MS Surface -big fail or serious competitor?

[dmmarck]

My view has changed since seeing the Surface RT presentation today. Now I think the Surface Pro will fail and the RT will succeed. The difference is what we use tablets for.

I've been using tablets since the iPad1. My daily work involves e-mail, web research, editing MS Word documents, HTML/javascript coding and graphic design. I also throw in video editing on the side. I need to use Skype for keeping in touch with coworkers and VPN to connect to the work server.

iPad1 gave me the ability to do my web research and e-mail, but I really missed the ability to video conference. iPad2 gave me the camera I needed for that. There are a ton of apps for iOS, but that software keyboard proved too clunky for any long editing sessions. So I tried using a series of bluetooth keyboards. Then I had issues with software. No iOS apps can effectively edit a full MS Word page. I need to update headers & footers with macro fields as well as use tables and graphics, then output to PDF for uploading to a work server. Forget about doing any real graphic design work for the web. The lack of a file system for drag-n-drop makes iOS unusable for real work. Best solution was remote desktop apps that let me use my existing laptop/desktop. So why use a tablet?

Enter Android and its file system. Got an Asus Transformer because that solved the keyboard and USB problem. But again, as good as KingSoft and OpenOffice are, neither can give me the same editing features as MS Word. However, the Google apps integration is killer for me. All my PIM info (calendar, e-mail, contacts) is on Google. And using Chrome allows me to pick up my internet research from device to device. But since I can't do as much of the Word editing as I need, having a big 10" tablet feels a bit overkill. Not quite as usable as laptop and a little bulkier to carry around as a portable.

Now I have Surface RT which comes with MS Office, the integrated keyboard, cameras and a microSD card slot. I get the ability to do my research and edit my work files. Since RT is tied to Windows 8 I expect it will be a fluid experience, far more than iOS and at least on par with Android. It looks to be a better 10" tablet candidate for work. Meanwhile I've transitioned my home tablet use to the 7" form factor. The Nexus 7 is portable enough to fit in my purse and easily be used in bed without tiring my arms.

My guess is no business will buy any Windows 8 devices. The lack of a Start Menu and the changes to the OS make IT guys fret over all the retraining. So it is the Consumer market will be driving Win 8 sales. They'll get a Surface because of the ability to edit work files and connect to their Windows systems. They won't want to shell out $1000 for a Pro device when they could put that money into a touch laptop. They didn't go for Ultraportables for the same reason.

The markets who will see the biggest threat are Netbooks and iPads. Android will do just fine as long as Google plays it like they are. Develop the 7" portable tablets that integrate well with phones and existing desktops as media consumption devices. This time next year the game will be between Microsoft vs Google with each making the case their OS is best for play & work while Apple is seen as offering expensive toys and wondering why they aren't seen as "the" tablet maker.

I asked my firm and our IT guy about it and we're in a holding pattern, mainly because of how much of our software (mission critical stuff too) is dependent on Windows 7. I think if we just needed the office suite we'd make the transition, but there are a lot of enterprise companies in a holding pattern right now and that's somewhat terrifying.

 

[YAYTech]

I think there will be some firms that will change over, simply because they've held onto XP for so long, and because they want to adjust as infrequently as possible, they'll upgrade to the newest available.

 

[Dr0me]

lack of support for x86 apps is crippling for the surface in my opinion. MS is simply too late to the game to compete with the apple or android app stores. At this point their ecosystem simply lacks developer support which is what makes android and apple great. You couldnt even run chrome or firefox on it, YOU WOULD BE FORCED TO USE IE!!

The hardware of the surface sounds absolutely amazing. The concept of a tablet that doubles as a portable word processing capable PC is great, but from what I hear it ends up being a 7/10 as a tablet and AND 7/10 laptop. If this thing came in at $400 and gained a lot of traction in the market it could lead the way for future better true windows 8 surface tablet to really be great. but if this thing is a flop the ecosystem will likely fail as developers wont waste their time.

We will all see in due time...

 

[Kennyb123]

Just so you know, the Windows RT version of Office 2013 doesn't support macros.

