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| I think one of the reasons Microsoft released the Surface is to showcase Windows 8 ARM tablets.
Few PC manufacturers were very enthusiastic about this new platform. It's basically a giant mobile phone, with few existing apps for it, and it can't run any of the normal Windows apps their customers are using. It's a big leap of faith into the unknown in a recession world, OEM accountants and bankers don't like that much.
For now, the tablet is mostly a consumer (as in "consuming") device. With time and better RT apps, it may become something more productive.
The Surface and upcoming Surface Pro are a perfect representation of the hybrid system that is Windows 8: Use RT for light applications, and desktop for traditional applications. I don't know where this is going, but it is possible that Windows 9 will be purely a RT version: No code legacy to support and slow down the system, better programming APIs (nothing has changed much in the Windows world since the introduction of the .NET platform), which all make a lot of sense. I don't know what will happen to the traditional desktop platform, Microsoft will need to support it for the enterprise and advanced personal computing or gaming. Will it be a separate system, a virtual machine, another Windows 8 hybrid or just an emulation software on top or RT? We'll see in a few years.
As for the Surface Pro, it makes sense too, if you already have an ARM surface to work from. Although it will be a very different machine under the hood.
Microsoft Hardware division has many great successes, it was a good idea to diversify a bit, traditional software is softly dying, and integrate both hardware and software into a single device, like Apple does. OEMs didn't like it a bit at first and called it unfair competition, but now they won't be able to sell us ****ty tablets when Microsoft designed such great reference models. | |
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Surface Tablet options
