Microsoft: No Tablet OS Until We Can Be Different

[osserc]

I completely disagree. Sorry but the 1st flaw in your argument is that productivity is extremely hard to do in the table form factor. Sitting at a workstation or a laptop allows you to do a number of things with speed and efficiency. Tablets are about convenience and ease of use.

Secondly, the cloud requires a large amount of bandwidth. I use Evernote and Dropbox now which are cloud applications and they work great but not over a 3g connection. Evernote does work over a 3g connection because the file sizes are small but when talking about presontations, image files, large documents, media files, applications and everything else the size of those are too be to be productive in any reasonable way over a 3g connection. LTE... perhaps but we do not even have full coverage of 3g with AT&T yet. Mind you, I am speaking from a mobile worker perspective.

Which is why tablets aren't serious yet... and why MS isn't busting their a** to get a tablet OS ready this year. First, when at home or the office you'll probably be on a relatively high bandwidth wifi connection, so that shouldn't be an issue, especially since cloud apps run server side and your only actual download bandwidth comes from the screen output and refresh. And yes, I agree totally about the form factor, which is why a dock is necessary for any sustained productivity use.

Beyond that, by the time Win8 is out all major markets will be flush with either LTE or HSPA+. Testing around Atlanta with my G2 the HSPA+ "4g" I consistently get 4-5+ Mbps download and 1.5+ Mbps upload. That's more then enough for access to cloud apps for Word or Excel and most applications for Powerpoint. It's equivalent to home DSL speeds and low end Cable speeds. For massive presentations with a lot of graphics and whatnot you can just download it to your tablet internal memory or SD card (if available) and run it locally over mini-HDMI.

I am confident the next gen of tablets will have more then enough power for all business applications that don't require a workstation (AutoCAD, et al).

Even the tablets coming out this year are dual core with 1GB of ram.

This is about the time when tablets can replace your basic productivity laptop for everyday use.

 

[Guest]

Guess they will have to "Think Different". Uh, oh wait...someone else already is.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]JOSHSKORN[/nom]Don't bother with a tablet OS. I won't buy one, anyway. No iPad, no Android tablet...nothing. It's not my style.[/citation]
So its not the OS you have a problem with, its the hardware.

 

[dekyos]

[citation][nom]beta tester[/nom]Microsoft is not being honest.Of course it is creating a tablet OS. That's Windows 8. It's being ported to the ARM processor so it can be run on both phones and tablets.After which, the current Windows Phone 7 will be discontinued.[/citation]
[citation][nom]beta tester[/nom]Microsoft is not being honest.Of course it is creating a tablet OS. That's Windows 8. It's being ported to the ARM processor so it can be run on both phones and tablets.After which, the current Windows Phone 7 will be discontinued.[/citation]

Bizarre considering the number of people they just hired/moved to the WinMo 7 team. My cousin is on that team. But sure, they're going to axe it for no obvious reason, let's go with that.

 

[belezeebub]

But a MS tablet would already offer something no other tablet offers..
(Drum roll)

How many other tablets out there can BSOD

 

[pita]

Thats not to say MS is doing nothing about the tablet market. Porting Win7 to ARM shows that MS is testing the water. Who knows what they will end up with.

 

[wcooper007]

[citation][nom]belezeebub[/nom]But a MS tablet would already offer something no other tablet offers..(Drum roll)How many other tablets out there can BSOD[/citation]

LMFAO really did you just say that WoW you must be using Crapple product becuase android tablets "force Close" all the time so yeah that is pretty much the same thing just in diff. Wording and ya know its pretty amazing that people complain about Microsoft but most of the world uses there software just fine and i have actually never had a single problem with any OS i have used of theres from windows 3.11 all the way to windows 7 and i have used every single version of OS inbetween and ME was awsome never saw an error or anything vista was pretty damn sweet too ran like a freaking tank never gave me a problem. So maybe if people could learn to build and maintain there own computers a little bit better they might not have as many problems... just my 2 cents.... Oh and when they bring out the tablet i have a feeling we will see alot of SURFACE tech included in there tablet thats what i am hoping for...

 

[Be0wulf22]

"There's no point doing the same thing as everyone else,right?"

Why not? It's taken them this far.

 

[Be0wulf22]

[citation][nom]wcooper007[/nom]i have actually never had a single problem with any OS i have used of theres from windows 3.11 all the way to windows 7 and i have used every single version of OS inbetween and ME was awsome never saw an error or anything vista was pretty damn sweet too ran like a freaking tank never gave me a problem. [/citation]

singing -"And if you'll buy that I'll throw the golden gate in free"


[citation][nom]wcooper007[/nom]So maybe if people could learn to build and maintain there own computers a little bit better [/citation]

People shouldn't HAVE to know how to build a computer to use one. And they shouldn't have to constantly maintain their computer either. My computer exists to serve me, not the other way around.

 

[belardo]

A rare Smart thing MS is doing.

Rather than doing a ME-TO, they'll use Windows8 with improved touch screen and perhaps some other optimization. Thus, allowing people who want POWERFUL tablets that option.

Windows Phone 7, which is still - just a BABY in terms of features, apps and such - is ill designed for a tablet conversion. While it is a great Phone OS - operation wise.... its limitations is why I wont buy one (pull out memory card - data is corrupt).

With RIM, HP-WEBOS, Windows tablet and Android fighting for 20% of the market and apple with the other 80%... adding another Tablet OS would be a waste of time.

