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Microsoft Mulling Smaller Windows 8 Tablets
Nerval's Lobster writes "Microsoft might want a piece of the mini-tablet market. The company has lowered the minimum screen resolution for Windows 8 tablets, from 1,366 x 768 pixels to 1024 x 768 pixels. "This doesn't imply that we're encouraging partners to regularly use a lower screen resolution," it wrote in an accompanying newsletter. "We understand that partners exploring designs for certain markets could find greater design flexibility helpful." As pointed out by ZDNet's Ed Bott—cited by other publications as the journalist who first noticed the altered guidelines—that lowered resolution "would allow manufacturers to introduce devices that are in line with the resolutions of the iPad Mini (1024 x 768) and the Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7 (both 1280 x 800)." Whatever the contours of the smaller-tablet market, it's certainly popular enough to tantalize any potential competitor. But if Microsoft plunges in, it will face the same challenges that confronted it in the larger-tablet arena: lots of solid competitors, and not a whole lot of time to make a winning impression. There are also not-inconsiderable hardware challenges to overcome, including processor selection and engineering for optimal battery life."
The aspect ratio of 4:3 is quite close to A-type paper sizes, so it's nice for PDFs.
Finally, I can get a smaller Microsoft tablet. I did think that Microsoft's tablet idea was complete garbage, and I had no intention of buying one ever. Now that they might have a smaller one, I have done a complete flip flop. I think these new smaller tablets could be the best thing ever! I mean, the fact that they still have the application ecosystem problems and that Windows really is a crappy tablet OS no matter what size may still be true. But if I could just get it a little smaller, I'd be SOOO happy!!!!!!!!
Seriously, Microsoft should just give up. Stop wasting money. If you want to make money, create a tablet to go after the XBOX crowd, since that's the only thing you can do that's remotely right.
Obviously the reason behind poor Metro adoption is the screen resolution and overall dimensions of the tablet. How could those Microsoft engineers have missed that one?
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wife: I don't Like Windows8!
Well how about a 1024x768 tablet.
wife: That's got Windows 8 in it!
Husband: Well it's not as much Windows 8 as a surface...
This is about putting windows on cheaper hardware, as windows is failing to sell at the high end. So if you are expecting a plethora of screen sizes and dimensions...its unlikely, as thinks with those dimensions are not cheap components. It will end up a failure like the ipad mini [expensive due to microsoft tax, and with low resolution screens, last years cpu]...with less popularity.
I suspect most people will benefit from a more video friendly/properly formatted ebook/Game friendly screen, not forgetting that you lose Windows one trick...split screen windows [although you lose that on the small screens anyway]...hell even its one usage seems stupid as you will also lose resolution!?...its why you see so few options in that form factor.
The only reason I can see you mentioning it is to troll for Apple...and right now they need all the help they can get.
But seriously, Windows 8 Pro will already work on lower resolution screens (ala netbooks). It requires a registry change (set display1_downscalingsupported to "1", reboot, set screen resolution high enough to run metro apps). I think all this means is that a future patch will have this parameter enabled by default.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
MS XEROX APPLE
MS is like Apple from Bizarro-planet. Everything round is even squared. How appropriate.
"I think we copied everything down to the wooden tables and bar at the back. Now, when does the money come flying into our wallets?"
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
This is about caving to suppliers who can't [won't and don't] sell current windows hardware, against the army of good value Android tablets out there.
Its going to be a bloodbath, Android failed to gain traction in the then iPad market [for two years no less], with its parity devices [expensive high end]...and dirt cheap unbranded [or weak branded] underspecced hardware, and Microsoft seem to want to go down the same path.
Android has finally upsurped iOS post Nexus 7, by producing well specced good value tablets, consumers are buying them in droves...showing they are not stupid. Microsoft is going to fail selling cheap tablets against Androids.
The big problem is as always Windows Tax [more noticeable on cheaper hardware], Which unfortunately is going make Windows tablets look overpriced right now. Microsoft need to rethink their business model, but right now they need to be less greedy.
Saw the Surface at a large store yesterday. It was on the corner of a display stand. It was the smallest display area, of to the side of the "real" tablet area. Nobody was around it. Just a lonely little tablet for 500 euro's.
