PREDICTION: countdown to failure, Windows 8 RT tablet will be an unmitigated failure.

[Hugo Drax]

Microsoft fails at tablets (They have failed for years at tablets), now they will just fail again and maybe this time the CEO will be ousted once The tablet is a huge failure and windows 8 on the desktop ends up failing to gain traction like Vista.

Only a few days before we get to see the fireworks.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I think sales of Windows RT tablets might be a little slow, but I think the Windows 8 tablets should do fairly well and better once the prices come down a bit.

 

[darkewaffle]

It's not going to instantly turn the tides or anything, but I think they're on the right path.

 

[Tom]

I think the question is, do people buy tablets as an extension of their smartphone, or as an extension of their pc ?

So far I'd say the bigger screen companion to a smartphone is a huge market for Apple and Android.

Yet to be seen is if people want a smaller screen tablet companion for their laptop.

Of course, Microsoft wants people to get all three from them but they are WAY behind in the phone market, obviously.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I would much rather a tablet replace my notebook as opposed to be an extension of my phone. At least I think that's what I'd prefer, we'll see soon enough I guess.

 

[bonkers325]

Who cares if they fail at tablets? Windows 8 RT is a huge step forward in mobile OS development. Any app you purchase for your Windows 8 tablet, you can use on your Windows 8 desktop. Think of your tablet as a true extension of your desktop instead of a mobile device that syncs with your desktop and is used specifically for content consumption.

I think it's hilarious that people are rooting for the failure of Windows 8 tablets, yet at the same time they wish it wasn't a two-horse race between Apple and Google.

 

[Red Storm]

There's a pretty big difference between rooting for failure and predicting failure.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Microsoft fails at tablets (They have failed for years at tablets), now they will just fail again and maybe this time the CEO will be ousted once The tablet is a huge failure and windows 8 on the desktop ends up failing to gain traction like Vista.

Only a few days before we get to see the fireworks.

Okay. I see more of a strategy here than Google has for tablets, so I'm not fully convinced.

 

[Hugo Drax]

Who cares if they fail at tablets? Windows 8 RT is a huge step forward in mobile OS development. Any app you purchase for your Windows 8 tablet, you can use on your Windows 8 desktop. Think of your tablet as a true extension of your desktop instead of a mobile device that syncs with your desktop and is used specifically for content consumption.

I think it's hilarious that people are rooting for the failure of Windows 8 tablets, yet at the same time they wish it wasn't a two-horse race between Apple and Google.

I am not rooting for failure, just observing what Microsoft is doing. My observations indicate they are taking the wrong approach.

Trying to shoehorn the tablet to the desktop UI is the wrong direction, And the hardware has several issues that seem to be design failures as well.

Such as the low resolution, the limited storage space offering especially when the OS takes up a big chunk of space. The marketing aspect as well, why are they marketing the keyboard so much? And why no review samples.

Lots of things indicate failure.

 

[Topweasel]

There's a pretty big difference between rooting for failure and predicting failure.

Yeah because that's what was happening in the OP.

 

[bonkers325]

I am not rooting for failure, just observing what Microsoft is doing. My observations indicate they are taking the wrong approach.

Trying to shoehorn the tablet to the desktop UI is the wrong direction, And the hardware has several issues that seem to be design failures as well.

Such as the low resolution, the limited storage space offering especially when the OS takes up a big chunk of space. The marketing aspect as well, why are they marketing the keyboard so much? And why no review samples.

Lots of things indicate failure.

Just curious, what does it fail at? How much space does the RT version take up?

 

[Red Storm]

Yeah because that's what was happening in the OP.

It says "Prediction" and the poll is asking if you think it will fail, not if you want it to.

 

[Tom]

Who cares if they fail at tablets? Windows 8 RT is a huge step forward in mobile OS development. Any app you purchase for your Windows 8 tablet, you can use on your Windows 8 desktop. Think of your tablet as a true extension of your desktop instead of a mobile device that syncs with your desktop and is used specifically for content consumption.

I think it's hilarious that people are rooting for the failure of Windows 8 tablets, yet at the same time they wish it wasn't a two-horse race between Apple and Google.

I agree it would be good to have more players, but t'would be even better if two of the players (MS and Google) weren't monopolies in their native businesses.

I get your point about the apps and the tablet/pc synergy. I just don't see a killer app for that synergy, so far. Whereas the smartphone/tablet synergy does have several, eg, taking photos/videos on a phone and viewing them on a larger tablet screen.

 

[Topweasel]

I am not rooting for failure, just observing what Microsoft is doing. My observations indicate they are taking the wrong approach.

Trying to shoehorn the tablet to the desktop UI is the wrong direction, And the hardware has several issues that seem to be design failures as well.

Such as the low resolution, the limited storage space offering especially when the OS takes up a big chunk of space. The marketing aspect as well, why are they marketing the keyboard so much? And why no review samples.

Lots of things indicate failure.

I think you don't know enough about the Windows 8 ecosystem to be able to tell what is a failure and success by Microsofts measurements. Are you sure Surface sales are even important, because I don't think they are. Microsoft wanted a "iPad" class build quality tablet available at launch. They wanted to show how it could be done push the OEM's to do something other then load Windows 8 on their mostly poor build quality Android platforms.

