Microsoft Announces Surface: New Family of PCs for Windows

Microsoft.com ^ | 18 Jun 2012 | MS

[aft_lizard]

Hmm Anandtech has a different article:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=24972

ASUSTek Computer Inc. (TPE:2357) spokesman Nick Wu stated to Bloomberg, “Our management did learn about that in a later stage. It’s an investment by Microsoft to grow and build the ecosystem for Windows RT and we have no special opinion on that. We will continue to deliver our products.”

“We remain committed partners to Microsoft. We remain committed to Windows 8, and we will have a Slate product at the time of launch.”

Similarly, Lenovo, the fastest growing PC maker on the market, commented, “Microsoft has been and will continue to be one of Lenovo’s most valued partners.”

Acer was the lone standout however:

But Microsoft appears not to have told one computer maker about “Surface” at all — Acer, Inc. (TPE:2353). An Acer executive is quoted by Reuters as saying, “No senior executives heard about the news last week. We’re quite surprised.”

The strange apparent snub continued to get stranger when Acer founder Stan Shin spoke to DigiTimes, telling the publication that he thought Microsoft had no real intention to stick around in the tablet market long term.

He claimed that the “Surface” was just a publicity stunt/ruse to attract interest to Windows 8 and that the tablet would just be a one-off release, with no follow-up devices.

[KC Burke]

All of those companies had the oportunity to do more than a few modest models sent out OEM with Linux based OS and failed to do much in respect for MS, when there was a going market that was never fulfilled for Linux based consumer products back three years ago.

Consumers with lower tech time didn’t want the trial and error path of converting to Linux on their own, but they would have bought machines pre-loaded and made consumer freindly — there wasn’t much out there. Acer, Asus and others are probably royally pissed

[antiRepublicrat]

Its far more astounding for people pushing software and other products to make false claims about their products.

So you are saying all of those vendors are lying? Would you risk saying that in public about specific products?

Its not about the platform its about protecting the data.

There's nothing about the iPad that inherently prevents an application from protecting its data. It's a touch version of OS X (certified UNIX with plenty of medical apps available) on a portable ARM platform. What's inherently anti-HIPAA about that?

The devices don’t have to be unusable, they just have to be controlled.

Apple Configurator is just a dream too. It's not quite BES, but it does do quite a bit, enforcing passwords, auto-wipes, encrypted backups, disabling screen capture (surely a HIPAA no-no), and turning off Siri (iPhone, and the auto-dictation the iPad will get soon). None of these settings can be changed by the user.

[antiRepublicrat]

He claimed that the “Surface” was just a publicity stunt/ruse to attract interest to Windows 8 and that the tablet would just be a one-off release, with no follow-up devices.

That sounds like some serious wishful thinking.

[Izzy Dunne]

Windows 8 is looking good to me.

It would look better if it didn't crash during the demo

[Izzy Dunne]

Microsoft is going to be competing with its own customer base. That is never a good idea.

Apple proved that in 1994-96 with the Macintosh licensing fiasco.

[for-q-clinton]

it’s a BETA.