Ok, having watched the video properly, first thing that strikes me is that it's a pretty silly comparison. It's a product available now with last year's software on against a product available sometime next year with pre-release software on. You can't really draw any conclusions on features from that because things could change a lot on both OSs in the meantime.
Secondly, making comparisons on performance isn't much use either. The W8 tablet is running a developer build with basically not much on it. We don't know if it'll run slower with "proper" apps installed, or maybe even faster when the code is better optimised. Also, we have no idea what's running on the iPad, how much memory is being used, what apps are backgrounded etc. It's not even remotely starting from a level playing field - for either of them.
What it does show is that there isn't actually that much between them as things stand now - the W8 slate has a few more unlock options, it seems a little more awkward to rearrange things on the W8 slate - though of course live tiles give more info than iOSs notification markers. Browsers - not much in it as it stands, but again pretty meaningless comparing last year's Safari against an unreleased bleeding edge built of IE. Handwriting on the W8 slate is nice - a genuine plus point there.
Things that they don't compare. First, and most obvious, size. That W8 slate is a big beast. The sweet spot in the market so far seems to be around 10 inches, so it's going to be interesting what consumer's take on a bigger device is. And of course bigger means heavier (especially as it's got more hardware such as fans in), and a bigger screen sucking down more battery (and again, fans etc will use more juice) so it would have been interesting to see them matched up there (though again, to be fair to the W8 slate the software isn't finished so I would expect battery life to improve).
I think the W8 slate is a nice bit of kit, for sure. But I'm wondering how many of the "full OS" tablets will make up the potential W8 tablet market - after all, full Windows 7 tablets are available right now, and make up a fraction of a fraction of tablet PC sales, so just how important is it to have a full desktop OS on an ultraportable device? Nice, sure, but essential?
I think the REAL comparison will be an iPad 3 running iOS 5 against an ARM W8 slate running release software against an Android tablet running Ice-Cream Sandwich (or whatever they've released by then). Then we'll really see like for like - or as close as. Regardless, I think it's pretty safe to say there's never been a better time to be a gadget lover!
Secondly, making comparisons on performance isn't much use either. The W8 tablet is running a developer build with basically not much on it. We don't know if it'll run slower with "proper" apps installed, or maybe even faster when the code is better optimised. Also, we have no idea what's running on the iPad, how much memory is being used, what apps are backgrounded etc. It's not even remotely starting from a level playing field - for either of them.
What it does show is that there isn't actually that much between them as things stand now - the W8 slate has a few more unlock options, it seems a little more awkward to rearrange things on the W8 slate - though of course live tiles give more info than iOSs notification markers. Browsers - not much in it as it stands, but again pretty meaningless comparing last year's Safari against an unreleased bleeding edge built of IE. Handwriting on the W8 slate is nice - a genuine plus point there.
Things that they don't compare. First, and most obvious, size. That W8 slate is a big beast. The sweet spot in the market so far seems to be around 10 inches, so it's going to be interesting what consumer's take on a bigger device is. And of course bigger means heavier (especially as it's got more hardware such as fans in), and a bigger screen sucking down more battery (and again, fans etc will use more juice) so it would have been interesting to see them matched up there (though again, to be fair to the W8 slate the software isn't finished so I would expect battery life to improve).
I think the W8 slate is a nice bit of kit, for sure. But I'm wondering how many of the "full OS" tablets will make up the potential W8 tablet market - after all, full Windows 7 tablets are available right now, and make up a fraction of a fraction of tablet PC sales, so just how important is it to have a full desktop OS on an ultraportable device? Nice, sure, but essential?
I think the REAL comparison will be an iPad 3 running iOS 5 against an ARM W8 slate running release software against an Android tablet running Ice-Cream Sandwich (or whatever they've released by then). Then we'll really see like for like - or as close as. Regardless, I think it's pretty safe to say there's never been a better time to be a gadget lover!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram