Where Microsoft can win: Tablets.

[Rising Mos]

The new leaded windows 8 allows for 50/50 Split. I have been waiting for this since the beginning. Hopefully, the new windows blue update will be released in 2013.

 

[robinleck]

Personally, after using my Smart tablet for some time, I find the 16:9 aspect ratio to be visually more natural for Windows 8 Modern UI. If you have been using the built-in apps as frequently like I did eg. Bing Daily, Bing Sports, Bing Travel, People Hub, Bing Finance etc , they are all more visually stunning and touch gesture-wise more intuitive with the landscape 16:9 aspect ratio display. Moreover, the Modern UI makes scrolling between left and right the most frequently used gestures on the tablet that not having the default display in landscape mode seems alittle awkward.
Anyway, that?s just my feel and opinions, to each his/her own

 

[Talldog]

Have fun print documents off iPads, I heard it's real fun

I did by an HP D110 Airtouch printer for it, but it was such a PITA that I hardly ever bothered. When I upgraded from the iPad2 to the 3, I bought the printer and told my brother that I was going to try to go all in with the iPad. That experiment was a complete failure. There's just too much the iPad can't do. It's good for what it was made for, but the Surface (especially the Pro) has much more potential.

 

[AngryNil]

That isn't really something that would be compromised by 4:3...in landscape, there are advantages to having the extra vertical space available for an app to use.

Just as there are advantages to having extra horizontal space, which is what you're proposing we lose by going to 4:3. Windows 8 apps are laid out in landscape, Windows 8 has snapping → 16:9 or 16:10 are far better suited for it. If you're using your 10" Windows tablet in portrait, you're doing it wrong. Even Apple fans have switched to their iPad Minis for portrait reading.

 

[aniym]

Just as there are advantages to having extra horizontal space, which is what you're proposing we lose by going to 4:3. Windows 8 apps are laid out in landscape, Windows 8 has snapping → 16:9 or 16:10 are far better suited for it. If you're using your 10" Windows tablet in portrait, you're doing it wrong. Even Apple fans have switched to their iPad Minis for portrait reading.

I'm not saying that every device should be 4:3, just saying that 50:50 snap will let OEMs build a more diverse array of devices. I don't get what you mean by your last sentence because the iPad Mini is also 4:3.

Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk 2

 

[Goober451]

Without the slightest doubt, I can vouch that a full-fledged Windows 8 in a tablet form factor is the best thing Microsoft has come up with in a long time.

Couldn't agree more with this. Got a Samsung ATIV 700t a few weeks ago and I love this thing. Full-fledged computer in tablet form. A few tradeoffs here and there (battery life and storage space) but nothing that's a deal killer.

 

[wpguy]

Where all Windows tablets fail are in 3 areas - crappy form factor(16:9 instead of 4:3), unintuitive UI that hides all the commands and lack of apps. Fix all of those and you have a true competitor to the iPads.

1. Personally, I think the 16:9 format is perfect: true HD, offers enough space for two apps on screen, and it comes in really handly when using the on-screen keyboard in portrait orientation.

2. I don't see how the UI is unintuitive. No matter what the OS, it takes a few minutes to orient yourself to how it works. After that it's all cake.

3. The store just hit 50K apps and continues to grow rapidly. When I moved to Windows 8 there were less than half that available. Every app I have wanted so far (and I have quite a list) either exists or has a functionally equivalent or better rendition.

OTOH, where some Windows tablets will fail is when the OEM puts in a half-hearted effort, sacrificing quality and expecting to still charge a premium price. Microsoft was smart to set the bar with Surface and Surface Pro. Now everyone knows what is possible, and the OEMs who think they can skate by on producing crap will end up doing little more than complaining about how Microsoft is competing with them. The smart OEMs will step up to the plate and join the party.

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

I have a win 8 tablet with an atom and none of the others: ipad and android can remotely compare. As an engineering student I can do: Office for schoolwork, matlab, visual studio, programming languages like c, c++, etc., use adobe flash, print wirelessly and easily with little setup, same as any other pc, torrent, remote desktop...smoothly, and getting 8-9 hours of battery life. You can definitely do some of those things on android or ipad, but not all of them.

However, there are 2 major things that windows tablets need:


******BIGGEST ONE BY FAR*************
7" tablets!!!!! I don't know why they didn't jump on these with windows RT because its perfect for that. Theres a reason why android stole the marketshare for the 7" form factor and even apple caved in to it...because its popular. If they can make a 7" tablet around 250$ they can sell a ton of them. Already MS says they're working on it, but its taking too long IMO. seriously, a 7" windows RT xbox gaming tablet would give the psvita and DS a huge run for its money.

More apps: obviously this is growing and quickly so its one of those crappy problems that only time will solve, so at the moment I can barely call the surface RT a perfectly even competitor to the ipad seeing as the ipad has better games, more apps, and can do office 365 with an internet connection. That said, native office without an internet connection is a huge plus for the surface RT plus the immaculate build quality, but without the app catalogue, even though it has most of the important apps, still puts it a little behind the ipad IMO.

In the good news, at the moment I sell computers and windows 8 tablets with intel atoms definitely seem to be selling as well or better than the high end android tablets. People still have a hard time grasping the concept that its a FULL PC. Unfortunately thats what apple and android have pretty much done with the tablets is market them as a toy...Windows 8 tablets still need to drop their prices, down to around 399$ and they will sell like crazy, seeing as many 10" android tablets are selling for around 299$-350$

 

[AngryNil]

I don't get what you mean by your last sentence because the iPad Mini is also 4:3.

