Articles about Surface

Dell earnings announcement set off some concerns that the PC industry may not recover and as a result some are predicting Windows 8 sales may not be quite satisfying to Microsoft. Could the software giant have seen this coming a mile away?

A mobile future means that traditional PC hardware like laptops and ultrabooks will yield sales to a new generation of PC form factors like hybrids and tablets that are highly mobile, yet just as capable as laptops and ultrabooks, tablets like the Surface. Microsoft knew mobile was the future and prepped for it, here’s why.

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Our own Robert Johnson might love his Microsoft Surface tablet, but HP's head of PC, Todd Bradley, isn’t quite so keen. In an interview with IDG Enterprise, Bradley dismisses Microsoft’s foray into the PC hardware market claiming he doesn’t see the new tablet as a threat.

"I'd hardly call Surface competition", he says, before going on to explain his reasons. "One, very limited distribution. It tends to be slow and a little kludgey as you use it. I just don't think it's competitive. It's expensive." He also states that consumers haven't taken to the Windows RT tablet either. "Holistically, the press has made a bigger deal out of Surface than what the world has chosen to believe. If you want to go to any of the 30 Microsoft Stores in the United States to buy one, I think you should probably do that".

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I’ve spent the past couple of weeks reading review after review of Microsoft Surface. I feel like 90-percent of them were not written for me. You see, I’m your average user. I’m the average Joe user with a strong interest in the field of technology. I don’t care about pixel densities, or all the other niggles on performance tech geeks fight about all the time.

What matters to me: Does a particular device allow me to not only consume content but create it as well. And Surface accomplishes those two goals tremendously well. I write this review on a Surface RT using Microsoft Word in Office 2013.

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I’ve been thinking about getting a new tablet for a while. Although there’s nothing physically wrong with my iPad 2, I’ve been itching for a bit of new tech in my life and there are some truly excellent choices available this year, including the newer "new" iPad, the iPad mini, Microsoft Surface, and the Google Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. All of which are definitely worth considering.

A friend let me borrow his Nexus 7 for a week, during which time I realized a small tablet was not for me, so that also ruled out the iPad mini. The Nexus 10 looked appealing, and so was on my shortlist. Microsoft Surface I discounted because even though I now use Windows 8 daily, I still don’t really like it and the current lack of great apps for Surface is a bit of a deal breaker. Maybe in the future…

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This afternoon I got my first look at Microsoft's Windows RT tablet at the company store here in San Diego. I wanted to drop by for two weeks, but simply couldn't make time. Today, my daughter needed a ride to Fashion Valley Mall; she's got a new job there. That gave me 90 minutes free time for Microsoft Store -- oh, and four doors down Apple, too.

I am pleasantly surprised by my initial reaction, which quite simply is "wow". This starkly contrasts with my negative response to iPad mini. (But the Apple Store jaunt to see the tablet can wait a few paragraphs.) Surface's display is bright, clean, clear and crisp. Font rendering is superb, particularly given resolution is only 1366 by 768. The tablet is fast and touch-response exact and fluid. Presentation of default apps, such as MSN and weather, pop. They look exceptionally good, and Microsoft serves up lots of rich touchy, feely additional content throughout. Presentation gets A-plus.

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As my colleague Tim Conneally recently reported, Microsoft Surface with Windows RT does not allow users to take advantage of the total amount of advertised storage. On Reddit Ricardo Lopez, Test Manager for Surface RT, announced that customers can still take advantage of more than 20GB of free space, but the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation begs to differ.

Microsoft added a "Surface disk space FAQ" on its website in order to officially shed some light as to the amount of free internal storage that is left after the operating system and apps take their cut. As it turns out after all the math is done, there are dramatic changes. The 32GB Surface with Windows RT only has 16GB of free storage, while the 64GB version allows users to take advantage of 46GB, 30GB more than its less expensive brother.

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Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro is a pricing mystery. The Redmond, Wash.-based corporation revealed the price for the ARM-powered branded tablet, but left its more powerful counterpart --the one equipped with Windows 8 Pro-- unpriced. But recently, information on the latter surfaced on a German website.

Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro was introduced to the Notebook.de "Surface tablet" lineup, and it is currently available for pre-order in two storage options. Pricing for the entry-level model that comes with 64GB of internal storage starts at EUR809 including VAT (Value Added Tax), and the version with 128GB of internal storage runs for 909EUR including VAT. The 64GB Microsoft Surface with Windows RT runs for EUR699 on the same German website.

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Today, Microsoft kicked off its second BUILD. Last year's event replaced the Professional Developers Conference. This year marks a change in venue, from Los Angeles to Redmond, Wash. and comes amid, rather than before, a flurry of new Microsoft products. Windows 8 launched October 26, Windows Phone 8 yesterday and Office 2013 is released to manufacturing and available to developers and corporate customers. There's Windows Server 2012 and more either out the pipeline or coming down it.

Microsoft is determined to woo developers to its new stuff and accompanying platform changes. During today's Day 1 keynote, attendees learned about the schwag: Surface RT 32GB and Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone. Consider them tools of the trade, for creating and testing new applications. Microsoft also slashed developers' fee for Windows Phone to $8 from $99. That is for just eight days.

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If you’re the proud possessor of a copy of Windows 8, or you rushed out today to buy a brand new touchscreen device with it pre-installed, the first thing you’re going to need to do is configure it to suit your needs, and install all of your favorite software.

You’ll probably want to make installing a better browser a priority (no offense Microsoft) and Google has designed a version of Chrome especially for the new OS, with some customizations for touch screens, including larger buttons and the ability to keep the browser open next to other apps.

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Microsoft officially launched Windows 8 and Windows RT across the globe today. Along with the new operating systems, the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation also makes its branded Surface tablet available at all Microsoft 27 retail, 34 holiday and online stores across United States and Canada.

Microsoft Surface starts at $499in the United States, AU$599 in Australia, CDN$519 in Canada, EUR479 in Germany, EUR489 in France, and GBP399 in the United Kingdom for the 32GB version without the Touch Cover.

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Windows 8, RT, and Surface launch at midnight. A scant fourteen hours before the new generation of operating systems becomes available to the general public, Microsoft is hosting a celebration at New York City's historic Pier 57. Your faithful skeptic Tim Conneally will be present at the event, liveblogging and keeping an eye out for any heretofore unseen news.

The event begins at 10am EST and lasts until 3pm EST. Check back here throughout the day for updates on Windows 8!

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The first Microsoft Surface reviews are beginning to surface and they’re a mixed bag to say the least. Since all my money is going towards a new 4th gen iPad, and Microsoft is happy to send me a copy of Windows 8, but not a Surface tablet (sorry, Surface PC), I can’t give you my own insightful opinion on the device, but I can tell you what the early reviewers are saying.

And that early feedback is good (mostly) but far from being universally glowing. Pretty much all of the reviews point out the one thing we knew was going to be a problem: that there just aren’t anywhere near enough apps at the moment. But there are other issues that we didn't know about, such as that it soon gets very heavy, the cameras are poor, and it can be sluggish at times. Here’s just a selection of what those early reviewers are saying:

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Unless you have spent some time under a rock recently then you probably know that Microsoft is about to officially unveil Windows 8 for the masses. The public has had access to the new operating system for some time now, through three iterations of betas, from Developer Preview to Consumer Preview and finally landing at Release Preview. The OS will debut this Friday, but the Redmond, Wash.-based company will actually hold their launch event on Thursday in New York City.

The big shindig is now bigger. Microsoft is inviting all of New York to what they are calling "Microtropolis". This is a 160 foot version of the city that the company calls "Manhattan experienced through Windows".  This isn't a Microsoft pop-up store, but there will be one of those in the Big Apple as well. This is more of a concept art project designed to show off the latest OS in an interactive way.

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Microsoft obviously wants Surface to be a home run, and to encourage prospective buyers to queue up for the October 26 launch of Surface alongside Windows 8, the Redmond, Wash.-based company is throwing in a nice bonus for the first hundred Surface buyers at its retail stores.

These select customers will get a one-year Xbox Music Pass valued at $99.99; Microsoft's way of ensuring that its Surface tablet will get public attention on launch day and rewarding those waiting to purchase the not-so-cheap Windows RT-powered devices. Because after all, long snaking queues are indicative of a company's ability to drum up excitement for a new product or event, and that is a sign of overall popularity.

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Microsoft's voice, video, and text chatting service Skype has revealed that the new Windows 8 version of Skype will be available on Windows 8 day one, October 26. The entire application has been crafted to follow the Windows 8 design ethic, with big touchable icons, a new dialer screen, a live tile on the homescreen that shows incoming messages and missed calls, and integration with the Windows 8 People app.

Prior to Skype's announcement today, there were plenty of hints that Skype would be getting a major Windows 8 upgrade, with mentions of "dual microphones tuned for Skype" and "hands-free Skype video chat" on Surface hardware pages, among others.

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