#mstablet

The hardware is only as good as the software that drives it.

Windows 8 debuted on a…well…some sort of a tablet.  I believe that it was a Samsung tablet or maybe it was a touch screen laptop without the keyboard.  Not sure which.  As to the sound, thank goodness that wasn’t being rated, as the cooling fan would have drowned out anything under 6 on the volume button. To say that whatever this device is was half-baked would be polite.  An engineer for Microsoft later said that the hardware being used to demonstrate Windows 8 is not the hardware that will be used when the tablet is released to the market.  Things are looking up.  But, hang on a second…that would imply that Microsoft has not yet designed the hardware for the Windows 8 tablet.  So much for looking up.  The engineer went on to say that the hardware is not the main focus of the debut that the software is.  After watching the demonstration, I have to say that as an Apple fan, I was impressed with a lot of the features that a Windows 8 touch tablet has to offer.  I would list those impress features here, but something the engineer said at the end of the demonstration stopped me dead cold in my tracks – it is going to be close to a year before the OS is available.  WHAT?!?!?  A YEAR?!?!?!?  Are you kidding me?!?!?  Sadly, no.  This devise, or better yet, this OS will not be out for another year.  This begs the question: why even demonstrate it? Anybody who is in this industry knows that a year is almost a lifetime when it comes to an OS, especially on a tablet.  The iPad 3 will already be in it’s third, if not fourth, quarter by the time this thing hits the market.  Not too mention that there is a very good chance that the software will be completely outdate before the first Windows 8 tablet is sold. For me, this is the biggest difference between Apple and Microsoft and why Apple is just killing Microsoft.  There is no way that Apple would demonstrate a product and than wait an entire year to deliver it to the consumer.  There is no way Apple would demonstrate a product that looks nothing like what the end product will be when it hits the market.  There is no way Apple would ever show off a half-baked item and expect the public to go bonkers over it. You just don’t do these things in this industry and succeed.  Can anyone say WebOS? Or Playbook? If you are going to have a demonstration for a mass produced product like a tablet, you demonstrate the ACTUAL product and then release it, at most, thirty days later.  Period.  If Microsoft keeps this up, they are on their way of becoming the next RIM.  Thank goodness they have Office to fall back upon.