What do you want 4:3 for? It's crap for Windows 8, which is landscape-oriented and allows for apps to be displayed side-by-side. The iPad Mini is a smaller form factor that is far better suited for reading, the same reason why the Kindle Paperwhite isn't 10 inches. Personally, I'd go phone → kindle paperwhite → tablet+dock → desktop. I don't see the tablet being a viable multitasking machine at 4:3, and it's not a great reading device at 16:9. There's a compromise either way, but Microsoft is erring on the side of what it sees Windows 8 tablets and convertibles to be. If you just want to read and generally consume content, buy an e-reader or iPad.

 

[OzRob]

I'm another contented ASUS VivoTab Smart user. I owned an iPad for years (the company I used to work for gave them out so we could 'be more productive' on the road). I changed jobs at the end of last year and had to give the iPad back. I thought about buying one, but I'd never really done much with it apart from checking emails and the odd web browsing, so didn't figure it was worth it. I decided to try out a Win 8 tablet instead and bought the ASUS. Boy, am I glad I did! Having full Windows capability in a tablet form factor just makes it so useful in so many ways. I find I'm using it more than I ever used the iPad. I think Microsoft is on a winner in the tablet market if it can get more people to experience it, and if it's smart with its marketing and development.

 

[Coreldan]

What do you want 4:3 for? It's crap for Windows 8, which is landscape-oriented and allows for apps to be displayed side-by-side. The iPad Mini is a smaller form factor that is far better suited for reading, the same reason why the Kindle Paperwhite isn't 10 inches. Personally, I'd go phone → kindle paperwhite → tablet+dock → desktop. I don't see the tablet being a viable multitasking machine at 4:3, and it's not a great reading device at 16:9. There's a compromise either way, but Microsoft is erring on the side of what it sees Windows 8 tablets and convertibles to be. If you just want to read and generally consume content, buy an e-reader or iPad.

Surface isn't bad by any means for reading either. I study in university and sometimes I can't get the book I need for extended time so I could read it fully, so I just use 920 to copy the entire book, transfer the pics to my Surface and read it like an e-book. Sure, it's not perfect either cos it's a tad narrow and long in portrait mode, but to claim it would be hard, inconvenient or something else to read on it would be overexaggeration.

 

[nube_android]

I am extremely excited to see a good 'ol fashioned Apple- Microsoft show down, once they destroy Android tablets.

 

[KingCrimson]

I am extremely excited to see a good 'ol fashioned Apple- Microsoft show down, once they destroy Android tablets.

Think again. Android tablets are better then ever with the Nexus 10 and the Sony Experia Z tablet.

 

[AngryNil]

Android tablets are better then ever with the Nexus 10 and the Sony Experia Z tablet.

The Nexus 10 is a typical Samsung plastic slab. But anyhow, Android's tablet problems aren't born from a lack of good hardware, they are born from the fact that the market isn't wholly subsidised and sold through carriers. The reason why Android phones succeeded is the reason why Android tablets can't currently succeed.

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

when you said sony xperia Z I almost died laughing. I can't stand sony products anymore...sure I bet the hardware is beautiful as its specs look good and sony is really great at most hardware....and then they ruin it with their software. I remember the first and second sony 10" android tablets that I think were the older z series or at least they were the ones with the folded edge at the top, a feature which made it very comfortable to use and made the product look different, then they ruined it with their software which is what sony is great at..awful software. If I were to buy an android tablet I would get a nexus one only seeing as I have yet to see an OEM make any skin work better than stock android.

I agree that google is rapidly trying to improve android, but compared to what the windows 8 tablets can do running native x86 code, they can just do so much more, including running blue stacks which means they can also run android apps. I could even develop for android on a windows 8 tablet. Can you actually develop for android on an android tablet? (I actually don't know the answer to this question, if you can enlighten me that would be great if there are any sdks for android on android)

 

[nube_android]

when you said sony xperia Z I almost died laughing. I can't stand sony products anymore...sure I bet the hardware is beautiful as its specs look good and sony is really great at most hardware....and then they ruin it with their software. I remember the first and second sony 10" android tablets that I think were the older z series or at least they were the ones with the folded edge at the top, a feature which made it very comfortable to use and made the product look different, then they ruined it with their software which is what sony is great at..awful software. If I were to buy an android tablet I would get a nexus one only seeing as I have yet to see an OEM make any skin work better than stock android.

I agree that google is rapidly trying to improve android, but compared to what the windows 8 tablets can do running native x86 code, they can just do so much more, including running blue stacks which means they can also run android apps. I could even develop for android on a windows 8 tablet. Can you actually develop for android on an android tablet? (I actually don't know the answer to this question, if you can enlighten me that would be great if there are any sdks for android on android)

So true. Full functionality. The biggest issue with getting win8 tabs and RT small tabs to take off will be getting OEMs on board making great products and educating consumers on the benefits over a crapdroid-( all android tablets currently suck, but they can improve) tablet or an iPad tablet.

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

Well the good news is that I rarely sell 10" android tablets anymore since the windows 8 atom tablets have been reduced in price and now they can do so much more. Were currently selling the Acer iconia tab w510 32gb model for 399$ which is great, so now they are around the 10" android tablet price, yet can run office and native x86 code on it.

 

[BIGPADDY]

Waiting for Nokia to release a tablet :excited: :excited: :excited:

 

[morridoom]

While Microsoft's OS definitely has the potential to be at the top, they still need to catch up on the amount of practical apps and further synergy for products within its ecosystem. All the while, avoid the fragmentation dilemma Android is currently still facing.