The death of RT or b.s?

[Nickkk101]

Having just purchased a surface2 this week im happy to report i am a supporter of what MS is trying to do and im really enjoying the tablet experience. Like others, i believe they have got it right this time-providing a platform and hardware that works and of course still has a ton of headroom for progress.. which leads me to the seemingly increasing speculation of RT's death.

Most would correctly argue that RT has been a press disaster for MS, but some of the reporting particularly in a Guardian Newspaper article here in the UK from yesterday, is curious. Between quotes from Julie Larson Green the reporter claims that her assertion that "we wont have 3 os's" is a sign of RT's demise. It was my understanding that RT was being merged with WP going forward, yet the article failed to mention-or even speculate- that this might be the case. Where do people stand on this? Crappy journalism with someone putting 2+2 and getting 5?

 

[N_LaRUE]

A link to the article would have been nice. Though reading anything from the tech reporters at the Guardian is a waste of time.

As for the demise and merging of RT/WP it's hard to speculate what will be the end result. I'm not entirely sure if it just means RT will run WP apps, which I think is the first step and I believe the idea is to have all apps cross platform, meaning W8, RT and WP so development is becomes easier.

A large portion of the issues surrounding RT has to do with MS. They have been real poor in marketing the thing correctly, especially in the UK. Having bad review by reviewers who keep comparing the thing to the iPad and calling it 'confusing' is the other. They just can't seem to get people to understand that it's different but good.

 

[crash1989]

replying to your title - B.S. , I hope if what we hear is true they merge the OSes .. Microsoft will never give up going by the past. I admire that about MS, they are relentless

 

[Pete]

Link

Microsoft ready to kill Windows RT | Technology | theguardian.com

It remains to be seen what the consolidation of Windows 8 system brings us.

Microsoft DO give up on the past on a fairly regular basis WM6, Hotmail, Silverlight has been largely sidelined in favour of HTML5 and Flash. Come to think of it, even Surface itself (it was an old software platform that got retired and MS reused the name for the tablet).

 

[azcruz]

The name will die, or died (aka Surface 2) but the merged platform will live on. Just my opinion.

 

[Nickkk101]

Apologies to N_LaRue for not including the article source.... Thank you to o Aperture for the link. The press has been limited I agree, when it comes to the advertising of the Surface in the UK. Despite the Guardian's poor for generally for tech reporting, I was particularly disappointed at the blatant speculation of JLG's deliberately vague statement. He might as well have picked WP as the OS to bin, it would have made about as much sense. Bringing on board the WP app catalogue would surely be huge for the future of MS's consumption device folio right?

 

[etad putta]

All of a sudden those black friday sales don't look to good.

 

[Bicpug]

MS will combine WP and RT, but that won't affect existing hardware and could take a few years.

 

[Elitis]

Microsoft will build up Windows Phone to handle what RT currently does. Devices with cellular capabilities will still be called Windows Phone, however, it won't run the Windows Phone OS. It will just run Windows - maybe even run Windows RT. In other words, the Windows Phone name, in terms of the OS, will likely die.
It is unlikely they will do this from scratch. There is a much higher chance of them adapting existing RT code, and optimizing it.

This is most likely the merger we've heard so much about. Eventually, when there are enough apps, Microsoft will get rid of the desktop.

Either RT as a name will die or Windows Phone as a separate OS will die. Neither will truly die out. Either way they will both still exist in some form.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

All of a sudden those black friday sales don't look to good.

And THAT was the reason for publishing the article in the first place. The timing of this speculation was to put a damper on those Black Friday deals... but it didn't work. Over 18,000 RTs were sold on ebay, MicroCenters sold out of their $179 RT bundles. From all the reports I've been reading and feedback from people on the ground, every RT in every store that had a doorbuster price was sold.

There's a LOT of buzz and excitement about the RT. And it's going to grow within the next 2 weeks (or so). As people start playing around with the RT they bought on Black Friday, or tell their friends about it, demand is going to increase. True, people will be looking to buy one for $199. But the interest is there and some of them will end up buying a Surface 2.

I have no inside information, but I DO know the market and what Microsoft's strategy has been in the past (which they appear to be reproducing with the Surface). Support for the Surface RT/2 will (in my opinion) continue for at least another iteration or two. You can take this with a grain of salt from someone who predicted BF doorbuster deals on the RT. :winktongue:

 

[podsnap]

It's never as simple or dramatic as the press like to make out.

Remember, headline writing it to draw you in, not necessarily say what's actually happening (this is ever more true with an increasing number of publications vying for your attention).

I think, as others, that all it amounts to is that Windows RT and Windows Phone will be merged into one OS (whether it will mainly be Windows Phone with RT features or mainly RT with Phone features or something in between, who knows).

I really like the way both OSes have developed and it would be great to see them become one seamless OS.

As for the Guardian not mentioning this, it is hardly surprising, that would require more work and more time. These days, both online and offline publications are more interested in bashing out article after article with eye catching headlines rather than do any real in-depth journalism. Sad but true.

