Posted on 03/31/2015 11:07:48 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
Microsoft debuted a new device today: the Surface 3. The tablet has a lot to offer, including the fact that it’s the thinnest and lightest tablet the company has ever shipped, but the real kicker is that it runs a full version of Windows 8.1. In other words, Windows RT is dead.
Windows RT, released in October 2012 along with the Surface RT, is an edition of Windows 8.x designed for mobile devices that use 32-bit ARM architecture. The Surface RT was meant as an example first-party device for other computer makers.
Microsoft unveiled the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 in September 2013. Last year, the company only announced a Surface Pro 3 in May, leaving many scratching their heads as to where the cheaper counterpart was.
As the years and months dragged on, computer makers (including Asus, Dell, Lenovo, and Samsung) slowly backed out and stopped offering Windows RT devices. Sales were abysmal; consumers simply weren’t interested. Soon, Microsoft was the only company left offering tablets with Windows RT.
Rumor has it that Microsoft was planning to launch a Surface Mini, an even smaller tablet, but the device was ultimately scrapped. The Surface 3 thus arrived more than a year after its Pro counterpart.
So, what took so long? Microsoft was trying to figure out what to do with Windows RT, and finally decided to scrap it. Additionally, the company was likely waiting for hardware to improve so it could offer a tablet with a full version of Windows that didn’t take a huge performance hit.
The imminent death of Windows RT became increasingly clear at the start of 2015. In January, Microsoft stopped manufacturing the Surface 2, saying absolutely nothing about a successor. In February, Microsoft stopped manufacturing the Nokia Lumia 2520, the first and last Windows RT device the Finnish company created before it was acquired.
Now it’s March, and the only device that could potentially offer Windows RT in some way is shipping with Windows 8.1. Tablet market growth is slowing, and while Microsoft still hopes Windows will continue to play a role, it won’t be in the form of Windows RT.
Windows 10 will succeed Windows RT. A mobile version of this latest and greatest operating system will be available for devices that are 8 inches and smaller, but since the Surface 3 is a tad larger, it is getting a full version of Windows 8.1 that users can upgrade to a full version of Windows 10 for free.
“Microsoft is working on an update for Windows RT, and will have more to share later,” a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. “ARM devices will continue to be a crucial part of the range of devices Windows 10 supports, with an optimized experience for ARM-based phones, phablets, and small tablets up to 8 inches.”
Translation: We don’t expect there to be any new devices with Windows RT. That said, we’ll update Windows RT in an attempt to not completely piss off our guinea pig customers who bought devices with this operating system.
Most important in that quote is that Microsoft isn’t giving up on ARM devices. Windows 10 is another big bet, though it’s being made from a slightly stronger position this time. After all, Surface is now a billion-dollar business.
First actual Windows Ping List post?
My Pro 3 with SSD boots in about 3 seconds. Love it!
The people who bought it for several hundred dollars must be happy....
So is Surface Windows 7 with touch?
Can it do everything that a “real” pc do?
Looks like! Unfortunately I'm just leaving work and have to run -- the list is maintained at home. So it'll be an hour or so before I can ping out.
Thanks!!
Meanwhile, here's the ping list graphic to entertain y'all -- the ping will follow ASAP...!!
Ping to the list on the way shortly....
I also like Windows 10, so I'm still on the fence.
Is Windows RT dead? Ruh-roh...
I'm a little overwhelmed trying to answer everybody, so this will have to do for those whom I haven't yet welcomed individually -- you know who you are, as they say... :)
And now back to the thread...
Actually, BeOS and NeXT are both represented (the latter more strongly in implementation, the former more in philosophy) in Apple's OS X.
It's much the same as how Dave Cutler's experience at DEC doing VAX VMS had a tremendous influence on Windows NT. Under the hood, Win NT looked a LOT like VMS... I kinda wish it had retained that flavoring. I really enjoyed working on the VAX 11/780, and DCL is still one of my favorite commandline languages.
It wasn't the pets' fault.
For that matter, it wasn't really the developers' fault -- they were told, ordered, to break ME, so that it would kill the MS-DOS-based line of Windows.
As you know, Windows was originally just an application over MS-DOS. That was Windows 1.x, 2.x, 3.x, 95, 98, 98SE, and finally ME. Meanwhile Microsoft had developed the Windows NT line, and they knew it had to eat the older line. But 98SE was popular and it would take some doing to get it out of people's hands.
So after NT-4.0, they renamed NT-5 to "Windows 2000" and made a successor to 98SE and called it "Millenium Edition". That was allegedly so that people would confuse the two and Microsoft could effect a swapperoo.
But that wasn't enough. ME was designed to be broken on arrival. It sucked because they wanted it to suck so bad that users would drop it on the floor and flock to the new NT line, Windows 2000 and soon, Windows XP (in 2001).
And they did.
So what say we leave the developers' pets out of it? :)
Remember. Abort Retry Flail?
They should have cut the tether cord on this one along time ago.. Products and such come and go so fast.. Its a war out there.
BeOS was pretty mind blowing!
I still remember this episode of Computer Chronicles back in the 90s and was floored by it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWxx6uQmgbo
It was a logical, but wholly unnecessary version of Windows.
Without a desktop, or video out to a TV, it just becomes a crippled entertainment device.
>>It wasn’t the pets’ fault.<<
I know — I was trying to avoid the famous Lyle Alzado trash talk: “I will kill your family and let you live!”
That dude could trash talk!
What a GREAT video — thanks for posting it!
Windows 7 and IOS 10 almost caught up with Be...
Man, that's impressive as hell -- 20 years ago that level of performance was inconceivable on standard personal computers.
As if I even knew enough to miss it.
:D
I hope against hope that Microsoft did the whole Windows RT disaster on purpose, with intent. 'Cause right now they look like a cat who ran breakneck across a slippery kitchen floor and slammed himself into the fridge, picked himself up, and said, "Oh that? I meant to do that."
But I suspect that it's just another of their unintentional, unthinking screwups as a result of misguided "focus group" mentality and design-by-committee. Or if it was the brainchild of one individual, maybe they've been put out to pasture.
Microsoft has done some wonderful things over the years. They've also set the bar on screwups so high that nobody will ever come close.
How is the performance with Visual Studio? I use my laptop for development because I’m concerned about taking productivity hit (same reason I used a desktop for development until 2003). I use an Android tablet with Remote Desktop for the sake of being available without lugging a brick everywhere, but a Windows tablet would be a consideration for my next PC if it’s robust enough at a reasonable price. I’m planning to upgrade in July and I can get a good laptop that meets my needs for desktop & database development for about $450 or so. I’ve seen Windows tablets around that price point so if the performance is decent I might do that, with a full-size bluetooth keyboard & mouse. Storage space is not an issue because I archive my inactive projects to my server.
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