Microsoft just released the first sneak-peak at what will be the new computer/tablet – Microsoft Surface. The name could be better but the product is so spectacular I couldn’t care (and it’s less pretentious and retarded than the “new iPad”). In this post I will explore the glory that is Microsoft Surface as well as why I think it makes the iPad irrelevant.
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Previously I wrote about my distaste with tablets and how they serve a middle-ground market that shouldn’t even exist. Why get a tablet when you have a laptop and a smartphone? It’s another expensive device that neither serves to function as a true laptop with a full OS nor as a super-portable smartphone. Microsoft has bided their time and assembled a product that will truly redefine the space and hopefully throw the traditional notion of “tablets” out the window.
You see, Microsoft Surface is both a “tablet” in that it is quite portable and a traditional laptop in that it runs a full OS with standard windows applications. This is a huge step forward and one that I have been waiting years for. The iPad has never evolved beyong being a large iPhone while Microsoft Surface will satisfy both the portable market as well as the productive market. Instead of 3 devices (Mac, iPad and iPhone, for instance) you will only require 2 – a smartphone and Microsoft Surface.
So let’s look at some of the innovations Microsoft Surface brings to the table. The specs are still being determined, which is mostly a plus because the product still has some time before it comes out and will likely increase before being finalized but there are a number of things we do know:
- It will have a toned-down version available for those who want to use it as a big phone (much like the iPad) to satisfy the particularly cheap and unassuming consumers.
- It will have at least 1 beefed-up version that will feature a full Windows 8 OS including the new tablet-friendly Metro interface as well as the traditional Windows interface for productivity.
- It has an incredibly innovative built-in stand that allows it to easily change from portable tablet to productive PC.
- It also has an incredibly innovative keyboard that is built into the cover. The cover is somewhat iPad-like but the introduction of the built in keyboard is incredible. No more having to buy all these separate peripherals for your tablet to try to make it productive – Microsoft Surface has it all built-in!
- I hesitate very much to use the word tablet but for simplicity’s sake: the tablet is even thinner than the iPad (not that it really matters).
- The new metro interface looks to be even easier to use than that of iOS with consistent, simple and elegant design through-and-through (Microsoft Surface does not employ skeuomorphism like Apple).
Some people argue that Microsoft Surface is not an iPad killer and I couldn’t agree more; since it has created a new category entirely it surely cannot be compared to the iPad.
Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think. Apple fanboys need not apply.
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I think that Microsoft has really made an exciting product this time.(Except the RT version which seemed broken in the Launch …
I made a highlights video about the Microsoft Surface Tablet which shows the feaures you mention perfectly on my Youtube channel Youtube.com/SurfaceTabletTips
Probably Best idea to buy the Ultrabook Microsoft Surface version then, which doesnt quite make it a Tablet but a good alternative.
Microsoft Surface Tablets are looking great I Havent been so excited about Windows8 on Laptops , but with the Surface tablets that Microsoft released in the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIy6Ul2eNaE I am quite excited – The Youtube video is of highlights of the Windows Surface Tablet Launch