Microsoft Surface Tablet announced

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No, I think the number of Windows 8 PC users who won't use a desktop app will be miniscule though.

Make sure you get a link to your app in the Windows Store then. I think most Windows 8 users will be using the Store to search for and install apps.
 
I had a sinking suspicion that would be the case. That's ok, that can be removed from the list. But the rest are doable on the tablet?


Well could buy a surface and it might get apps to do all those things well in the next 6 months, or it might not, or you could buy one of the Atom tablets and know there are Windows 7 apps you can use.


Either way it would be best to wait till the end of the month when reviewers will get their hands on everything and we will know which OEMs have done a good job, whether or not the Atom tablets have enough power, etc etc.
 
Availability:

Anandtech said:
Surface RT tablets will be available on October 26th, with preorders starting today at surface.com at 9AM Pacific. Surface will be available in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, the UK, China and Hong Kong.
 
Windows 8 multitasking is serviceable at best.

And to access the file system, don't you have to go to the desktop? That makes it completely useless IMO.

See, the sad thing is I really like Windows 8, but I just wish that on Surface, it was just metro. No desktop. I *never* want to go into the desktop on a tablet. Maybe some people will differ, but having the desktop there (And no, you *can't* ignore it), is a major turn off. not jsut from surface but from Windows 8 Tablets as a whole.

that is exactly what this is, right now....

The desktop version isn't released yet. Am I missing your point or something? You can completely ignore the desktop, because it doesn't exist in this tablet.
 
No, I think the number of Windows 8 PC users who won't use a desktop app will be miniscule though.

Out of curiosity, what kind of apps are we talking. Your typical desktop app is much different from your typical phone/tablet app. If it is closer to a phone/tablet app, I wouldn't be surprised if people would rather not use it.

that is exactly what this is, right now....

The desktop version isn't released yet. Am I missing your point or something? You can completely ignore the desktop, because it doesn't exist in this tablet.

It does exist, you just can't install anything to it. You have full access to Office, Control Panel, File System, etc. You don't have to use them, but they are there
 
Video editing is typically pretty resource intensive isn't it? I wouldn't recommend an ARM or Atom (Clovertrail) based tablet. You probably need a i5 or i7 to do serious work like that.

The rest of the stuff you list would be fine (though I don't know if those apps exist yet). Just think of an Windows RT tablet as capable of the same kind of stuff you do on an iPad or Android tablet.

Yeah, you guys are right about the video editing.

Thing is, I really liked the Ipad's ability to make music with the touchscreen, but I disliked the apple proprietary formats that were useless with the windows setup at home. Meaning anything I composed on the fly was not transferable. So I had the idea of waiting for the Surface so it could use the same program formats (i.e. reason) that could transfer my things when I got home. I do a lot of little composing on campus so I was really hoping for the surface to be what I needed for that.
 
Well could buy a surface and it might get apps to do all those things well in the next 6 months, or it might not, or you could buy one of the Atom tablets and know there are Windows 7 apps you can use.


Either way it would be best to wait till the end of the month when reviewers will get their hands on everything and we will know which OEMs have done a good job, whether or not the Atom tablets have enough power, etc etc.

The Atom tablets sound interesting, I've never really heard about them. Thanks for suggesting them, I'll follow up.
 
Yeah, you guys are right about the video editing.

Thing is, I really liked the Ipad's ability to make music with the touchscreen, but I disliked the apple proprietary formats that were useless with the windows setup at home. Meaning anything I composed on the fly was not transferable. So I had the idea of waiting for the Surface so it could use the same program formats (i.e. reason) that could transfer my things when I got home. I do a lot of little composing on campus so I was really hoping for the surface to be what I needed for that.

Well, nothing prevents the existence of an app that does the same thing as garage band or imovie, the hardware on this is more than capable of the light editing you seem to do if I am reading your post correct
 
Well, nothing prevents the existence of an app that does the same thing as garage band or imovie, the hardware on this is more than capable of the light editing you seem to do if I am reading your post correct

It's more composing on the fly. I'm always writing music and humming tunes, and I always wanted a device that allowed me to just record them on the spot for later. The ipad was ok, but the file formats were so awful they weren't transferable to my main music making machine.

So that's why I was leaning towards the surface, but the advice from other people is starting to sway me.
 
There have been grumblings at my work that we're all getting Macbook Airs and Surface Tablets.

Yes, I do know how lucky I am.
 
It's more composing on the fly. I'm always writing music and humming tunes, and I always wanted a device that allowed me to just record them on the spot for later. The ipad was ok, but the file formats were so awful they weren't transferable to my main music making machine.

So that's why I was leaning towards the surface, but the advice from other people is starting to sway me.

Oh, i would recommend an Atom tablet as well, but for this it doesn't really make a difference, metro apps (like the ones you want) should run flawessly on all tablets, either RT or x86, and this being windows I would expect compatible files and formats ;)
 
Oh, i would recommend an Atom tablet as well, but for this it doesn't really make a difference, metro apps (like the ones you want) should run flawessly on all tablets, either RT or x86

So the RT will be a lightweight touchscreen that'll support the music apps that are compatible with my home windows comp? That's useful to know.
 
Man its crazy to think what a big difference $100 makes. If this had been announced at $399, this would have been a different thread. MS has a serious uphill battle now. I'm still interested in one, but it'll be long road down, when the dust clears and the app store is a bit more robust till think $600 is worthwhile. Will be interesting to see how reviewers come down on it.
 
