Author Topic: Microsoft thread (Read 63581 times)

lastobjective · « **Reply #702:** October 17, 2012, 02:49:10 PM »

Last time I checked, wern't those things nearing $1000? I was looking at tablets but immediately decided that a Windows tablet was WAY out of my price range.

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #703:** October 17, 2012, 03:06:39 PM »

Quote from: lastobjective on October 17, 2012, 02:49:10 PM

Last time I checked, wern't those things nearing $1000? I was looking at tablets but immediately decided that a Windows tablet was WAY out of my price range.

$500, $600 with the cover

http://gizmodo.com/5952258/dont-preorder-microsoft-surface?tag=microsoft-surface

lastobjective · « **Reply #704:** October 17, 2012, 03:20:19 PM »

Quote from: HalfSmokes on October 17, 2012, 03:06:39 PM

$500, $600 with the cover

http://gizmodo.com/5952258/dont-preorder-microsoft-surface?tag=microsoft-surface

Much more affordable. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft can penetrate the market. Android and Apple platforms have a TON of dev support, and it'd be hard for Microsoft to catch up. I wonder if it'll be more popular with business people in the sense that it "should" be more compatible than Apple or Android with Windows document formats, such as Powerpoint (.ppt), Excel (.xlsx) and Word (.docx). My Android tablet sometimes has trouble opening those files depending on the version and what's in it.

(My guess, not much market share

it will be extremely difficult to conquer the titans that are Android and Apple)

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #705:** October 17, 2012, 03:25:36 PM »

Quote from: lastobjective on October 17, 2012, 03:20:19 PM

Much more affordable. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft can penetrate the market. Android and Apple platforms have a TON of dev support, and it'd be hard for Microsoft to catch up. I wonder if it'll be more popular with business people in the sense that it "should" be more compatible than Apple or Android with Windows document formats, such as Powerpoint (.ppt), Excel (.xlsx) and Word (.docx). My Android tablet sometimes has trouble opening those files depending on the version and what's in it.

(My guess, not much market share it will be extremely difficult to conquer the titans that are Android and Apple)

I use my tablet to surf read and play crappy games like dummy defense. Something like surface with a real keyboard (kind of) or some of the hybrids where the monitor is removable may push people like me into using tablets more

lastobjective · « **Reply #706:** October 17, 2012, 03:35:12 PM »

Quote from: HalfSmokes on October 17, 2012, 03:25:36 PM

I use my tablet to surf read and play crappy games like dummy defense. Something like surface with a real keyboard (kind of) or some of the hybrids where the monitor is removable may push people like me into using tablets more

True, there is those people who want to dump their netbooks. My tablet has an optional dock but it's in the neighborhood of $150, so it's not a NEW concept. Again, it'll be interesting to see what happens.

PC · « **Reply #707:** October 19, 2012, 08:21:23 PM »

Kevrock · « **Reply #708:** October 24, 2012, 08:59:23 AM »

http://gizmodo.com/5953866/microsoft-surface-rt-review-this-is-technological-heartbreak

The Chief · « **Reply #709:** October 24, 2012, 11:02:36 AM »

lol, Gizmodo. Try linking to a real review site.

Amusingly, they spend most of the article talking about how good the surface is, but then trash it in the final paragraph (and in the URL

)

Sounds to me like most of their objection is to the extremely young ecosystem and/or Windows 8 in general, not to the hardware. I miss the days of reviewing hardware and software separately, but I guess with the trend of increasingly walled gardens there's not much to be done about it.

Kevrock · « **Reply #710:** October 24, 2012, 11:53:22 AM »

Quote from: The Chief on October 24, 2012, 11:02:36 AM

lol, Gizmodo. Try linking to a real review site.

Not while I'm doing my PC impression.

I thought it was interesting, though. The article mostly touts it and then says that MS isn't there quite yet. I'm rooting for them to get it right, FWIW.

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #711:** October 24, 2012, 12:55:29 PM »

Quote from: The Chief on October 24, 2012, 11:02:36 AM

I miss the days of reviewing hardware and software separately, but I guess with the trend of increasingly walled gardens there's not much to be done about it.