What Microsoft just never got because they are the bottom feeder is that people want something a bit special when they shell over cash. It is the reason why Starbuck can charge 2x as much for bad coffee as other stores AND have a longer line for it. Because when you go to Starbucks you don't buy coffee, you buy an experience. An experience of being served slightly better then at 99% of stores.
Apple has this experience. Microsoft doesn't. By definition it doesn't. People get hard/wet opening an Apple box. Nobody has to change their pants after a MS unboxing. Well, maybe accountants.
When you show off your device to others, you got have something to show off with. The first tablet, the high-rez tablet, the most cores, oled. SOMETHING. MS has NOTHING. Except a lame image and a high pricepoint. People didn't buy iPads because they were expensive bling, they paid a high price FOR the bling. It is a subtle different, it is the difference between a 1000 dollar mobile phone with specced out specs AND a 10.000 gold plated phone with mediocre specs.
Basically the Surface is the Zune all over again. Not because the Zune was objectively that bad but because it launched 2 years late with specs that belonged to 4 year old hardware. Not bad... but not good... and then there is that MS logo... it makes the people that hear "dude you got a dell" go "dude you got a ms".
There are just some companies that can't do sexy. Some companies go through the frontdoor of life and some companies are lucky to be allowed through the servant entrance, after dark.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
It's a moot point. The tablet fad will be over shortly
I'm not sure your post-Tablet market prediction is close to same. The don't doubt that the PC is still very relevant. In fact I'm personally disgusted in the whole industry rather trying to tabletify the whole PC industry...rather than reinvent a better PC, and include touch-screen functionality where it is relevant.
Microsoft will not be able to pull it off.
Already Microsoft's attempts at using ARM isn't working out. Microsoft depends too heavily on its Wintel x86. They are simply too afraid to put too much behind a whole new architecture. Apple did it and it's working for them. Google did it... did it better, actually, because they use something "similar" to Java and so whatever processor is used in whatever device, code for Android will work. But they, like Apple, started from nothing.
Why can't or won't Microsoft do the same?
Microsoft has historically depended on hardware to catch up with the software. This has been fine with PCs until recently. There just hasn't been significant improvements in PC power. In fact, like tablets and phones, mobile PCs need to use less power to remain attractive and viable. Microsoft knows how to use more power, but has problems using less. It doesn't know how to be small.
So this is a huge failing for its embedded and its mobile devices market and certainly harms itself mobile computer market.
Micrsoft has billions to throw away. Why it doesn't focus on building something new and awesome, I have no idea. It can keep doing the Wintel thing and also make cool, light-weight, low power things too. WHY DOESN"T it? I just can't figure it out. Microsoft phones are failing. The RT tablet? Isn't that already dead in favor of their Wintel tablet line? And isn't the Wintel line also a bit of a failure in that it can't support the battery life in a way which compares to Apple and Android devices?
I just want to know why Microsoft, with it's enormous resources, can't just come out and compete with the rest of them?
People only need to do one thing at a time. The iPad, with its silly single tasking interface, proves that.
(takes deep breath) Jobs said a lot of things, most if not all may to manipulate a market into believing that the shortcoming of of Apples products were design decisions, and the world had to bend to its will. Its why flash has been replaced without a real replacement, because it ran badly with an iphone, its why Apple were so late to market with a small tablet, its why your holding it wrong.
Apple products didn't multi task...and do to so some extent now. Its a feature users want, and viewing too applications (although not exclusive to Microsoft; Samsung tablets do it too) its a great feature.
You need to look at the current crop of Android tablets...they are so ahead of Apple its not funny.
metro full screen apps are better on smaller screens And they just had to copy and fail at it when putting a tablet UI on the desktop.
In a developed economy, probably, however in the intended markets that presents a problem. The difference in cost between a 1024x786 LCD vs 1366x786 isn't that much either, but they want to save that extra bit of cash. Due to hardware requirements alone, an Android device would be so much more profitable that there's simply no reason to stick with W8 if you are so concerned about cost that you have to drop to a low resolution display.
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