Mikey Campbell
Unnamed sources told SemiAccurate (via The Mac Observer) that Microsoft's largest OEM partner HP has decided to dump Windows RT, the ARM processor-powered version of the company's upcoming Windows 8 OS, possibly in favor of Google's Android.
Microsoft reportedly angered hardware makers when it unveiled two self-branded tablets, one running Windows RT for ARM and another Intel-based machine called Surface for Windows 8 Pro, on June 18 after having worked closely with the OEMs in designing devices that would efficiently run the new OS. Semi Accurate alludes to Microsoft cherry-picking the best of each design to make its own tablet in the Surface, however the rumor is unfounded and can't be proven until all new Windows tablets launch later in 2012.
Most recently, Acer founder Stan Shih called the Surface a mere advertising stunt for Windows 8, saying that the Redmond-based company had no real plans to continue development in the tablet hardware arena.
Source: Microsoft
The software giant has placed itself in a curious position with hardware makers that will essentially become competition when Surface is released later this year. Microsoft will have a definite pricing advantage as it won't have to pay the $90 OS licensing fee applied to OEMs planning to use either Windows RT or Windows 8 Pro.
When Surface was announced, some pundits believed that Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro stood a good chance at taking away some of Apple's dominating iPad tablet share, but it remains unclear if Microsoft can do so without the help of HP.
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41 Comments
HP may be the trendsetter here. As a manufacturer, I'd dump Microsoft and let them flounder on their own.
I'm not even sure what that thing is supposed to be. All I know is that I don't want one.
It's like a laptop, but with an inferior keyboard, a little, shitty trackpad and the display doesn't even stay up on it's own, so you have to prop it up from behind with a kickstand and keep it at a fixed angle, an angle which you can't choose, if I'm not mistaken. I'll take any Apple laptop over that thing any day of the week.
[quote name="SpamSandwich" url="/t/151048/hp-reportedly-ditches-windows-rt-as-microsoft-readies-surface#post_2138812"]HP may be the trendsetter here. As a manufacturer, I'd dump Microsoft and let them flounder on their own. [/quote] i don't think MS's actions with the Surface are bad. Just as MS should be secretly working on HW in case their vendors falter Win OEMs should have been secretly working on an OS in case MS would falter. Both have failed each other miserably for reasons we could easily argue about. While I think MS not having a clear focus on Win8 or the Surface HW is a problem, the overall concept of each looks great to me. If they can't get customers interested in Win8 tablets (or Win8 smartphones) soon it won't matter how they treat their partners because iOS [U]and Android[/U] will begin to eat away at all of MS's OS business.
[quote name="Apple ][" url="/t/151048/hp-reportedly-ditches-windows-rt-as-microsoft-readies-surface#post_2138816"]I'm not even sure what that thing is supposed to be. All I know is that I don't want one. It's like a laptop, but with an inferior keyboard, a little, shitty trackpad and the display doesn't even stay up on it's own, so you have to prop it up from behind with a kickstand and keep it at a fixed angle, an angle which you can't choose, if I'm not mistaken. I'll take any Apple laptop over that thing any day of the week. [/quote] I think those are prominent problems with the device and a key problem with MS's outlook on technology. Instead of creating something that is ideal for specific tasks they have created something that is shitty for every task. That, historically, doesn't work too well. You don't see lumberjacks using Swiss Army knifes simply because it has a saw... plus a bunch of other tools. There are many individual aspects of Win8 and the Surface HW I like but there is nothing about either actual product that feels [I]right[/I].
If only they had their own tablet OS they could rely on...