Also I don't think the OS takes as much space as you think, because again, I don't think you know enough about Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows 8 on phones. It's not a desktop OS, it will take up as much space as it does on the Lumia, and I haven't heard one worry about storage concerns on the 920.

I get the Resolution concerns. But its interface is mostly 2 colors you don't need top notch resolutions for that. As for Media, again we will see how restrictive the resolution is on such a small screen, but its not a TV and I don't really get this big push for higher resolutions on smaller screen objects. But it will push a lot of people back before they even look at a sample.

As for the keyboard. Well everyone has done most of the stuff to death. It's the one defining feature that hard to compete with.

This isn't an iPad killer and original manufacturing info tells us that Microsoft has no dream of super high sales. It's a kick in the nuts to the OEM's to get off their asses, and if it does sell enough, maybe just maybe, Microsoft will continue the line.

 

[badb0y]

It won't fail but I am not entirely sure if it will be a hit.

 

[Genx87]

Who cares if they fail at tablets? Windows 8 RT is a huge step forward in mobile OS development. Any app you purchase for your Windows 8 tablet, you can use on your Windows 8 desktop. Think of your tablet as a true extension of your desktop instead of a mobile device that syncs with your desktop and is used specifically for content consumption.

I think it's hilarious that people are rooting for the failure of Windows 8 tablets, yet at the same time they wish it wasn't a two-horse race between Apple and Google.

I thought RT was limited in what "applications" could be installed from the PC side? Basically the newest version of Office? The Intel based x86 tablets will have a fully functional Windows 8.

 

[bonkers325]

I thought RT was limited in what "applications" could be installed from the PC side? Basically the newest version of Office? The Intel based x86 tablets will have a fully functional Windows 8.

PC side can run all RT apps, doesn't work the other way around.

 

[Dominato3r]

Such as the low resolution

Resolution is important but I don't think that is going to make or break something

the limited storage space offering especially when the OS takes up a big chunk of space.

Storage space on the Surface is something like 20GBs after Office, Windows, and the built in applications. I think that is fine

The marketing aspect as well, why are they marketing the keyboard so much? And why no review samples.

Because there is a large market for people that want that, and Windows has native support for them. Think about it, what is physically different about the Surface vs. another tablet? The keyboard stands out.

IMO the bigger picture is the huge amount of device drivers Windows has. I've seen a lot of people here asking for native gamepad support on Android, or some gamepad that works, Windows RT supports the Windows the library of Windows drivers already out there. So a gamepad will be identified and made usable by the OS. You could also extend this to pretty much every peripheral in existence.

I'm excited about Windows 8, but I think there is a large amount of people for whom Windows RT makes great sense.

And your whole OP is confusing as hell. Windows 8? Windows RT? Windows 8 RT?

 

[MrX8503]

I think it'll fail. The whole desktop, tablet, smartphone integration is a big mess. I think integration is important, but the route they're taking doesn't make sense and seems like a last minute idea.

If the RT was cheaper it may have a chance.

 

[cl-scott]

Windows 8 on the tablet is the one area I think it has a chance of succeeding... Somewhat. It's not going to be much of a threat to iOS or Android, but it might be able to carve out a small, and profitable, niche for Microsoft in the mobile scape. It will probably come down to how well they do at educating people that x86 apps won't run on RT tablets. They pull that off, they have a chance at being a distant third.

 

[Red Storm]

Because there is a large market for people that want that, and Windows has native support for them. Think about it, what is physically different about the Surface vs. another tablet? The keyboard stands out.

The keyboard was a flashy accessory when first seen, but once you really start to think about it not only is the width going to be an issue (try iPad keyboards that are the same length, too small for prolonged typing) but actual typing will be as well. Honestly it's nothing more than a neat accessory. It is not going to work well for actual work.

 

[Dominato3r]

The keyboard was a flashy accessory when first seen, but once you really start to think about it not only is the width going to be an issue (try iPad keyboards that are the same length, too small for prolonged typing) but actual typing will be as well. Honestly it's nothing more than a neat accessory. It is not going to work well for actual work.

Is the width really going to be an issue? Compare to an MBA which is just about an inch (10.6 v 11.6) bigger. I think the keyboard size will be fine, its performance however has yet to be seen

 

[ilkhan]

actually I see 8RT doing better than 8Pro. On desktops or laptops without a touchscreen metro is fucking horrible. On an arm tablet is can see RT doing pretty decent.

 

[preslove]

actually I see 8RT doing better than 8Pro. On desktops or laptops without a touchscreen metro is fucking horrible. On an arm tablet is can see RT doing pretty decent.

Yeah, I voted wrong. The tablet will be ok to good sales, but not iPad sales. The desktop operating system is going to be one of their bad versions like Windows Me and Vista. People are going to constantly complain and complain, and PC vendors will bend over backwards to teach people how to turn off metro. Microsoft might also decide just to turn it off by default or give a pretty easy choice screen after all the complaints.

 

[arod]

They will do fine but not blow away expectations.... but they will set the table to become the preferred option for win9 and after (getting the store filled with apps and all that touchscreen hardware out there)