guess that is why I'm only willing to buy a 7" tablet. Simply because 10" are not productive enough for normal computing.

In my opinion the one area that MS has everyone beat is in productivity applications. For them to have a successful tablet they are going to have to bring those apps to the tablet space and make it effective to use.

BTW MS has always had this angle, all MS tablets where full fledged window devices with the Pen technology.

=X=

I can see this horse coming from behind and making a real run at the tablet market.

It's slick, like you said it's productive and you'll have multiple manufacturer's. Just wish MS wasn't so late to the party but if they don't rush it, put out a polished product, boy this could get really interesting.
My hope is they all adopt, which I think they will, Asus's form factor of converging the laptop tablet experience.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by =X=

BTW MS has always had this angle, all MS tablets where full fledged window devices with the Pen technology.

When I was trying to get vista to boot faster than it takes a hibernating bear to wake up to spring, I found a list of services that can be stopped from automatically running after boot. Among those was this:

Tablet PC Input Service
Description: Enables Tablet PC pen and ink functionality
Effects of Disabling: You can’t use your tablet PC.
Why disable? Because you don’t have one.

And yes, this was a service that had the default setting on startup to Automatic. MS was optimistic.

[Dylrob]

Yeah, there is justnno way I'm going to buy an x86 tablet like this. The ARM-based ones might entice me, depending on their performance and how much support they actually get.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by boswd

I'm actually quite surprised MS is beating Apple to the punch in this whole converging the mobile OS and Desktop OS without even having a tablet on the market.

Before you start celebrating, note these observations:

So what is there to play with in the developer build of Windows 8? Not a lot off the bat. Even though Microsoft showed off a three-pane email client, a calendar, contacts, a fancy PDF reader, SkyDrive and even Photoshop on stage, none of those staples were included on our tablet.

Powered by a 1.6GHz Core i5-2467M processor and a 64GB solid state drive, the system is absolutely no slouch on performance — everything from scrolling in the browser to the Start screen is extremely speedy and the system boots incredibly quickly. However, fan noise is very noticeable, as is the heat coming out of the top vent, and a fast boot doesn’t excuse the slow wake-up times compared to ARM-based cellphones and tablets.

If we’re going to be totally honest though, we’d describe Windows 8 right now as incoherent and contradictory. Touch response in the Metro UI is stellar, Contracts sound seriously useful, and snapping apps can make you more productive on a tablet, but whenever you want to get down and dirty with a traditional program, it’s back to the traditional desktop interface. There are two Control Panels, two versions of IE, and core apps are nowhere to be found (i.e. Mail, a camera app, etc.)

There's a lot of pundits who think that MS is going down the wrong road in trying to converge the desktop and mobile OSes. From the above quotes, its clear that while they have made a good start, they are far from the finish line.
They have the best productivity apps- for the x86 environment. They haven't built any for tablets yet. They don't seem to have the even the beginnings of a Microsoft Word app yet. Hell, even the core apps are missing at this point.
Now, good luck to Microsoft, but they haven't done it yet. Remember this.

[fjtorres]

Some pundits think there is method to Microsoft's "madness":

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...le-doesn't

I rather like the vision they describe and not just for the tablet form factor.

[Dulin's Books]

i am in the process of downloading the developers preview of Win8. just have to decided which pc to install it on.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Some pundits think there is method to Microsoft's "madness":

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...le-doesn't

I rather like the vision they describe and not just for the tablet form factor.

Good article, and Microsoft's vision sounds appealing ( more "open" than Apple, for people who prize that sort of thing). But note the caveats:

While I have outlined what's promising in Windows 8, I have fears about how it will be used once it's launched. Beneath the slick Metro look and feel is something that resembles all too well the older Windows interface. That is a must for Microsoft to guarantee compatibility with any app that ran on Windows 7, but that might be its Achilles heel. If developers keep writing for the classic environment, we'll be kept from the new fresh user interface. I can sense major headaches if half of my apps are Metro and the other half are Windows 7.

And if we must have full-blown Windows on our tablets, will our on-the-couch reading reveries be interrupted by an obnoxious pop-up request from Adobe to update Flash for the umpteenth time? The reason I love my iPad is precisely because it's not my computer.

Finally, will Windows 8 be able to meet the requirements set by the iPad, that a great tablet must be incredibly thin yet deliver 10 hours of uninterrupted battery life? This is of course the great concern, shared by Microsoft and its fans and foes alike. But that really will be the dealbreaker. If every Windows 8 tablet weighs two pounds and lasts less than five hours of battery life, all this goodness will be wasted.