RIM or WebOS will fail, I don't think the market will support 4~5 tablet OSes.

 

[robochump]

MS has become more of a service prodiver than an innovative company. Being a very large company sitting back on licensing revenue from businesses (OS & Office) and to consumers MS has lost its edge but has the $$$ in their coffers to ride it out.

For the last 5 years most tech companies have been playing follow the leader behind Apple. Remember Apple was becoming less relevent 10 years ago and had fire in its corporate belly to become a force again. And Apple surely did!

Of course nothing lasts forever but it is good to see US companies staying relevent in the tech sector! Hoping for many more years!!!

 

[Guest]

Windows 8 will be called Microsoft Metro 2012

 

[itchyisvegeta]

They want to make an impact, release a tablet that runs a newer version of Windows XP.

 

[osserc]

They want to make an impact, release a tablet that runs a newer version of Windows XP.

New XP is out already, it's called Win7. Move on already.

 

[belardo]

Hey... XP is still a pretty good OS, its lasted a very long time - actually, too long.

Windows7 runs very good, even on hardware that is 2-3 years old (with 1~2GB of RAM at least for basic users).

XP Tablet is garbage. XP was never good in the sleep/wakeup business. Upgrading the Windows7, I can actually put my computers to SLEEP knowing that they will actually wake up.

 

[robochump]

Well it took a failed Windows Millenium to make a good Windows XP. Just like it took failed Windows Vista to make a good Windows 7. Most companies would fail if they didnt maintain a good track record but again MS has tons of cash to give them a buffer.

Hope MS learned their lesson as well has keeping their OS more efficient when it comes to cpu/memory useage!

 

[K2N hater]

[citation][nom]Belardo[/nom]Upgrading the Windows7, I can actually put my computers to SLEEP knowing that they will actually wake up.[/citation]
You don't need Win7 to enable all supported power states. You just need driver support. Features such as wake-on-ring (modems), wake on LAN and suspend to RAM have been avaiable to PCs for like 15 years.

 

[sinfulpotato]

Tablets are a Apple zombie fad. Apple could release the iToilet and it would sell. Then everyone else would jump on wanting a piece of the pie.

 

[sceen311]

waiting for the folks at microsoft to develop an imagination... this could be a while.

oh, and saying tablets are a fad, is like being the guy that said Notebook sized paper was just a fad.

 

[bv90andy]

then why is win8 m2 optimised 4 touch (big buttons by default) and ARM support was announced ?

 

[belardo]

[citation][nom]K2N hater[/nom]You don't need Win7 to enable all supported power states. You just need driver support. Features such as wake-on-ring (modems), wake on LAN and suspend to RAM have been avaiable to PCs for like 15 years.[/citation]

What are you talking about? I didn't say anything about modems or LAN.

I said, "XP was never good in the sleep/wakeup business. Upgrading the Windows7, I can actually put my computers to SLEEP knowing that they will actually wake up."

Putting XP into a sleep mode - in which the computer is about 99% off, there was a high risk, it would NOT wake up. Vista was bad about it too. In which you can move your mouse, press keys on your keyboard and the damn computer will still be "sleeping". Press the power button, and its a cold start - data or where you were at are lost. Some hardware worked better than others, depending on the software installed, etc.

For notebooks, this is even more important. My notebook came with XP (ThinkPad came with the XP option) and sleep was still weak. Win7 is far better.

 

[enforcer22]

[citation][nom]thaile4ever[/nom]Um, tablets like that has been out for years... A quick search for window tablet on ebay shows hundreds, but they been nothing but a niche market until apple came along.[/citation]

Yeah i remember the XP tablets. I should have been more clear. Maybe with the speed more like a computer. But they didn't have much in the way of graphics power then like they do now. Honestly i think they are still a niche market. Apple just re opened a old bag. But then again back then there weren't as many web advancements like the cloud which i kinda think will push tablets once we see a lot more cloud stuff.

I still don't see what problems vista and ME had. i ran both never had any issue with them. I still use vista on 3 of my 5 computers. and 7 on the rest. Only real complaint i have about 7 is how they destroyed the task bar. Only complaint i have about vista..... No IE 10? maybe no DX 11? i don't know. Since they wont be used for anything really relevant i cant say i care either way about those two things.

 

[bloodlover]

I hope this one won;t crash as often as Win7...

 

[K2N hater]

[citation][nom]Belardo[/nom]What are you talking about? I didn't say anything about modems or LAN.I said, "XP was never good in the sleep/wakeup business. Upgrading the Windows7, I can actually put my computers to SLEEP knowing that they will actually wake up."Putting XP into a sleep mode - in which the computer is about 99% off, there was a high risk, it would NOT wake up. Vista was bad about it too. In which you can move your mouse, press keys on your keyboard and the damn computer will still be "sleeping". Press the power button, and its a cold start - data or where you were at are lost. Some hardware worked better than others, depending on the software installed, etc.For notebooks, this is even more important. My notebook came with XP (ThinkPad came with the XP option) and sleep was still weak. Win7 is far better.[/citation]
Win7 comes with an updated driver library. Would you install the proper motherboard/chipset/SATA/IDE/display drivers in Vista/XP sleep (and many other funcions) would work the same or better than with the drivers shipped with Win7.

If you buy a new PC with the latest components, which weren't avaible by the time Win7 was launched, you'll run into the same problem.

 

[eddieroolz]

I think its a smart move. Something different is what really sets it apart, i.e. WP7