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Microsoft offers peek at new Windows, tablet

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© 2012 AFP

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zichiOct. 25, 2012 - 04:40PM JST

This is Microsoft's third attempt at a tablet when Apple got theirs right from day one.

I can understand your fanaticism, but ignoring the Newton disaster is just beyond stupid. Then you had dozens of prototypes before the iPad, so hardly "day one". In fact, apple had many things missing, from cut and paste to simply being able to access your files normally.

Surface has none of these issues, and in fact nobody says it's worse than even the iPad 2. They simply can't get over the fact it's not a laptop, and have pixel peeping paranoia as well (we'll be seeing dozens of side by side 1600x magnification shots soon enough).

The only way to have wifi on the Surface or an wifi iPad outside is with a pocket wifi.

No, that is only the iPad's downfall. THE MICROSOFT SURFACE SUPPORTS MOBILE BROADBAND DONGLES. You can't argue, it's a listed and tested fact. PI is not 3 no matter how much it simplifies calculations.

That said, it’s important to realize that both Windows RT and Windows 8 support native class drivers for USB-based mobile broadband antennas. http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/microsoft-surface-rt-pro-specifications-comparison-144545

Windows RT is a standard NT6 based kernel and as such supports generic divers for millions of different devices, and practically all external disks, wireless, and cellular devices work just fine with generic drivers.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

zichiOct. 25, 2012 - 11:53AM JST

Does not apply in Japan where we both live. Will need a pocket wifi.

Your "favorite" company Softback has plenty of dongles as does DoCoMo. Those CANNOT be used with competitors no matter how you try to spin it.

And in fact, you just shot yourself in the foot saying that competitors also require it. Fact of the matter is that it's cheaper to get something from your cell provider and never have to worry that your device is incompatible (i.e. your iCrap can support either one company or another, and can't switch between them as is the case with Verizon and Att versions). Microsoft was right in avoiding the cellular mess, it lets people get the speed they want when they want it, and never deal with incompatibility.

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zichiOct. 25, 2012 - 02:34AM JST

Wifi only? Limited outdoor use and those on the road.

Most wireless companies have USB based cellular dongles (and mobile hotspots) for FREE (at least in USA where this product launches first). Nothing stops you from using one, and in fact most of the competitors DON'T EVEN HAVE WIRELESS. Of the few that do, they are all far more expensive for 3/4G versions than the Surface.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

The King is dead, long live the king.

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zichiOct. 24, 2012 - 10:29PM JST

Windows RT will only run apps from the Windows App Store and those preinstalled. Can't be used for business use without additional license.

Odd, I talked about that, not TiO2...

However, organizations who purchase commercial use rights or have a commercial license to Office 2013 suites can use Office Home & Student 2013 RT for commercial, nonprofit, or revenue-generating activities. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/home-and-student/office-home-student-rt-preview-FX103210361.aspx

You can read it like this though "there are practically no problems because major companies will upgrade anyway"

zichiOct. 24, 2012 - 11:18PM JST

Surface is a fantastic promise, and holds fantastic potential. But while potential is worth your attention, it's not worth your paycheck. http://gizmodo.com/5953866/

Interesting applemodo said this about it too:

Browsing in Internet Explorer is just as easy a flopping into a couch-cushion Netflix marathon, or working in the full Microsoft Office suite. It all feels seamless, natural, a culmination of useful things. This ease, the effortless transfer between watching stuff and making stuff, reading and writing, listening and talking, it permeates Surface with the mark of The New Computer. This is what netbooks were supposed to be

But you know what? Not a single review focused on the RT as a tablet regardless of the fact that it IS a tablet. Nearly all the reviews end with the same conclusion "it is more natural and useful than any tablet, but it's still not a Windows 8 laptop". It's so good a product that they never bother to put it with the loads of single focus tablets, they all assume it's a laptop and expect everything in a laptop (despite the price difference between it and laptops)

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It's amazing how many Apple fanboys are on this site. They actually take the time to show up to these microsoft articles amd vote down pro MS comments and post links to a few negative reviews out of a sea of mostly positives for the Surface for no reason at all.

