Friday, October 19, 2012

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft will be selling its Surface RT from 26 Oct 12. It was more than 3 months ago that the Surface was first announced. There was initial euphoria on this tablet, however it had fizzed out.

There are several concerns on this tablet:-

(1) Does it provide cellular capability? If not, can it be connected to USB cellular(3G) stick to enable true portability. Ipad 2 does have cellular option.

(2) Surface RT is using ARM processor and it was announced that it might not be compatibility with program that run on xx86 chip. In other words, earlier program that run on Windows 7 or Vista may not work on Surface RT which is a major problem. Although the Surface Pro version will have no problem with this compatibility issue since it will run on Intel chip, it will however be another couple of months of waiting time before the Pro version goes on sale.

(3) Ipad 2 champions itself with Apps application. Will Surface RT have the same Apps application written for it? I have reservations given that earlier Windows Mobile phones were a great disappointment on its Apps.

The question in a consumer's mind is "Shall I buy a Surface RT/Pro or shall I get an ultrabook?" The ultrabook would give the user a full range of capability for Windows, even though it may not be as cool as Ipad 2. Microsoft should spend their resources and financial might on user interface issue rather than on advertisement and promotion of the product.

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