I think you're right on that one, I have a neighbor who is disgusted by the ipad mini (price for specs, it's pathetic), but wants the smaller form factor, hence he's going to suck it up and buy the apple offering because he's already invested in the ecosystem. We've gotten to the point where the hardware, software, and ecosystem are really the same since if you buy an RT/apple/android tablet, you're stuck with the software on it and the ecosystem it comes with whereas in the old days, you'd wipe the hard drive and start fresh

PC · « **Reply #712:** October 24, 2012, 01:12:23 PM »

Gizmodo should be ashamed of itself. I saw that "review" when it first got posted. The person writing this review doesn't even have the most basic understanding of how the Windows 8 family of OSes (Windows 8/Windows RT/Windows Phone 8 ) work. For Dog's sake, they could have at least let someone do the review who had been using Windows 8 (the free previews have been available for a year

) so they'd have an idea how Windows RT works.

Read the Jesus Diaz posting in the comments section.

Also goto http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/10/microsoft-surface for an actual review.

The Chief · « **Reply #713:** October 24, 2012, 01:28:19 PM »

Are you Jesus Diaz?

Kevrock · « **Reply #714:** October 24, 2012, 02:50:04 PM »

http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/microsoft-surface-rt/4505-3126_7-35332494.html

I want to read a review by PC.

PC · « **Reply #715:** October 26, 2012, 09:05:34 AM »

Quote from: Kevrock on October 24, 2012, 02:50:04 PM

http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/microsoft-surface-rt/4505-3126_7-35332494.html

I want to read a review by PC.

As I don't have a Surface, I can't give a review. I'm guessing the odds are about 50/50 that I'll even get one. I'm not a "tablet person". I never feel the need to put my fingers on a computer screen. The reason I'd get one is that it's a Microsoft/Windows 8 tablet and I want this platform to succeed.

I can, however, give a Windows 8 review, as it goes to general availability today. I've been using the preview releases all year and the RTM since August (I have TechNet and MSDN subscriptions).

My review of Windows 8:

Quote

BEST OPERATING SYSTEM EVER!!!

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #716:** October 26, 2012, 09:10:25 AM »

The knock on surface seems more to be about RT- ie no available programs (just an aside, but when did a program become an app, or is there a difference?)

Nathan · « **Reply #717:** October 26, 2012, 09:25:02 AM »

Since Apple invented the term "app" for anything you put on a mobile device.

The Chief · « **Reply #718:** October 26, 2012, 09:31:37 AM »

Quote from: Nathan on October 26, 2012, 09:25:02 AM

Since Apple invented the term "app" for anything you put on a mobile device.

Sadly this. I even catch myself saying it sometimes

The Chief · « **Reply #719:** October 26, 2012, 09:32:19 AM »

I'll be totally honest... the removal of Aero Glass is my least favorite thing about Win8. Yes, it bothers me more than the start screen.

Nathan · « **Reply #720:** October 26, 2012, 09:42:43 AM »

Are you running it full time now? I don't like the removal of it either, nor do I really like the start menu when I tried it, but that I can get over.

The Chief · « **Reply #721:** October 26, 2012, 09:47:38 AM »

Nah just alt-booting it on a second drive.

Nathan · « **Reply #722:** October 26, 2012, 09:50:39 PM »

Hey PC, how does the Windows 8 $39.99 upgrade work? What if I need to re-install? Do I have to install 7 and then do the upgrade again or what?

Terpfan76 · « **Reply #723:** October 26, 2012, 11:22:20 PM »

Yeah, I'm new to all this stuff. I have a Samsung Tablet that runs Windows 7 plus my laptop is running Windows 7. Is it really worth upgrading at this point?

PC · « **Reply #724:** October 28, 2012, 05:11:04 AM »

Quote from: Nathan on October 26, 2012, 09:50:39 PM

Hey PC, how does the Windows 8 $39.99 upgrade work? What if I need to re-install? Do I have to install 7 and then do the upgrade again or what?

Paul Thurrott did a blog post about this yesterday http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/clean-install-windows-8-upgrade-media-144648

You have to be in Windows to get the $39.99 upgrade so once that's done, I believe, you meet the requirement. Once you've met the requirement, you don't have to worry about it again.