 

[crackberrytraitor]

lack of support for x86 apps is crippling for the surface in my opinion. MS is simply too late to the game to compete with the apple or android app stores. At this point their ecosystem simply lacks developer support which is what makes android and apple great. You couldnt even run chrome or firefox on it, YOU WOULD BE FORCED TO USE IE!!

The hardware of the surface sounds absolutely amazing. The concept of a tablet that doubles as a portable word processing capable PC is great, but from what I hear it ends up being a 7/10 as a tablet and AND 7/10 laptop. If this thing came in at $400 and gained a lot of traction in the market it could lead the way for future better true windows 8 surface tablet to really be great. but if this thing is a flop the ecosystem will likely fail as developers wont waste their time.

We will all see in due time...

The surface pro runs all x86 software. It has the biggest app ecosystem on Earth. I love Android to death, but I'll be buying it the moment it's available. The RT version is a waste of time IMO.

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[Shadowriver]

The markets who will see the biggest threat are Netbooks and iPads. Android will do just fine as long as Google plays it like they are. Develop the 7" portable tablets that integrate well with phones and existing desktops as media consumption devices. This time next year the game will be between Microsoft vs Google with each making the case their OS is best for play & work while Apple is seen as offering expensive toys and wondering why they aren't seen as "the" tablet maker.

Don't underestimate Apple, they the one who ignited this tablet market in first place and they always can come up with something, specially if they notice that they doing something wrong

I think Microsoft made most craziest but imo best idea they ever did, revive legendery Tablet PC and hybrid mobile format. I think what really inspired them is Transformer, which can be laptop.... but it's still limited mobile OS device, so what they do? They take desktop Windows and convert it to support such device with desktop power..... and kick desktop users balls in process I think they may have huge success on here, not RT since they got not much of developer support yet to power there Macro UI, in desktop they got lot of ready software.

But on other side they kicked hardcore desktop users, it's double edge sword, they may increase mobile users but decrease PC desktop use.... but we will see how it plays out, as many people here don't understand casual users, thy might supprice you.... not to mention they pretty unpredictable.

 

[crackberrytraitor]

Don't underestimate Apple, they the one who ignited this tablet market in first place and they always can come up with something, specially if they notice that they doing something wrong

I think Microsoft made most craziest but imo best idea they ever did, revive legendery Tablet PC and hybrid mobile format. I think what really inspired them is Transformer, which can be laptop.... but it's still limited mobile OS device, so what they do? They take desktop Windows and convert it to support such device with desktop power..... and kick desktop users balls in process I think they may have huge success on here, not RT since they got not much of developer support yet to power there Macro UI, in desktop they got lot of ready software.

But on other side they kicked hardcore desktop users, it's double edge sword, they may increase mobile users but decrease PC desktop use.... but we will see how it plays out, as many people here don't understand casual users, thy might supprice you.... not to mention they pretty unpredictable.

I don't see how it hurts desktop users at all. Running Win8 on my AMD 8-Core 42ghz system with 32 GB RAM and 8TB storage with 2 Radeon 7970s.

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[jpash549]

The industrial road warriors will be the first to adopt the new Surface pros. It's going to a slow change from Win7 or even WinXP for the rest of the workers.

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[Dr0me]

The surface pro runs all x86 software. It has the biggest app ecosystem on Earth. I love Android to death, but I'll be buying it the moment it's available. The RT version is a waste of time IMO.

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Sorry I was just talking about the RT since it is the only one that is out yet. According to rumor the Surface pro is going to cost about $1,000+. That price is going far and beyond the realm of tablet and more into the realm of PC replacement. I agree the RT is a waste of time but there is a difference between apps made for RT and apps that work on PC that work on the surface pro.

 

[dmmarck]

I think there will be some firms that will change over, simply because they've held onto XP for so long, and because they want to adjust as infrequently as possible, they'll upgrade to the newest available.

Some may, but a lot of places that use the same billing software and that stuff are at the mercy of the software developers.

Just so you know, the Windows RT version of Office 2013 doesn't support macros.

