Will the Windows 8 Tablets be any good or wait for the next iPad?
adziee
Posts: 828 Forum Member
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I've been in 2 minds for ages now about getting the next iPad in March or to wait for a Windows 8 Tablet i read about..does anyone know if they will be as slim and light as other tablets? Will there be special apps for office built in? Thanks 
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Agreed. But I might also decide that I want a tablet, not need one. So it could be worth waiting 9 months to get something I'll own for several years.
The main problem is the Windows 8 tablet things are still very unclear. Windows 8 tablets will run either Intel or ARM.
It's unclear if the ARM version will get the desktop mode or not for example.
Hopefully the MS keynote tonight will help clear some of this up.
The intel running Windows 8 tablets will be able to run all Windows 7 software including the full version of Office.
And why is windows 8 unsuited to tablets?
Android has accelerated its Linux into the number one slot and by its nature will prevent Windows from removing standard computer functionality like IOS.
Well for one thing, it might not necessarily be an ARM tablet one gets.
Intel are apparently making great progress on the SoC front allowing them to make much thinner, lighter, cooler, energy efficient x86 tablets. These will have the best of both worlds. You can run all those metro apps when you're in tablet form. You can dock and run all those windows 7 applications laptop-style.
PC Pro recently tried to use iPad and Android tablets instead of PCs for a day, the results were not good. They even used bluetooth keyboards. You can see their results. Even a Windows 7 tablet would probably have fared better for them.
Besides, I dislike the interface of all the Android tablets I've seen so far.
But yes, its the software that matters and for new buyers it might be best to have both worlds in one gadget. Heck I guess the Intel Atom might even let you use higher than a 1024 X 600 screen.
With my first tablet I find the interface quite brilliant even though just a gateway to the software.
Its still 'just a toy' though. Of course the next iPad is Android. (iPad used in the hoover = vacuum cleaner sense)
The most useful case/cover for a tablet is obviously the keyboard!
It's way better use on tablets and touchscreens than a conventional desktop or laptop...it does everything a phone would plus a desktop experience when certain apps aren't available on the store.
The desktop experience is huge plus over the iPad and Android tablets imo....you can switch from full Office to Angry Birds within seconds.
The wait might be shorter than some are expecting if the rumours of the ARM version of Windows 8 shipping earlier than the x86-64 versions is true....I'd expect to see some products emerging early Q3 imo.
So I'm not sure where Windows tablets fit in. I'm sure they will have an Office of sorts ready for it. But I doubt stuff like VLC and Open Office will easily port to ARM.
Yet without a keyboard is not something simpler like Google Docs all you need?
This is the rub really and for me defines whether you should wait for Windows 8 tablets or take the plunge with Android or Apple in the near future. Windows 8 tablets provide desktop experience but do you really want / meed that in your tablet? Most people who have tablets use it as a secondary device to a laptop or desktop so what's the point of a tablet which can also provide a low powered traditional desktop? Clearly if it's your only device or you want a cheap mobile device to go with your behemoth desktop then a Windows 8 tablet might work quite well.
If you're not looking for a desktop experience why wait? Tablets and OS live and die by the quality of their applications and with a Windows tablet there are currently no tablet optimised applications available, they are starting from scratch. By going with a new OS you are gambling on it being popular but if you go with a known quantity like Android or iPad there's already plenty of applications available already.
But with Windows 8, it can be simple when you want it to be. You never need to leave the metro UI and new metro apps unless you choose to go onto the desktop and old-style apps. Windows Phone is commonly agreed to be an easy-to-use and intuitive platform. Windows 8 will be similar for the new stuff.
It is entirely possible that ARM tablets for Windows 8 will be metro-only and not have the old stuff. In that case, reasons to switch include the metro UI with live tiles, app contracts, a full OS (e.g. neither iOS nor Android have print subsystems built in), side-by-side snapping of apps et al.
They showed Office ported to ARM in 2010 so it's definitely possible to have a ship-ready version this year.
I've been playing with metro interface for a month or so and though it OK on a desktop I just get a feeling its going to be very very good on tablets. And MS are heavily focusing on migration of windows phone apps though desktop apps should be feasible if they have followed MS guidelines.
But on the flip side ICS has been released and looks very good as well (especially on transformer prime) and there are rumors on what iPad 3 is going to be like.
The long cost benefits from an agnostic platform may be massive.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9223357/Spanish_bank_to_move_100_000_employees_to_Google_Apps?
"Agnostic service". Tricky one, that. Yes, in terms of the hardware you run, a cloud service is agnostic so long as the browser you choose is fully capable and compatible with the site.
But you are of course still going to get locked in to a particular platform, it's just a cloud service rather than a desktop platform that you are getting locked into.
Other than the point that more and more is possible through the cloud making the hardware/software you choose less relevant, I'm not sure how relevant this is to the thread. A more relevant one would have been OnLive using their gaming tech to run Windows 7 on a thin client basis through an iPad.
The reality is that over the last two decades, huge advances in local computing technology have been made. First in sheer performance and now in terms of energy efficient power. I doubt any of that will be thrown away any time soon by moving to a pure SaaS model.
Let me get this straight. You want us to compare one unreleased device with another unreleased device, and then decide which one is best for you? My advice? Call heads.
Onlive is reasonable agnostic too so we could surely remove the word iPad?
Not really, right now there's only an iPad app for the Windows 7 thin client functionality. Android and other clients will be coming later.
However, I'm not sure why you would be so keen to remove the word iPad and why you're so keen to argue against Windows 8 on a thread purely about iPad versus Windows 8?
Have you got some special relationship with an Android in your life?
As pointed out above, Windows is too 'fat' to run on a low power tablet. Windows 8 and future versions of Windows Phone (and possibly the new Xbox) may be able to run the same 'thin' apps under Metro.
However, this is all probably a year away.
The Windows licensing scheme is interesting so there must be collaboration with Microsoft for their base set of Office apps.
Long term I imagine OnLive and Microsoft are looking towards at a pay monthly rental scheme for advanced functionality.
nope, there is a version of windows 8 specifically for tablets. It runs on ARM CPU, don't know yet if dual core or quad core will be required.
Metro will mean that apps run on desktop to mobile (tablet or potentially phone as well) and as you mention next gen xbox and also potentially TV's.
Windows Metro is just the new name for a Windows Mobile that now accommodates tablets.
Whatever the reality the engine(not the GUI) is going to have to be more like Windows 3.1 than Windows 7.
MS aren't stupid...they've been optimising Windows 8 for lower powered devices for two years now....it uses almost half the amount of RAM Windows 7 currently demands....
Plus the code for the desktop experience isn't loaded until you click the tile, so it's not just a skin on top of Windows 7....and when you do switch to the desktop all the Metro apps are suspended and use 0% CPU power.
There will be both x86 and ARM tablets.....the ARM ones will be interesting because they obviously can't use all the standard desktop apps, which is why MS has focused heavily on making the x86 version far lighter and more efficient.
That's not to say Windows tablets cannot be good in 2-3 years, but I would never trust version 1.0 releases from anyone.
Windows has to compete with Android for tasking ability and computer functionality.
It's users also won't want to be compromised.
Well apart from having thousands of great apps that allow you to easily do almost anything.
Running apps meant for a mouse and keyboard on a touch screen is an awful experience.
Also I have doubts on how fast Windows 8 tablets will need to be in order to get a good user experience and what battery life will be like.