Well, this can't be a good sign. Samsung has told CNET that the company will not be launching its Windows RT tablet in the United States, citing a lack of demand and consumer confusion. After I spent an afternoon in my country's largest electronics retailer, it's hard not to agree with Samsung.
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Member since:2005-11-14
Devices like the Asus Transformer are pretty much the ideal portable computing device, in my opinion: a good, full-size keyboard for typing (touchscreen keyboards suck -- yes, all of them), detachable for when you want to walk around or lie down on the couch. Sadly, Android is a very poor OS for laptops, as it never was intended for that. Surely some kind of compromise should be possible when the hardware is there.
Windows RT seems like a better idea, but the problem is of course that it's a crippled Windows 8. Why should people buy something that's worse than the standard Windows? The answer is, of course, that Microsoft has noticed that Apple rakes in cash from selling a crippled and locked-down consumer OS, and merely emulate that instead of giving the consumers a real advantage. There's no reason to buy Windows RT (until the software is there), but Microsoft wants to sell it.
Member since:2006-02-15
Not only that, but e.g. Dell's newly-unveiled ( http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/01/dell-unveils-... ) Windows 8 - tablet isn't really much different from the Microsoft's Surface RT, it weighs in at $499, yet still ships with the full Windows 8 instead of Windows RT -- if the price-point and the hardware-features are similar there is absolutely NO point in buying the latter at all. And I don't doubt for a second that there'll be lots and lots more of these Intel-based tablets coming out soon.
I do understand Microsoft's wish to lock people in and to create separate markets, but their execution of the plan with the Windows RT in mind just ain't working out. Without price, speed, features or app ecosystem advantage it just doesn't fly.
Member since:2005-07-08
When I bought my dual core Brazos EeePC Linux netbook, I also experimented with the idea of getting the Transformer model with keyboard.
The battery duration was almost the same, both were multicore and have proper GPU available, not the Intel joke.
In the end I went with the EeePC, because I was getting the freedom of a full operating system at half of the price of the Transfomer.
Member since:2005-07-11
The purpose of RT should be to kill the desktop for the majority, most users dont need the desktop with its full exposure to an internet full of malware and viruses, and bundleware (where apps daisey chain install other unrelated apps).
Thus RT should be cheap enough to gather up the general body of people. RT should even run on x86.
Unpopular with techies yes, but it is what is needed.
Member since:2009-05-19
Member since:2008-09-21
> internet full of malware and viruses, and bundleware
Hach, Windows, yes. The security decisions still hit there customers bad but at least they succeeded to get into customers mind that a state like this is the norm.
> but it is what is needed.
For Microsoft to not lose new markets and be stuck in old shrinking ones. But that's what happened cause Surface and WP failed.
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Member since:
2006-09-16
Count me as one of those confused consumers. As a technology fan, porting Windows 8 to ARM is interesting, but Microsoft has failed to show me why I should buy one. Why would I buy an RT tablet rather than a W8 tablet? The difference in battery life isn't huge, and Intel is catching up.
Apple sells phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. The phones and tablets run the same OS, the laptops and desktops run a different OS. Other hardware makers use Android on phones and tablets, and Windows 7 or 8 on laptops and desktops. Should Microsoft be pushing Windows Phone for tablets? Are tablets and laptops fundamentally different types of devices, deserving operating systems and user interfaces optimized for the differences?
Microsoft can make a case as to why you should buy an RT tablet instead of an iPad. They can make a case for RT over Android. What they haven't done is explain why you should buy RT over Windows 8, or vice versa. Why do they have two products that overlap so much?