Note the bolded statement. I think that a big mistake for Apple competitors is that they have wanted to make their tablets into mini-PCs. While the techies want that , the average consumer wants something lighter and simpler.

[kennyc]

Looks interesting.

[toddos]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Before you start celebrating, note these observations:

(snipped observations)

This is a developer preview release. It's not the beta. Those apps aren't included because they don't matter. The goal for this release is not to get hundreds of millions of people running Windows 8. It's to get developers writing apps in preparation for the Beta launch that comes later. It's not intended for general use, and if you dismiss the OS because of missing functionality in a developer preview you're doing it extremely wrong.

This needs to come out now so that there will be awesome ereaders (and other apps, of course) when beta hits. It's like Apple's iOS developer previews that are not intended for general use, despite them being jailbroken and leaked. At least Microsoft isn't charging you for the privilege of getting access to the platform as a developer.

[avariel]

If all these Windows 8 tablets are released at the prices of the Windows 7 tablets, they will be just as much of a failure. With Microsoft referring to tablets as a "PC" makes me skeptical of the platform. I don't want a PC in my hands, I want a tablet that does stuff that tablets are suppose to do at a price that isn't the cost of a laptop or desktop.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by avariel

I don't want a PC in my hands, I want a tablet that does stuff that tablets are suppose to do at a price that isn't the cost of a laptop or desktop.

I'm assuming you're not referring to the iPad, right? I can easily build decent desktops for less than $500. However, Windows 8 is supposed to support ARM so we should also be seeing cool running, inexpensive, lightweight Windows 8 tablets with long battery life.

The way I see it, there's demand for both. Majority will flock to the cheaper models but I, for one, would appreciate a tablet running a full version of Windows despite the hefty price tag. With a keyboard dock, it can also double as a replacement laptop. Weight, heat and battery life are definitely factors I'll be considering, though, and that's where x86-based tablets might not meet the grade.

[avariel]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I'm assuming you're not referring to the iPad, right? I can easily build decent desktops for less than $500. However, Windows 8 is supposed to support ARM so we should also be seeing cool running, inexpensive, lightweight Windows 8 tablets with long battery life.

The way I see it, there's demand for both. Majority will flock to the cheaper models but I, for one, would appreciate a tablet running a full version of Windows despite the hefty price tag. With a keyboard dock, it can also double as a replacement laptop. Weight, heat and battery life are definitely factors I'll be considering, though, and that's where x86-based tablets might not meet the grade.

IPad is incredibly overprice for what it is. I say $300 should be the regular price for a 10" tablet.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by avariel

IPad is incredibly overprice for what it is. I say $300 should be the regular price for a 10" tablet.

Economies of scale. We'll get there eventually. Remember back when e-ink readers cost ~$400?

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by avariel

IPad is incredibly overprice for what it is. I say $300 should be the regular price for a 10" tablet.

There is no " right" price, based on what some person thinks the price "should" be. There's just the "market price".

If what you said was correct, Apple wouldn't be selling every iPad it makes.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by toddos

(snipped observations)

This is a developer preview release. It's not the beta. Those apps aren't included because they don't matter. The goal for this release is not to get hundreds of millions of people running Windows 8. It's to get developers writing apps in preparation for the Beta launch that comes later. It's not intended for general use, and if you dismiss the OS because of missing functionality in a developer preview you're doing it extremely wrong.

This needs to come out now so that there will be awesome ereaders (and other apps, of course) when beta hits. It's like Apple's iOS developer previews that are not intended for general use, despite them being jailbroken and leaked. At least Microsoft isn't charging you for the privilege of getting access to the platform as a developer.

You are right. Microsoft's approach is different from Apple's , though, who kept the iPad under wraps until it was almost ready for release. What I was cautioning against was this:

One platform to rule them all. The technology exists to enable users to carry a single device that is as portable and usable as a tablet, but also as powerful and capable as a PC. It has a battery that can last all day, but it can also run Photoshop, Excel and Outlook. It can weigh next to nothing and slip into a slim case, but it can also power two monitors and run proprietary enterprise software.

under a headline , "Windows Ushers in the Post-PC Future"!

LINK

Seems a little early for that. Daring Fireball (admittedly an Apple fanboy) notes:

It’s one thing to look at today’s Windows-8-on-a-tablet and say that it has a lot of potential. It’s another thing altogether to look at it and declare victory.

Show me something real, I say. Look at Amazon. Everyone knows they’re building a tablet. What have they said, though? Nothing. What have they shown? Nothing. When will they say something? When it’s done. What will they show? Something real.

LINK