Then again, I guess I would troll MS related posts too if I was an apple fanboy too delusional to admit I'm getting tired of using the same old boring iOS since summer of 08 in addition to being just another "me too" on the train with an iPhone.

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titaniumdioxideOct. 24, 2012 - 08:29PM JST

“It’s (Windows) used by over a billion people around the world and with Widows 8 we’re aiming towards the next billion,” he said.

I don't believe that billions of people uses legitimate copies of windows though. I am extremely doubtful. Probably just few hundred millions uses a licensed copy. Nah!!! Microsoft probably just want to tell the world "Hey we have billions of people who uses our products, 80% comes from pirated copies in China" .

Windows 7 alone SOLD 630 million as of Oct 12, and an estimated 400 million other computers run XP, Server 2003, Server 2008, and Vista. That includes a large chunk of macs too, and DOESN'T include pirated software.

http://hexus.net/tech/news/software/40549-windows-7-hits-600-million-sales/ and this article is old, 30 million added since the article.

I thought I can install my old Photoshop CS2 on the windows RT and have a portable photoshop. I was wrong.

They have been saying no for six months now. Not their fault you don't listen the first two dozen times. Good thing for you though, a few weeks later the Surface Pro comes out, which runs an i5 processor and will run windows 8 rather than RT, so you can photoshop all you want.

zichiOct. 24, 2012 - 08:45PM JST

Top 10 biggest drawbacks of Windows RT http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57537730-75/top-10-biggest-drawbacks-of-windows-rt/

So, in other words no drawbacks compare to the competition, and one HUGE bonus, Office RT (and CNET is wrong about "businesses can't use it because of licensing" crap, there's a business license for RT available, and in fact, it's free if you buy the desktop software). It also features device encryption, which is a welcome sight for enterprise use (one reason why companies still use outdated blackberries over everything else)

Notice that ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING applies to Android and iOS devices (including Apps bit, as there's maybe 1000 apps that anyone actually cares about in addition to the 1100 fart apps and 1900 flashlight apps), and they don't have Office RT included (or ever will have).

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Top 10 biggest drawbacks of Windows RT http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57537730-75/top-10-biggest-drawbacks-of-windows-rt/

I thought I can install my old Photoshop CS2 on the windows RT and have a portable photoshop. I was wrong. Anyway Android and IOS have more arrays of apps I can choose.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

“It’s (Windows) used by over a billion people around the world and with Widows 8 we’re aiming towards the next billion,” he said.

I don't believe that billions of people uses legitimate copies of windows though. I am extremely doubtful. Probably just few hundred millions uses a licensed copy. Nah!!! Microsoft probably just want to tell the world "Hey we have billions of people who uses our products, 80% comes from pirated copies in China" .

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

zichiOct. 24, 2012 - 11:05AM JST

Microsoft lists the RT’s display as “HD” rather than as “Full HD,” which likely translates into a resolution of just 1366 by 768 pixels. That won’t compete with the iPad’s Retina displays.

That's like saying that your cellphone is worse than the jumbotron. Different display techologies, and many people admit that the ClearType HD screen used is many times better than the XGA screen on iCrap, as well as functionally equivalent to non-pixel peepers (i.e. everyone in the real world).

The Surface Pro has a ClearType FullHD display, which should give the 2560x1600 retina display on the MBP13 a run for it's money, at a fraction of the power use.

To be perfectly clear from an engineering standpoint, you PHYSICALLY CANNOT tell the difference between full HD and higher at normal viewing distances, and the average person can't tell the difference between HD and Full HD in most cases (it's more visible when you have huge spans of white pixels, not so much video and well designed interfaces like Windows RT/8)

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Hardly news, most major tech sites have already gone hands on with the Surface and call it spectacular.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/hands-on-with-microsoft-surface-for-windows-rt/

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

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