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Microsoft Surface Release Date Confirmed
twoheadedboy writes "Microsoft is going to release its Surface tablet on the same day Windows 8 goes on general availability, Oct. 26. The news was disclosed in a filing made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which also revealed that the company expects launch and the accompanying marketing to harm its profits. We'll soon find out whether Microsoft has what it takes to take on the seemingly indomitable iPad."
Users will not be allowed to touch their devices until software updates are issued sometime next year.
Consider how badly Microsoft has hurt Apple in the past with products like:
If Microsoft's tablet has round corners, then we know they will be in serious legal trouble.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
I would 't read too much into the loss of profit declaration. New product launches cost money and new products may not make profit for some time until after the launch to recoup costs. As a general rule, financial statements disclose risks like this all the time. The issue will be six months to a year after launch. If Surface isn't profitable by then, that would be news.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
So why the fuck is this under apple.slashdot.org? Maybe it's time for /. to be slightly less biased and add a ms.slashdot.org?
Yeah I guess that didn't work for IBM, HP, Dell, Sony, Acer, Asus, Samsung and hundreds of other computer OEMs after Apple released their first PC back in the 70's.
It's just been two years since the iPad release. It takes a decade for things to settle down. I think by 2016 or so all cells phones will look and perform the same. It will always come down to software and it's developers. The tablet "wars" will be hashed out by 2020 and will probably all look the same and perform the same.
Look at history to predict the future. Back in the late 80s and most of the 90s each computer OEM had their own take on what a computer should look like till we entered the beige box era. History will repeat itself again.
> We'll soon find out whether Microsoft has what it
> takes to take on the seemingly indomitable iPad.
Spoiler: No.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
No, Microsoft has been flogging the pen computer game for a _long_ while:
1992 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_for_Pen_Computing
while Apple only formally got in the game later:
1993 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MessagePad
(and then bailed when Steve Jobs came back on board)
Though both were inspired by Go Corp.'s PenPoint:
1991 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PenPoint_OS
but one should look farther back still:
1914--1990 http://users.erols.com/rwservices/pens/penhist.html
Microsoft crashed the initial party (read Jerry Kaplan's _StartUp_), partied in a room which quickly emptied, tried to re-start the party many times (sort-of-successfully w/ their Tablet PC in 2002), then was surprised when Apple started a rave (the iPad) somewhere else in town.
If it's possible to install Mac OS X on the Surface, I may buy one.
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
Yeah I guess that didn't work for IBM, HP, Dell, Sony, Acer, Asus, Samsung and hundreds of other computer OEMs after Apple released their first PC back in the 70's.
The tablet world is relatively young and there is no sign whatsoever that people are bored by iOS or Android. You are comparing the situation over decades. It is iOS and in lesser extend Android that get's all the love from developers, I don't really hear a lot of enthusiasm for Windows RT. I develop apps and I don't care, let alone that my clients care. And apps is what can make and break a platform. It is also a lot easier to shell out 99$ for developer license and that for a platform that has proven itself, then something that is very questionable to say the least.
The only people I do know that are enthusiastic about Microsoft tablets offering are the typical Microsoft people. The kind that get their trousers wet when they hear things like "exchange", "sharepoint","office",... . Those guys that have such a tremendous thrilling life that girls fall on their feet when they spread their theory about how integration with exchange will make Microsoft conquer the tablet space. Or my favorite "it comes with office", because that is really a fun factor... .
The only enthusiastic things I hear about those tablets are about the integration with current Microsoft software and that for 99% in the work space environment. And while Apple does have an enterprise program (which is btw not that strict), I think it is safe to say that most of their tablets are sold to consumers.
That group of people where Microsoft isn't a strong brand or where consumers have a lot of confidence in. I once had a friend who tried to argue that because most people used windows on their pc, it is a "strong" and "popular" brand. The difference is that for PC (especially if you like gaming) you don't have a lot of choice, in tablet space it is a complete other story.
I'm even sure that this was a wake up call for Microsoft and is the reason why they try to shove down "Metro" and their "unified" vision down our throat. That in the hope that familiarity will influence the choice people make when buying a new tablet. I know a lot of people who replaced their PC with a tablet or are using the PC a lot less since they have a tablet. I think for the general population that does some surfing, e-mailing and simple games a tablet can be good enough. And that is a big threat for Microsoft when the dominant tablets don't have a Microsoft operating system on board.
For the more boring environments like most businesses they have a change, in consumer space I don't see it happening. I know it is popular to predict doom and gloom, but if you think about it Microsoft is facing the biggest threat it has in years or even decades.
they just won't admit it because everyone wants a slice of that pie but most cannot even get to the table.
MS's other issue is that if rumors hold true a new smaller iPad hits stores in September. I still think MS blew it by announcing a product they could ship at the time they announced it.
Rule #1 now is, do not announce what is not shipping now. Apple already exploits the magic in that phrase, NOW SHIPPING
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
What we've so far seen from Win8 (Metro) is on a regular PC possibly a pig but that does not yet make it good on a tablet.
Looking at the hardware I feel it would be really sweet with the tablet version of KDE.
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
The new Intel Medfield processor (X86 based) is very competitive with the ARM architectures when it comes to processing power and battery life. A tablet powered with a Medfield processor should provide plenty of battery life. And since it's X86 based, it'll run all those Windows apps.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
The only enthusiastic things I hear about those tablets are about the integration with current Microsoft software and that for 99% in the work space environment.
