Where does W10 leave Windows RT tablets?

[missionsparta]

Now that all the "I hate RT" cry babies have gotten their way, where do real Windows Tablets go from here?

Let's be honest. The Surface Pro line are not really tablets. They are laptops disguised as tablets. They are made to replace your laptop. The RT devices were more affordable and not geared to those that wanted a laptop, but more something in line with an iPad. So why people that wanted a Pro (obviously looking for a laptop replacement) cried about the RT (something completely different than what they were looking for) is beyond me. That is like consumers looking at MacBook, b*tching that the iPad is a pile of junk and should be killed off.

I unfortunately just veered off my original question - now that RT is going to be long forgotten, what happens with the next line of Surfaces? I hate to tell you guys, but Windows 10 is not tablet friendly. It is just a frankienstined desktop, and desktops have never done well on real tablets. The only real option I see is 7"-8" devices running the same version OS as Windows Phones, which I guess would be fine, but I just wish they would clarify this. Because right now, Microsoft has left their true tablet customers out to dry.

 

[astondg]

The same OS, Windows 10, will run on phones, tablets & desktops. In 'tablet mode' it still looks just as tablet friendly as W8.1 to me, is there something particular that you think won't work?

Also as far as I can tell MS has made no specific announcement RE ARM tablets & WinRT. The fact that they are still telling devs to write Windows apps to prep for W10 suggests that the WinRT platform is still alive, we'll have to wait for an announcement on the WinRT only version of Windows.

 

[missionsparta]

Best way I can describe it, is Windows 8 Start screen felt made for touchscreens. Using this update, the tablet mode feels clunky and just an after thought. To much concern seems to be put into the outdated start menu, instead of moving forward with touch.

 

[JamesDax]

smdh.... it just boggles the mind.

 

[rhapdog]

The early builds of Windows 10 Tech Preview have been concentrating on Enterprise and Desktops. The Tablet Mode stuff will be enhanced long before it is released. They have said this a number of times.

Trying the Tech Preview now and judging that MS is leaving out true Tablets is just not an accurate representation. It's in development. Leave feedback as to what it is you want through the feedback app. Microsoft is listening and is implementing so much as fast as they can.

Patience. It's not there yet. But it is the most promising OS in the direction they are taking than any OS I could have imagined.

 

[missionsparta]

The early builds of Windows 10 Tech Preview have been concentrating on Enterprise and Desktops. The Tablet Mode stuff will be enhanced long before it is released. They have said this a number of times.

Trying the Tech Preview now and judging that MS is leaving out true Tablets is just not an accurate representation. It's in development. Leave feedback as to what it is you want through the feedback app. Microsoft is listening and is implementing so much as fast as they can.

Patience. It's not there yet. But it is the most promising OS in the direction they are taking than any OS I could have imagined.

II'm tired of hearing "Microsoft is listening" if they truly were listening, they would have dumped Xbox Video and Music and brought us Zune back.

 

[JamesDax]

II'm tired of hearing "Microsoft is listening" if they truly were listening, they would have dumped Xbox Video and Music and brought us Zune back.

lmao

 

[rhapdog]

Zune was considered by quite a few to be a disaster. I for one don't want Zune.

I want Xbox Video and Music, but working the way I want it to work.

It's kind of like saying, "God always answers your prayers," and 10 million people pray to win the same lottery. God's answer is obviously going to be "No" to a lot of people, even though he may have been listening. (Doesn't matter if you believe in God or not, it's the principle I'm trying to convey here, so let's just stick with the idea of how that is said to work, not whether or not it's real.)

If they have 100,000 people saying, "We want Zune back! Dump Xbox music and video!", but they have 10,000,000 people saying, "Don't bring back Zune, we want Xbox!", what are you going to get? I'm not saying this is what has happened, but it's worth thinking about at least.