Except there probably arent any of those apps yet. It won't support "normal" windows software.

Ugh. So it'd be a bit of a gamble.

Oh well. I guess I have to wait. I'd rather not get a laptop for the music making; the size and lack of touchscreen defeats the purpose of composing on the fly.
 
Man its crazy to think what a big difference $100 makes. If this had been announced at $399, this would have been a different thread. MS has a serious uphill battle now. I'm still interested in one, but it'll be long road down, when the dust clears and the app store is a bit more robust till think $600 is worthwhile. Will be interesting to see how reviewers come down on it.

That's without the touch cover. 499$ without the touch cover, which is one of its main marketing gimmicks. That's an additional 120$.
 
So the RT will be a lightweight touchscreen that'll support the music apps that are compatible with my home windows comp? That's useful to know.

The thing is that you would need to wait first for such apps to be announced, what I meant is that the capabilities are there, we now have the price and availability announced for the surface, but next week is Windows 8 presentation and the app situation will be more clear then
 
The thing is that you would need to wait first for such apps to be announced, what I meant is that the capabilities are there, we now have the price and availability announced for the surface, but next week is Windows 8 presentation and the app situation will be clear then

Got it. Thanks for your advice. I'll check it out in a week.
 
Man its crazy to think what a big difference $100 makes. If this had been announced at $399, this would have been a different thread. MS has a serious uphill battle now. I'm still interested in one, but it'll be long road down, when the dust clears and the app store is a bit more robust till think $600 is worthwhile. Will be interesting to see how reviewers come down on it.

Trust me. It will be $399 within 6 months. or less.
 
Wonder if Surface RT will finally push ARM desktop hardware for the masses.

Will be a huge upgrade from a big fugly box to just a very small low power consumption board for the casual users.
 
I really, really cannot figure out how on earth people were thinking that the surface RT might be close to $299, if we compare it to something like the Nexus 7.

The nexus 7 is 249 dollar for the 16 GB model right? The surface RT has:
- Better internal hardware
- Better external hardware
- Bigger screen
- More ports
- Keyboard
- More storage
- Premium OS (it's a payed OS, don't dwell on the premium term too much)

Is there any sane individual that thought the sablet, with all the above points I've mentionned, would be just 50 dollars more than the Nexus 7? Come on guys.. I think that pricing it 400 dollars would already by very agressively/competitively. I think that it'll cost around 450 euro's/dollars, give or take 50.
 
But those actually have apps to fill that space. Is it really going to look like a bargain over the iPad? I doubt it.

I think your typical tech early adopters will have to carry the platform initially while the app market matures and becomes acceptable for the mass market. I have a hard time believing that someone that is all about apps would have considered a Surface at $399 knowing that it'd be missing most of the apps that they need.
 
Eh, not outraged over this. Not sure if I'll pick one up (need to get some reviews of those keyboards and other OEM hardware), but people are negatively comparing this to the iPad based on the market, not value. In terms of hardware value (and presuming the app store will explode), it's comparable, if not better, than the iPad 3. I'll take the accessory ports over Retina Display.
 
But those actually have apps to fill that space. Is it really going to look like a bargain over the iPad? I doubt it.

Not a bargain, no; but the MS strategy is clear now, they want to use the Windows brand to position themselves deserving a premium status even above the iPad, I don't know if is the right aproach, but also I don't think is a wrong aproach, in all honestly it all depend on the apps and MS's capacity to convince developers, which we know is big (even Windows Phone with is inexistent marketshare has more than 100 000 apps, imagine how many will have the store of the most popular OS)
 
I really, really cannot figure out how on earth people were thinking that the surface RT might be close to $299, if we compare it to something like the Nexus 7.

The nexus 7 is 249 dollar for the 16 GB model right? The surface RT has:
- Better internal hardware
- Better external hardware
- Bigger screen
- More ports
- Keyboard
- More storage
- Premium OS (it's a payed OS, don't dwell on the premium term too much)

Is there any sane individual that thought the sablet, with all the above points I've mentionned, would be just 50 dollars more than the Nexus 7? Come on guys.. I think that pricing it 400 dollars would already by very agressively/competitively. I think that it'll cost around 450 euro's/dollars, give or take 50.

Its doable. Amazon Kindle 9" is 299, and it has better screen. I think MS design the case with too much expensive material.

If there is a Surface 2, I expect much cheaper case material.
 
Not if they are looking to have a premium tablet that moves a few million units and makes a profit. Which by all indications is exactly what they are trying to do.

Or they could focus on the part of their business that actually makes money (Windows and Office) and use the Surface as a tool to build developer and customer interest in their new platform.
 
Or they could focus on the part of their business that actually makes money (Windows and Office) and use the Surface as a tool to build developer and customer interest in their new platform.

Then they should have stayed static and let the OEMs do it for them as they have in the past, its not like Windows would not still sell in the hundreds of millions
 
Or they could focus on the part of their business that actually makes money (Windows and Office) and use the Surface as a tool to build developer and customer interest in their new platform.

Yeah that doesn't seem to be the direction Microsoft wants to head in...
 
Guys, dont get a rt device. Clovertrail atom tablets will be $500-$600 and will have 8-10hrs of battery life. I see no reason to get a RT device.
Wondering how much space Windows8 takes up of that 32gb.
i'm sure RT takes up less space than 8.
 
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