 

[Ed Boland]

I kinda like the sound of Windows Phone RT!

 

[M Coffey]

Microsoft kinda shot themselves in the foot with Windows RT.

I have a Windows RT device and LOVE it but I also like putting mustard on corn which most people probably don't like so my opinion isn't too much of a big deal.

They should have learned the lessons from Android. (sigh). I don't understand why they didn't.

Android came out in an ARM format in a Phone. Then came ARM tablets and they put the SAME version of Android on the tablets.
People had access to nearly the same apps whether on a phone or tablet because the apps ran on the same architecture either way.

Android also has a much bigger store and Microsoft should be working to increase the store offerings because that is one of their weak points with RT.
If there was ONE unified OS, Windows 8 ARM (let's say) they could just have the same apps for both. Why do double the work or separate them?
It just makes it confusing. KISS. (Keep it simple stupid)

 

[E Lizzle]

My guess is that it was quicker to patch up Windows 8 to run on ARM than to make Windows Phone support a tablet. The next logical thing is for RT to run on the phone hardware, skinned as WP so no one knows the difference. Then consolidate the look and feel as much as practical. That's really one of the things I like about the current Windows ecosystem versus Android - I'm not convinced that the same UI applies to a 4" screen as to a 11" screen. It's done to save coding, not because it's better for usability.

 

[DaT Franchise]

Watch out thread resurrection lol. I personally see unification of WP and RT as bad for this reason, take the note 3 or really any high end Android phone now buy an Android tab well it is 100% the same thing minus the dialer. Note 3 note 10.1 you pretty much wasted money and have the same thing but a bigger screen, same thing with all that crapple junk. This is the only thing that is keeping me from getting a surface 2 or 2520 the 2520 more so because my 1520 is pretty much the same thing minus desktop mode witch is about useless on a RT device.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Watch out thread resurrection lol. I personally see unification of WP and RT as bad for this reason, take the note 3 or really any high end Android phone now buy an Android tab well it is 100% the same thing minus the dialer. Note 3 note 10.1 you pretty much wasted money and have the same thing but a bigger screen, same thing with all that crapple junk. This is the only thing that is keeping me from getting a surface 2 or 2520 the 2520 more so because my 1520 is pretty much the same thing minus desktop mode witch is about useless on a RT device.

I hear this claim pretty regularly but I don't understand the rationale behind it.

When using the Surface RT strictly as a tablet (ie. no keyboard or mouse), I agree that desktop mode is virtually impossible to use with touch. However, adding a keyboard (TypeCover, bluetooth, usb, etc.) and mouse (or touchpad), suddenly desktop mode is highly functional. I'd go as far as saying that it is more useful on the Surface RT than on the old 10" netbooks of years past (because of the higher pixel density).

A near-full Internet Explorer and near-full MS Office... those alone make desktop mode must-have. Add to that "extended desktop support" makes the RT a decent tablet and excellent netbook. If there was no desktop mode on the RT, I'd have no reason to use it, own it, or recommend it.

Having said that, I agree that merging WP and RT will not end well for Surface tablets.

 

[DaT Franchise]

Well I can understand that and see your point but my point is other than the browser in the desktop what else is there? The 1520 runs office, note and whatnot.

Not trying to start a argument just trying to understand its function and why its not the note3/note10.1 same thing just bigger screen.

I only say that because iPhone/iPad same thing bigger screen, nexus 7/ nexus 5 same thing. Take away the desktop and surface, 2520/1520 same thing bigger screen more so with the 2520 as the 1520 is the same CPU, gpu ram and storage

 

[a5cent]

The main misunderstanding stems from the fact that reports don't differentiate between the engineer's point of view and the consumer's.

From an engineer's point of view, RT is currently treading water and will go away at some point.

However, before that happens, much of what is uniquely RT will first be merged into WP. WP8.1 has already taken a big step in that direction, as it includes RT's UI stack and dropped Silverlight. Such developments will continue, until from a consumer's point of view, RT can be dropped without losing anything, as WP will run on tablets and phones and include the software and features we associate with RT. MS might even call this RT, but it will be a descendant of WP.

In other words, yes, RT is dead, but for consumers that is a lot less relevant than it sounds....

 

[TheJoester09]

Well I can understand that and see your point but my point is other than the browser in the desktop what else is there? The 1520 runs office, note and whatnot.

Not trying to start a argument just trying to understand its function and why its not the note3/note10.1 same thing just bigger screen.

I only say that because iPhone/iPad same thing bigger screen, nexus 7/ nexus 5 same thing. Take away the desktop and surface, 2520/1520 same thing bigger screen more so with the 2520 as the 1520 is the same CPU, gpu ram and storage

Your 1520 runs Office Mobile. I don't know about you, but I personally wouldn't want to do any real work on my phone. Basic spreadsheets and note taking is fine, but if I have a full paper that I need to write, I need a fully-featured word processor, and more importantly, a real keyboard. RT fits that bill. To each their own though, I suppose.

 

[DaT Franchise]

Like I said not trying to start anything because I'm on the fence surface 2/2520 or og surface pro.