 

[YCSJ2980]

I hope your are right. Cause right now there is a ton of work that needs to be done on the tablet side of things. The Charms bar options we had needs to be integrated into the action center we now have when we swipe in from the right. Especially the option to get back to the start screen, which far as I can tell can only be done now by pressing the home button or by finding the taskbar start button. Swiping down from the top needs to give us the app commands and the option that it currently gives us should be left to those coming in with a mouse cursor. And internet explorer needs to have a touch friendly version again for those of us who use the tablets. If this is there I can't seem to find it anymore. Also in tablet mode we appear to currently be unable to select anything from the desktop. We have to click off of tablet mode just to press the item in question.

Yes it's a beta, I undertstand that, and all my feedback is being sent to microsoft, as I'm supposed to be doing as a beta tester and I hope they will be able to make a wonderful product when it does come to market. But wow there is a ton of work that needs to be done on the tablet side. At first I thought that they were launching windows 10 too late. Honestly now? I'm wondering if they will have enough time between now and then to make it actually work well.

​YCS

 

[JamesDax]

There are a lot of people that had no business installing this Tech Preview.

 

[missionsparta]

Zune was considered by quite a few to be a disaster. I for one don't want Zune.

I want Xbox Video and Music, but working the way I want it to work.

It's kind of like saying, "God always answers your prayers," and 10 million people pray to win the same lottery. God's answer is obviously going to be "No" to a lot of people, even though he may have been listening. (Doesn't matter if you believe in God or not, it's the principle I'm trying to convey here, so let's just stick with the idea of how that is said to work, not whether or not it's real.)

If they have 100,000 people saying, "We want Zune back! Dump Xbox music and video!", but they have 10,000,000 people saying, "Don't bring back Zune, we want Xbox!", what are you going to get? I'm not saying this is what has happened, but it's worth thinking about at least.

Te he funny thing is, if you put everything you want into Xbox Music and Video, you would end up with Zune. Xbox Music and Video doesn't do ONE thing better than Zune did.

 

[Richard Culverhouse]

I agree with the OP about the RTs. I say this as a proud Surface 2 owner.

 

[Ebuka Allison]

, "Don't bring back Zune, we want Xbox!",.

Said no one ever

 

[missionsparta]

Said no one ever

II know.. He literally is the first person I have ever heard say he prefers Xbox Music and Video over Zune. I'll bet my house, that if you did a survey there is way more people that want Zune back than those that want to just stick with Xbox.

But this is how Microsoft works. They claim they are listening. So what happens on their suggestion page? There were ten million votes to bring Zune back....and they blocked anymore votes from going to it.

We will listen to you.....then tell you 'No'.

 

[Wevenhuis]

I agree with the first sentiment of windows 10. Having used windows 7 on a deskop and now windows 8.1 on my surface pro, I see a deveopment happening where windows 10 seems geard more to the desktop/pc. A good look at windows 10 and skimming away all the new introduced features, I see the tablet screen of the OS as a maximiized version of the the start menu. This is quite the opositie to the windows 8 design where the desktop was an app on the windows startscreen. I think one reason many people were frustrated by it, because it was clearly a better tablet than desktop experience. It may be subtle but after using a surface pro for over 2 years now, it's enough to slowly define what is a good tablet and what is a good desktop experience.

In my experience windows 10 follows more closely the lines of a kind of follow up to what I experience with windows 7. At start there is the desktop and there is the start menu.

Windows 8.1 seen from the start screen perspecitve, to me is a true tablet experience. In this environment its nice to have live tiles as app shortcuts and widgets simultaneously to glance at everything important to you. With a touchscreen there is no need of a mouse or keboard and it is a natural environment to pick up the device with your hands and navigate the OS with your fingers as an input device. Wth the adition of a digitizer stylus it even feels natural to hold the tablet in portrait mode in your hands and start dooding or handwriting notes as if you were holding a piece of paper in onenote or another similar note taking or drawing/doodling app.
With the desktop mode the user experience with touch diminishes fast. The windows in desktop moe are small, unnatural and fidgety to move around, closing/minimizing the windows with x/minus is a frustating affair with the stylus or finger, because the target buttons are so small. this is also the case or shortcuts and functions in the lower right corner of the taskbar.