Which is microsoft's whole deal, where the money is, and the way into the market. With office 2013 they're pushing to make home a lot more like enterprise. If people can understand what features they get, and how to use them then suddenly it becomes a compelling product. Of course no one outside of MS HQ really understands everything you can do with office, so that barrier to entry is probably insurmountable. However, students will find a lot of enterprise features really useful, and the computer illiterate would find things like cloud storage useful for when they kill their computers and don't have to copy everything over, but they're computer illiterate and can't take advantage of those features.
The other thing to keep in mind is that Surface is supposed to be significantly more capable as a content creation product than ipads and android tablets which are basically content consumption devices. There is a market there, unfortunately Windows 8 is sufficiently terrible that I'm not sure anyone really wants windows 8 devices.
With all of this it's about building the critical mass to get developers on board to make compelling software you can't get elsewhere. MS seems to have a vision for a combined windows 8 family across phones desktop and tablets, but the base of that visions is windows 8 which is terrible. That doesn't mean there isn't something they could do that would make the whole thing really compelling though, I just doubt their users could manage it.
Keep in mind Apple only sold 40 million iPads in 2011. That seems like a lot compared to say... android tablets. But windows 7 sells about 240 million copies a year. If they can present it as easier to use, easier to connect with the PC etc. people might go for it. Lots of people are completely baffled by iPads (seems odd, I know) but those people don't *have* iPads. Of course those people also aren't going to have a clue how to use windows 8 either, but there's probably 200 million customers who's needs aren't served by iPads or android and MS is figuring they could eat up a chunk of that, though admittedly, they'll cannibalize some of their own laptop sales with surface.
I'm cheering for Microsoft.
Competition is good.
I purchased an iPad 1, used it for less than two months and sold it to a friend for half what I paid for it. I wanted it to be so much more than it was - more than they still are. Steve gave his amazing presentation, I swooned - I drank the kool-aid. I was Captain Picard, carrying my StarFleet tablet around. Then I bought one.
They are just 10" iPod Touches.
I wanted to be able to prop it up and type papers on it. I purchased the sleek 3rd party bluetooth keyboard/case combo. They keys were a compromise, tiny, poor travel, poor to type on. So I bought the Apple wireless keyboard. Apple's Pages software was friendly, and easy to use, but failed utterly to have any true usefulness in a world where Microsoft Word so utterly dominates academia or corporate America. Printing was a nightmare. Moving documents to my PC required iTunes syncing. .. iTunes..?? The music store software? What kind of "computer" was this!? My dream of a sleek, cool Sci-Fi space man computer was dashed as I realize the iPad is little more than a toy for reading Facebook on the toilet and clumbsily tapping in replies to emails from your sofa at a blistering 15 words per minute.
A sleek tablet with integrated, nearly full-size keyboard/cover and full, actual Microsoft Office built in?? A solid, well-engineered stand that folds out of the tablet to support it without needing to buy a pile of 3rd party cases, folios, etc. ? Be still my heart.
Touch is awesome. Touch is great for web surfing and watching cat videos on YouTube. Touch, paired with NO keyboard or keyboard and a very lightweight word processing app was absolutely useless. The keyboard is an order of magnitude more efficient for actually doing WORK.
The Surface tablet brings us so much closer to the dream of the all-in-one small, lightweight portable computer. I have hated Micro$oft as much as any other linux-using, Android using Slashdot reader. But I am cheering for them on this one. I hope the Surface takes it to Apple, and takes it to them hard.
Competition is good.
THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.
Logically, nothing. Practicality, sometimes it is the small thing. When looking for my latest vehicle I was dead set on a hatchback for that extra storage if needed. I have a desktop, laptop, and tablet. Each has their place. You accept this already. I am excited over Surface (at least Surface RT) despite owning a iPad already.
Why migrate away from the "iPad" standard?
1) The freaking stylus. I get Jobs hated styluses because he never got over the period you were forced to use them. I get everyone wants to copy his "genius". Still, there are times when I want to write on my digital tablet like it is actually a tablet. Using my finger on an iPad feels like I'm writing out notes with a highlighter. Using a third party stylus feels like a crayon. Microsoft is recognizing some of us want to use pens. Maybe I'm wrong, but this is something that I haven't seen in Android or iOS yet.
2) Why I say Surface RT and not just Surface. Same operating system as my computer at home. I can use the same software. Sure, it may not be wise to install Steam and/or Photoshop to this thing. At least I know I can readily chance between them with similar environments with programs I use across each.
Why not an ultrabook?
1) I don't own one. My laptop was my main computer before I admitted I needed something with more power for my photo/video editing jobs. I see laptops as portable home offices. Ultrabooks are too small for my taste as a laptop. To me, Ultrabooks are like the GMS Caballero. Some look cool, but in the end if I want a vehicle with a bed I'd be looking at a truck. Not a car.
2) There are times when having an ultrabook might be useful. The Surface RT is a tablet that can become an impromptu ultrabook much easier than any ultrabook I've seen so far can become an impromptu tablet. I like that little keyboard cover. If needed, it is there. If not? Hey, just fold it out of the way. It has just enough form factor to feel like real keys instead of pecking at glass.
tl;dr:
So to get back to a car analogy. I see the ultrabook as trying to be a GMC Caballero. The iPad and most tablets as simply being cars or compact cars with trunks. I see the Surface RT as a hatchback car. Sometimes you need that versatility.
by Anonymous Coward: I, for one, welcome the shift from car analogies to pizza analogies. um.. overlords?