Forbes Win8 Tablet not a game changer

Windows 8 is trying to sustain a dying market

Reviews of Win8 have been mixed. And that should not be surprising. Microsoft made the mistake of trying to make Win8 something nobody really wants.

On the one hand it has a new interface called Metro that is supposed to be more iOS/Android “like” by using tiles, touch screen, etc. But it’s not a breakthrough, just an effort to be more like the existing competition. Maybe a little better, but everyone believes the leaders will be better still with new updates soon.

By definition, that is not game changing.


Simultaneously, with Win8 users can find their way into a more historical Windows interface. But the path is not obvious, or intuitive. And it has some pretty “clunky” features for those who like Windows. So it’s not a “great” Windows solution that would attract developers today focused on other platforms.


Win8 tries to be the old, and the new, without being great at either, and without offering anything that solves new problems, or creates breakthroughs in simplicity or performance.


If you’ve long waited for a Windows tablet the good news is – One Is Here! But are you the majority, or the minority?



If you haven’t sold Microsoft yet, this may well be your last chance above $30. Ever.

Microsoft Win8 Tablet is NOT a Game Changer - Forbes
 
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The article's author seems somewhat misinformed....kind of sounded like a Debbie Downer...
 

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Misinformed? Typically you don't have anything to back that up.

He has been head of business development for Pepsico and Dupont.

It is a fair assessment.

That is not a bad thing necessarily.

At least as existing windows users go to buy a tablet - they will have windows tablets available.

They won't all buy an ipad.
 

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No, It wouldn't be considered game changing whoever made it - because it isn't .

It is the best MS can do at this late stage.

They will at least get some sort of toehold in the tablet market - they haven't had that before.

It is a start - maybe they will be able to build on it.
 

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Misinformed? Typically you don't have anything to back that up.

He has been head of business development for Pepsico and Dupont.

It is a fair assessment.

That is not a bad thing necessarily.

At least as existing windows users go to buy a tablet - they will have windows tablets available.

They won't all buy an ipad.

Both companies aren't in software. I don't know, any enthusiast user of Windows would figure the article seemed off, at least terminology wise notably.

But then again, the tablet ITSELF isn't a game changer, the software is, in my professional assessment.
 

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The software has certainly had mixed reviews - much less liked than windows 7 for example.

On the other hand - the tablet - the device itself - looks extremely attractive.

If they get the marketing right , they could sell a fair number of them - win8 just happens to be on them.
 

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Win8 got nothing but positive reviews for tablets which is what the majority will be using in the next few years.
Surface pretty much blows away the ipad in almost every aspect.
 

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The software has certainly had mixed reviews - much less liked than windows 7 for example.

On the other hand - the tablet - the device itself - looks extremely attractive.

If they get the marketing right , they could sell a fair number of them - win8 just happens to be on them.

Windows 8 doesn't just happen to be on them, this was a well thought out plan. I have said many times about tech bloggers and the crap they write about MS, I know, I get around the net a lot.
If this tablet could grow wings and fly you to the moon, they'd say it's got no seatbelts or it's the wrong color or it hasn't got a soda fountain.
On the other hand, Apple comes out with a patent for a wedge shape MacBook and the whole Internet lights up. They come out with a propriety Cable and it's worldwide headlines. It's just the way it is, most tech bloggers hate Microsoft regardless of what they say. They can't say anything good as well as making some snarky remark.
There will be stories like this all over the Internet, they'll try to make it sound good but they just can't hide their bias. Microsoft just has to battle on through the barrage of snide remarks.
 

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This is what I mean about snide remarks, the Internet will be alive with these in the next couple of days.

"The company says Surface will be competitive with comparable ARM tablets for the RT device and the Windows 8 Pro version will hold its own against ultrabooks with similar specs. OK, so that's maybe $500 for the lower-end tablet that comes with an RT version of Office Home and Student 2013. Sounds like a nice deal, until you realize that this extra is likely to ease the pain of the fact that your existing Windows applications aren't likely to run on the ARM tablet. That brings us to another of those questions -- who is this thing really for?
[h=3]Related stories[/h]

Staying with the RT tablet, it seems it's for anyone who's been waiting very patiently to pay iPad prices for the Windows environment on a tablet, even if that Windows environment is about as familiar to most users as the roster of names on Greenland's soccer team. But you do get a pretty cool keyboard as part of the deal -- maybe. It wasn't completely clear if the keyboard cover would be an added accessory or included in the price of the tablet.Knowing what little we do right now, it seems that low-end tablet might be a hard sell to anyone but the Windows faithful, and we all know how that approach worked out for RIM and its PlayBook."
 

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If you want to forget about the smartass comments and see how people really feel about these new tablets, the results below are just after a couple of hours.

[h=4]What's your early take on Microsoft's new tablets?[/h]

  • [*=left]
    A Windows tablet with a cover that functions as a keyboard? I'm already sold!

    42%
    [*=left]
    Intriguing, but need pricing and availability info (and reviews).

    36%
    [*=left]
    I'm happy with my current tablet.

    19%
    [*=left]
    Other (expand in comments).

    3%
    [*=left]
    Total votes:
    5379
    Ask your friends:FacebookTwitter
    [*=left]

 

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As far as the general public is concerned - they buy the device - they do not normally specifically go and buy an o/s.

A very significant proportion of those who have tried Win8 it do not like it.

That is not because it is a MS product.

Windows7 is also an MS product - pre release versions of that were extremely widely acclaimed - it was and is very popular.

If MS can market a very attractive device to the general public - the device will sell - windows 8 will be on it.
 

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That Adam Hartung guy is an idiot "no offense". Another one of those "PC will be dead in 3 years" guys.

Absolute rubbish, the PC was just reinvented and applied to a mobile market, that is what just happened here.
 

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I am not so sure.

The pc is a highly capable device for creating, controlling and managing your own content, and it will be around for a while.

However, there is a danger he pointed out .

The majority of users don't have any need for that.

They just want something small and easy to consume content.

As more and more users move to that - the pc and related parts and software will become less economic to manufacture.

Those who do want control over what they are doing will be a small minority. It will be a niche market - costs are bound to go up - and there will be less incentive to keep developing hardware and software for it.
 

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It is a lost cause, the consumer is the loser in the end for buying all this stuff. People need to unplug and go hiking, boating, biking, golfing and swimming. The public is becoming obese, sickly, stressed and depressed, a revolution must begin soon or we are a doomed society. If I see one more fat kid asking his mom for another xbox game I just might go insane....
 

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It is a lost cause, the consumer is the loser in the end for buying all this stuff. People need to unplug and go hiking, boating, biking, golfing and swimming. The public is becoming obese, sickly, stressed and depressed, a revolution must begin soon or we are a doomed society. If I see one more fat kid asking his mom for another xbox game I just might go insane....

This is true.
 

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