A good tablet experience is an experience of "more coarse motor skills". The desktop demands from the user input to be more refined, almost pixel perfect. You need extra tools to improve the transition of those movements. Thats why I find a mouse useful in a desktop environment.

This is why I believe, and have experienced that the modern UI a startscreen with live tile apps was and still is the right tablet experience for windows. This is also the case fro the swipe gestures and the charms bar. I have got used to it, and it is a good end user experience for a tabet environmnt. If microsoft wants to make a good desktop and tablet exprience, they probably have the first part correct. But for tablet, they need to continue with what they have in windows 8. I am satisfied with the general layout, and I really only fined myself wanting the charmsbar functionality back in windows 10 and just ask for general impovements of the apps, improved functionality of the live tiles and more integrated stylus functions. I think that says something of how good the basic tablet layout experience is with windows 8. Puts a smile on my face thinking about it.

I'm not sure the current continuity implementation is the correct one. Desktop should be desktop mode and tablet should be tablet mode, and not this current fancy transition of the start menu.

 

[FinsUpDNC]

Microsoft has no mobile strategy for devices over 8 inches. They are releasing a version of Windows 10 for Arm that will run on devices 8 inches and smaller. That will have more phone UI. However, over 8 inches there will be no mobile first strategy. This is a mistake in the long and short run. While I know iPad sales have slowed, they still sell. People just treat them more like PCs than phones..so the upgrade cycle is not two years like analysts expected. There is no reason a version of WOA can't run on the SurfaceRT tablets except for an arbitrary 8 inch rule. RT never had what it needed which was touch office and settings that means you could get rid of all of the desktop. Now that it might be available, they are killing off RT.

So just like those who bought into Windows Phone 7....we now can add RT. Sure you want me to buy glasses that will cost a lot of money? Right....because your track record of supporting new products is great!

 

[PepperdotNet]

"It's not optimized for tablets and touch use"

Well DUH. It is not finished yet. Thus the name "Preview"

A lot, most actually, of the complaints are people thinking that a technical preview is equivalent to an RTM release.

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

II'm tired of hearing "Microsoft is listening" if they truly were listening, they would have dumped Xbox Video and Music and brought us Zune back.

​I'd hate to be around you if your idea of listening means people have to do everything you say.

 

[techiez]

II know.. He literally is the first person I have ever heard say he prefers Xbox Music and Video over Zune. I'll bet my house, that if you did a survey there is way more people that want Zune back than those that want to just stick with Xbox.

But this is how Microsoft works. They claim they are listening. So what happens on their suggestion page? There were ten million votes to bring Zune back....and they blocked anymore votes from going to it.

We will listen to you.....then tell you 'No'.

Yes ppl want zune features, true, but who said Ms isnt listening let them bring out new XBM for W10 and lets see.

 

[anguslhs]

Yep, I know this is still technical preview, but for now, Tablet Mode for Windows 10 still has lots of work to be done.

If they decided to keep the taskbar in Tablet Mode at last, the buttons for controlling the volume, network settings, and calling up the Action Centre in the System Tray should definitely be enlarged. The other icons/buttons should be hidden. The time should be enlarged, and the date should be put alongside the time.

I don't really think that people really need Task View when using a tablet, but they do need to switch between apps quickly. The old Windows 8-style 'left charm' should stay the same, so there is no need for a second tap to switch to the other app, especially when the taskbar is there if you don't want to cycle through the apps one by one.

Icons/Buttons in File Explorer (or some 'traditional' Windows apps) should be enlarged as well, since there is no difference at all for Tablet Mode. Hopefully by the time 'Spartan' is here, the UI will change to a more Metro IE-style UI instead of the Chrome-like UI, which is horrible for tablets.