"With the introduction of OS X Lion, Apple gave us a glimpse at what a post-PC operating system might look like, and now Microsoft's gone and pushed that idea to the limit. If Cupertino's latest was a tease, than Windows 8 is full frontal. And we have to admit, we like what we see. "
Someone will no doubt say "it's a developer release – we'll fix all that". My response to that is "Apple would never let that see the outside of a top-secret lab".
Also, am I the only person who thinks this is the polar opposite of "post-PC"? Desktop, start menu, right-click, etc. Maybe "touch PC" is more apt?
The Apple model is just different. It's not "the right way" it's just "the apple way." High emphasis on developing in secret and only showing a locked-down finished product.
The fact they are releasing an OS a year before it hits shelves allows millions of developers to get a crack at building new apps.
I'm not suggesting the beta/dev preview version is without bugs, I believe you're reading too much into this.
As far as your point about whether Apple would allow people to see this, well, that's just the Microsoft vs Apple marketing philosophy. Apple typically presents things that are very highly polished and nearly complete, whereas Microsoft says "Hey, check out this thing we're working on." All else being equal (I'm not saying it is, but if it were), they both seem like viable strategies.
Cheat Sheet for People Who Type Stuff for Engadget And Want To Be Good at Other Things Too:
iOS = post PC
Lion = first step in bridging PC and post-PC
Windows 8 = [strikethrough] your grandpa trying to rap [/strikethrough] second step to bridging PC and post-PC
So: nice, but this doesn't stop their disruption.
I think that WP7 wasn't a hit because MS made terrible partnerships and became a second-class OS vendor to everyone but Nokia, but I belive that the tablets will give MS more independence, will bring other makers to the table, and it will change. They're just late to the party.
It's really weird for anyone that's followed technology for more than a decade, but Microsoft computers will have almost no special appeal to the average consumer. I don't think that Best Buy will have a special "Windows 8 Tablet" section like they do now for desktops and laptops - they'll be mixed in a sea of Android and Blackberry tablets (much like WP7 Phones at any phone store). Why not?
Windows 8 is in real danger of being second class in the consumer space. The lead development device is a Samsung, for example, but how much more profit would Sammy get if they made the same hardware with Android? Are the hurdles really great for Acer, Asus, Samsung, Sony or Lenovo (all Android vendors!) to put Android in any hardware that's running Windows 8?
You can even hook up a second monitor to it.
Any tablet can already create documents and spreadsheets, surf the internet, check e-mail and calendars, access social networks, edit movies, Skype... Everything that %95 of the population needs. People that need higher caliber tools (developers, creative professionals) can afford another system.
So Windows needs a stronger reason to exist it's going to dissuade the average consumer from buying either the market leader (Apple) or the cheap alternative (Android). Android is the real threat. A $200 PC replacement is quite feasible within a year and really deals a blow to Microsoft's business model.
For consumers its less clear. Maybe XBox Live.
Any tablet can create spreadsheets, but not as well as Excel. Any tablet can create a document, but not one that's going to be 100% compatible with the version of Word they have on their desktop PC. Those are all very strong reasons to buy a Windows Tablet.
If for some reason, you need another edition of the development, you can get them free if you're a student (DreamSpark), a startup (BizSpark), or cheaper than $700 (MSDN sub).
I'd be interested to know why Express doesn't work for you?
Metro will also be appearing on 360 soon.
"All of the above sections should give you a solid look at what Windows 8 is shaping up to be, but what about the hardware? While we got a look at the OS running on a few laptops and all-in-ones during the press preview meeting, we’ve spent most of the time testing the OS on the prototype 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."
http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/13/windows-8-tablet-photos-v...
You are used to seeing Arm in phones, designed for power efficiency and slim profile. There are also tablets, which have more powerful Arm systems. However, batteries make up the bulk of these devices. They trick you in this respect. You are used to Arm being 'lite' and 'low profile'.
Then we have x86 systems. You are used to seeing these in desktops, that use hundreds of watts. In laptops, these can get much better efficiency. The problem is most laptops only have small batteries. x86 compilers have also evolved over a much longer time, so they are more efficient in their job. So you are used to x86 being 'bulky' and 'powerful'.
On my Android phone, however, I use the "desktop" exclusively to find what I need. Maybe transitioning desktop UI's to something similar is a great move.
Apart from that, the background is just used to show pictures. It's surprisingly awkward with multiple monitors: I had to write a program that composed the pictures I wanted to display, then set that new picture as a tiled background. If you don't do that correctly, and you have multiple monitors with different resolutions, you end up with either the same image on all monitors, or clipped / stretched / distorted versions on all but the "home" monitor (the one that owns (0,0)).
It's the best thing since sliced bread for Windows, I've been using it for a couple of years now and can't go back. Just hit alt-space, enter few letters and launch. Just like Awesomebar but for launching apps. It indexes all files if you want and it's quick as snap.
Apparently it's also available for Mac and Linux.
If Microsoft could have something similar for coding with JavaScript,and HTML; along with tools for storage, database, revision control, testing, jquery... integrated inside that IDE. Well, I just can't miss programming with it.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/13/welcome-to-win...
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckie...
a) Learn from them and make a product that competes in that space or
b) Try your same multiple-times-failed strategy again?
If you're MS it seems option b is the right answer. PC in tablet form, take... what, 5?
The only thing they've chosen to do differently is in marketing. The other tablet OSes are marketed as completely new things and Microsoft is marketing it as an iteration on an old thing.
Interesting parallel with the introduction of Windows. Windows 3.1 still ran entirely on top of DOS; but DOS was demoted in Windows 95 and replaced entirely in Windows NT, from which point it has run as a VM on top of the OS.
- Multiple monitors. How does this play nicely with them, and how I traditionally lay-out several open applications across them? Can one monitor be Metro UI and the other be the classical desktop? Or, can I have a full-screen app on one monitor that doesn't brick the other screen? (Looking at you, OSX Lion)
- App windows that might not necessarily fit into the tile or fullscreen approach. The prime example of this is my chat/social desktop or space. I typically have a contacts list, tabbed chat window, IRC, and twitter feed all on the same monitor arranged around one another. I know they demoed a way to do split-screen apps while still in the Metro UI, but it seemed to be too simple for real use.
- How jarring is the switch between Metro and the retro desktop? If I'm going along fine at 90% productivity living completely in the Metro UI on my monitors, and then all of a sudden need to open a small window from a legacy app, is that going to completely monopolize my workspace? If half of my apps work in Metro, and the other half don't while programming, am I going to have to keep switching between the UIs every 30 seconds as I'm working? That would be a pretty big deal-breaker.
"Keep this in mind as you read: both the operating system and hardware are developer preview builds. In fact, the [REDACTED] hardware (we're prohibited from even revealing its manufacturer or specs) isn't even going to run Windows 8."*
http://gizmodo.com/5839665/windows-8-slate-hands-on-its-fant...
I mean, do we really have to boot into that fancy-pants Metro UI every time we want to actually get something done?
I'm totally fine with swiping this way and that when using a tablet PC (I love my iPad), but when I sit down at a desktop PC, I want a mouse/keyboard driven experience - period.
Right now this feels like an unnecessary break from the promising and fresh approach that is Metro on a desktop (or tablet).