Well there goes that idea

 

[jcsugrue]

I really have a hard time seeing the MS Surface being anything but the Zune of tablets. A few people might buy them, they'll probably love them, but the rest of the world is still going to be using an Android tab, Kindle, or iPad. People just don't get excited about Microsoft products the way they do about Apple products or Nexus devices.

 

[almost.green.guy]

I'll be looking hard at the Surface Pro. From a work perspective, the Active Directory integration will make it the first viable tablet for the work environment.

From a personal use perspective, I have no interest in any Surface. I left the world of Microsoft because I was sick of viruses, adware, spyware, and Internet Explorer. There's no way I'm going back.

 

[crackberrytraitor]

Sorry I was just talking about the RT since it is the only one that is out yet. According to rumor the Surface pro is going to cost about $1,000+. That price is going far and beyond the realm of tablet and more into the realm of PC replacement. I agree the RT is a waste of time but there is a difference between apps made for RT and apps that work on PC that work on the surface pro.

I don't believe pricing rumors, they're wrong more than they're right. I don't think there's the slightest chance of the pro being 1000 dollars.

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[crackberrytraitor]

I really have a hard time seeing the MS Surface being anything but the Zune of tablets. A few people might buy them, they'll probably love them, but the rest of the world is still going to be using an Android tab, Kindle, or iPad. People just don't get excited about Microsoft products the way they do about Apple products or Nexus devices.

I've seen tons of excitement for the Surface. If you read tech news it's been making headlines almost every day. Corporations will buy the hell out of them. There's no other tablet that can even compare to the functionality of Windows with x86 support.

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[YAYTech]

I don't believe pricing rumors, they're wrong more than they're right. I don't think there's the slightest chance of the pro being 1000 dollars.

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I don't see any way it'll start too much under $1k. It's going to need at least 64gb HD, so you're building on a $700 pricetag from the Surface RT, then add a more expensive processor and other bits. I'd be surprised if a Surface Pro starts under $750-800, and would not be surprised if you have to spend $1k to get a decent one. It's likely to be a better value to pick up a convertible tablet/laptop with regular Win8 from another manufacturer.

 

[crackberrytraitor]

I don't see any way it'll start too much under $1k. It's going to need at least 64gb HD, so you're building on a $700 pricetag from the Surface RT, then add a more expensive processor and other bits. I'd be surprised if a Surface Pro starts under $750-800, and would not be surprised if you have to spend $1k to get a decent one. It's likely to be a better value to pick up a convertible tablet/laptop with regular Win8 from another manufacturer.

Same way as Google. Take a loss to gain market traction.

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[YAYTech]

Same way as Google. Take a loss to gain market traction.

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I frankly don't see it happening. I think if that were to happen, it would've happened with the RT version. If they heavily discount the Pro version, the RT version becomes even more irrelevant than it already is.

 

[anon(924308)]

I'm a little confused.. Can someone enlighten me: are all Windows 8-capable tablets able to run full-fledged programs like Photoshop and the Office Suite? Because if so, there's not much incentive to purchase a device directly from Microsoft, when you can get something like the Acer Iconia, or any other cheaper device.

Also, I know the Surface won't allow many android apps, but would something like the Samsung series 7 slate be able to have access to the Play store? (clearly, I know nothing about operating systems).

 

[zedorda]

I'm a little confused.. Can someone enlighten me: are all Windows 8-capable tablets able to run full-fledged programs like Photoshop and the Office Suite? Because if so, there's not much incentive to purchase a device directly from Microsoft, when you can get something like the Acer Iconia, or any other cheaper device.

The Windows 8 RT is a ARM based system that will not run full x86 software. The Windows 8 Pro will be a full x86 PC in a tablet form factor.

 

[anon(924308)]

The Windows 8 RT is a ARM based system that will not run full x86 software. The Windows 8 Pro will be a full x86 PC in a tablet form factor.

Thanks. I guess the only way to tell if a Windows 8 tablet has the full desktop is just to read more info then--looks like the Acer Iconia w510 is Windows 8 RT, but the Samsung slate has full Windows 7. Might opt for a device like that in a year or so (assuming the prices will drop, and my laptop bites the dust) and dl something like bluestacks to get my Play store apps .