Consumers want a windows based tablet

[meStevo]

It's not just about UI. Running a desktop operating system (be it Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux) and desktop applications requires a much more powerful CPU, better RAM and a bigger battery. That's the main problem here. It is hard to fit a desktop replacement in an iPad form factor. Even Apple couldn't do it and instead of making a miniature Mac made an oversized iPod/iPhone.

That's why traces of a unified UI is important. Apple is doing it too, with how they are app-ing up the MacOS. The tablet version and apps need to embrace that UI and control scheme, and the desktop needs to embrace the versatility of controls without completely losing what the platforms share have in common... with each sharing common elements to influence purchasers to remain in each ecosystem.

Ideally they'd all just work with each other in some form to allow for maximum consumer choice, but we know that will only go so far.

I don't see anyone looking for a desktop replacement as it pertains to the OP though. Tablets are still complimentary devices.

 

[mperdue]

Apple is doing it too, with how they are app-ing up the MacOS.

Those damn thieves at Apple - once again they steal from Microsoft and beat them to the market with it...

 

[John Kotches]

Those damn thieves at Apple - once again they steal from Microsoft and beat them to the market with it...

Which goes to show there is a huge gulf between concept and delivery.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

 

[John Kotches]

Ilya,

A couple of things...

1. mobile CPU development is where all the growth is.

2. most users aren't power users and do not need a traditional computer.

3. increasing use of network based storage and the growth of cloud storage will eliminate the need for traditional computers.

Don't get me wrong there will always be power users that need more horsepower but portable devices in the next few years will suffice for the lions share of computing need.

Just my opinion, could be wrong.



Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

 

[Ilya]

And I am not disagreeing with anyone here.
My only point is that when the survey asked about Windows on a tablet, most responders probably assumed three things:

1. a UI similar to what they would have on a Windows laptop/desktop computer (e.g. Windows 8)
2. program compatibility: being able to run Windows programs on the tablet
3. an iPad-like form factor

With those assumptions in mind many voted for Windows tablet.
But I am questioning if those assumptions are even possible at present (i.e. program compatibility in such a small form factor).
Perhaps in a couple of years...

 

[Neutron]

The Atom CPU isn't powerful enough for Windows. I've tried it on my EEEpc.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Running "Windows" programs on a tablet runs into the exact same problem it has for the last decade. User interface and usability. Kludgy or not, I'd take native Android apps on a tablet over Windows programs on a slate. Been there, done that.

 

[Foxbat]

I have dabbled with Windows Tablets over the years. It's not too hard to say what discouraged users from the early tablets: they were thick, they generated a lot of heat, they had limited battery life, they had horrible resistive touch-screens that could manage only one point of contact, and they were slow to respond.

But in my mind, the biggest drawback was the Windows paradigm of papers on a desktop. Until Microsoft came out with Surface, it really didn't apply to a touch device where the whole screen is your page. With Windows XP Tablet Edition, all Microsoft did was port Windows XP to a laptop computer with no mouse and a keyboard that could be called up on-screen. Trying to move Windows around with your finger was a pain (literally, it was a pain because you had to push really hard with your finger for the screen to register!)

I'm sure Apple had touchpad Macs in their labs, but until all the pieces were available like affordable multi-touch capacitive screens, LED backlit LCD screens that were easy on power-consumption, and an OS that could be ported to a new class of CPUs that were powerful and thrifty with the power usage so it could all be bundled together with a battery and no exhaust ports did Apple finally revolutionize the personal computing device landscape.

Windows 8 has the ability to take the existing SotA in tablet computing devices and be successful. Metro is a touch OS that people can use and enjoy. Download the demo from Microsoft and play around with it.

I am taken by the parallel of seventeen years ago when Apple had brought out the Mac and Microsoft was working on the first versions of Windows, influenced by what Cupertino had introduced to the world. Apple got rid of Steve Jobs and squandered the Macintosh, allowing Microsoft to catch and pass the Apple OS.

Today, Apple is once again in the lead with the iPad and once again finds itself without Steve Jobs. Microsoft is once again working on their answer to the paradigm shift in the market. Will history repeat itself?

I believe that Steve Jobs put the people in place to keep Apple moving forward, unlike before when his focus was too much on the Macintosh and not on Apple on the whole. But you know Microsoft isn't going to cede the tablet space to Apple or Google.

 

[Frank Jr.]

I think it must be the logo. I told my wife, I am going to get a decal of a Florida Orange Logo and paste it on my Dell laptop.

I'll keep the ipad with the Apple Logo.

You want the decal that came with my iPad1? Remember my post last Christmas asking what to do with it? There is a joke there somewhere, but I won't touch it with a ten foot pole. lol

Just to keep the thread on track.
No I don't want a Windows based tablet. I have an acquired liking of the iPad.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I have dabbled with Windows Tablets over the years. It's not too hard to say what discouraged users from the early tablets: they were thick, they generated a lot of heat, they had limited battery life, they had horrible resistive touch-screens that could manage only one point of contact, and they were slow to respond.

But in my mind, the biggest drawback was the Windows paradigm of papers on a desktop. Until Microsoft came out with Surface, it really didn't apply to a touch device where the whole screen is your page. With Windows XP Tablet Edition, all Microsoft did was port Windows XP to a laptop computer with no mouse and a keyboard that could be called up on-screen. Trying to move Windows around with your finger was a pain (literally, it was a pain because you had to push really hard with your finger for the screen to register!)

I'm sure Apple had touchpad Macs in their labs, but until all the pieces were available like affordable multi-touch capacitive screens, LED backlit LCD screens that were easy on power-consumption, and an OS that could be ported to a new class of CPUs that were powerful and thrifty with the power usage so it could all be bundled together with a battery and no exhaust ports did Apple finally revolutionize the personal computing device landscape.

Windows 8 has the ability to take the existing SotA in tablet computing devices and be successful. Metro is a touch OS that people can use and enjoy. Download the demo from Microsoft and play around with it.

I am taken by the parallel of seventeen years ago when Apple had brought out the Mac and Microsoft was working on the first versions of Windows, influenced by what Cupertino had introduced to the world. Apple got rid of Steve Jobs and squandered the Macintosh, allowing Microsoft to catch and pass the Apple OS.

Today, Apple is once again in the lead with the iPad and once again finds itself without Steve Jobs. Microsoft is once again working on their answer to the paradigm shift in the market. Will history repeat itself?

I believe that Steve Jobs put the people in place to keep Apple moving forward, unlike before when his focus was too much on the Macintosh and not on Apple on the whole. But you know Microsoft isn't going to cede the tablet space to Apple or Google.

Of course THIS TIME, Apple can't bring Steve Jobs back, no matter how much they would like to. But of course, he left with a plan, and had years to put his vision of the future in place for after he was gone.

I agree, Microsoft won't cede the Tablet space, BUT they are awful late to the game. And its possible they are two late.