What is it with the punditry these days? Surely there is a whole evo-biol book out there devoted to explaining this particular nonsense facet of human behaviour?
Yes, those devices were "Samsung" branded and these will be "Microsoft" branded. The components inside, or the factory in China where they may be assembled probably won't be changed by that.
Yup, sure thing. Apple better start saving for that rainy day.
I'd argue that reviews and software are less relevant here than they were for say Android in a similar position:
1. People will buy it regardless of reviews (even if only on the desktop at first). Metro is guaranteed to get share off the back of Windows.
2. Developers will follow that share.
Essentially with enough time Microsoft are guaranteed to leverage their Windows share to Metro, and combined with some competitive hardware makes them a force to be reckoned with.
I'm pretty much the definition of an Apple fanboy (I own an iPad, 2 MacBook Pros, an iMac, an iPhone AND APPL stock). And I still stopped to say - that hardware looks impressive. If they can do that to me, well...
That's taking shape already. There is an app store, there is an SDK. And there are loads of programmers who know one or more of the supported languages on the metro API for Arm and Intel - C++, C# or Javascript
I personally use TeX for docs, mutt for e-mail and don't really use spreadsheets, so I'm quite indifferent about this.
Metro is bundled with an OS that is essentially assured a crap-tonne of sales before it's launched. It'll also have more exposure (in retail space etc) than every other laptop and desktop out there.
Not saying it's a slam dunk, but if I were Apple or Google I'd be concerned.
Windows Phone wasn't Microsoft's first dance on the smartphone floor. In fact they were one of the very first on smartphones with Windows CE, heralded as a sure thing because it was "bundled with an OS" with some sort of desktop synergy that assured world dominance.
We know how that turned out. Apple and RIM ate their lunch, and the synergy with the desktop thing was an anchor instead of a lift.
I haven't used windows 8 so I don't know if it feels like a disaster to use on a desktop but I am hoping and assuming once I get used to not having a start button I will be quite happy using it and will love jumping into RT for the more funky fun stuff.
1.price point, people won't understand the pro model's pricing which will be the same as a standard pc in the $1,000 range
2.dont try to be like apple actually do the opposite, prove your product is different.(the viewing should have been live your the new guy on the block)
3.make a tough decision and only allow windows 8 on touch screen desktop p.c's if it's not touch screen you have to use the alternate desktop interface.
On top of this I'm wondering how much the language their using will be an advantage C++ if any, if they supply devs with great templates like apple.
With the nice keyboard integration, and USB I/F along with windows application compatibility, this would definitely have the upper hand. An advantage an Ipad would have might be display quality, if I were in a creative field (i.e. looking at hi-res images). For note taking, this Surface seems like it hit a good balance.
Would you buy a motorcycle and try to drive it like a car?
[0]: http://cdn-smooth.ms-studiosmedia.com/news/mp4_mq/06182012_S...
A smarter move would have been to keep Windows 8 and Windows Metro separate. Have Windows 8 be the continuation of the desktop/laptop line, a cash cow they can continue to milk until it falls over dead a ways down the road. Metro would the new hotness that brings the developers back to the yard. A new environment for them to build off without the weeds of the last 20 years strangling them.Free of the constraints of Windows, Metro would stand an excellent chance to succeed against Apple, Android et al.
While bundling Metro together with Windows might give it a foundation to build off but its more likely going to be the stone that sinks it.
Windows will sell regardless. It's a bit like if Google does something to the UI which people don't like - people complain, and some may leave - but the vast majority will stomach it. They're just that entrenched. Even Vista sold 400 million copies.
So by foisting Metro on their existing audience they virtually guarantee hundreds of millions of Metro users (albeit on the desktop, or hybrid platforms, at first). That gets their new OS traction, attracting developers, building a software library and brand equity.
If they don't do that, they'd be stuck selling Windows AND selling a competing OS at the same time (that rarely works out well). And they'd be up against iOS and Android purely on their own merits. With the market as busy as it is now, that'd be equivalent to releasing the Blackberry Playbook.
Of course I could be wrong - this is all just my speculation (I'm the OP btw).
But I'm not convinced this 'all in one' strategy is the best way for Microsoft. If it's just Win7 with a fancy tiled interface, then it's really not that much different from their previous tablet efforts. It all hinges on getting good 3rd party app support. It'll probably sell higher volume because they are faster and more responsive than the last generation, but they'll be lucky to see half the sales of ipads in 5 years.
