Dell's Secret Weapon Against iPad Will Be Windows 8

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southernshark

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Obviously it will be much easier to "type" on a Windows 8 Tablet......

That's sarcasm kids. I add this comment because I know that some of you would not get it.
 

ap3x

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[citation][nom]damianrobertjones[/nom]This will not fail. It's shiny, new, can run pretty much anything you throw at it (x86) and people will buy.[/citation]

All depends on how they execute. This has to be fluid, easy to use, and has to have applications designed specifically for use with a tablet. Not just Windows PC applications on a tablet. That will fail and has failed before with the Samsung Q1 and others just like it.

This is not Microsoft's first attempt at this so hopefully they have learned from the previous failure and can give us something really compelling. I like Metro but it needs to be supported by the software behind it. If they do it right and the hardware is solid I will buy one.
 

vaughn2k

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"... iPads and iPhones are reportedly a headache for Windows-based IT departments because they obviously operate on a different system. However, a consumer's Windows-based tablet -- and even a Windows Phone 7/8 smartphone -- from home is much easier to integrate into the workplace..."
Yap... that is truly a selling point...
 

rantoc

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I think Win8 coupled with x86 will be the tablet of chooice for alot of people along with the corporations. Now if they will have the same api's as the real windows8 this could get very intressting, that would make this way much more than a surf toy!
 
G

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It seems that companies are desperately trying to turn tablets into laptops, first by introducing clip on keyboards like the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and now by making them run full PC software like Windows.

The iPad isn't a success because its a small PC. Its a success because its a blindingly simple device for doing basic tasks like reading, browsing, email, Facebook, etc.

The tablet market is more like the console market in terms of where the profits are going to be so I struggle to see how OEMs can complete when they don't control the software.
 

bystander

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Everything they said for their advantages sounds like real advantages. Hopefully they can take advantage of them and not come up short in too many other areas.
 

dthx

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I own one of those Windows 7 laptops with a capacitive touchscreen that you can convert into a tablet (hp touchsmart tm2) and using Win7 with a touchscreen works much better than I ever expected. The obsolete architecture of this PC is a bit obsolete making it thick, warm, heavy and the battery life (4-5 hrs) compares quite badly with good tablets. But overall, it's quite nice (there are small changes in the GUI that make it finger friendly and it does the job quite well). Plus you can enjoy fully featured applications and a real office suite that doesn't mess-up the layout of you excel files when you save them... (I tried both iOS and Android suites and they still have a looong way to go).
Such a system, backed with modern hardware would work very well and make all those iPads look like a joke (I own one, so I guess I can criticize without been qualified as a MS Fanboy). Still, I am convinced as well that many "average" users will still buy iPads and Android tablet because they have are perceived as "cool, fun and easy to use" while Microsoft is perceived as work or business related... I am confident Dell will sell it quite OK, but if they believe that it will outsell iPads, I'm afraid they will have a chock on their first sales review...
 

ta152h

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If Windows is your secret weapon, you'd better be a pacifist.

Apple owns everything with the iPad, and they dominate. Companies that put together some Frankenstein by taking an OS from here, and then being stuck on x86, aren't winning in this arena. Apple can underprice them because they don't need to pay for Microsoft bloat (they have their own bloat, but so far don't seem to have infected tablets with it), don't get stuck on the Atom , and have so much more flexibility from generation to generation, as well as lower costs.

Samsung might be able to compete with Apple, but Dell using Windows 8 does not look like it's going to be successful.
 

TEAMSWITCHER

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That's a pretty crappy secret weapon! Apple will likely launch an iPad Mini in the $250-$400 price segment that will pretty much crush Dell this Christmas. And corporate users will demand the hi-res screen and longer battery life of the New iPad. No....x86 tablets are never going to be mainstream....sorry fanboys.
 

kawininjazx

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So what do you do when you get a virus?

I know people like us can avoid them or remove them, but the general public probably get infected twice a year on their PC, so they can't just surf around like on iOS and Android.
 

bystander

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[citation][nom]TA152H[/nom]If Windows is your secret weapon, you'd better be a pacifist. Apple owns everything with the iPad, and they dominate. Companies that put together some Frankenstein by taking an OS from here, and then being stuck on x86, aren't winning in this arena. Apple can underprice them because they don't need to pay for Microsoft bloat (they have their own bloat, but so far don't seem to have infected tablets with it), don't get stuck on the Atom , and have so much more flexibility from generation to generation, as well as lower costs. Samsung might be able to compete with Apple, but Dell using Windows 8 does not look like it's going to be successful.[/citation]

I don't know if you are aware, but Win 8 is being developed on ARM as well. It won't be released this year, which is why the initial Win 8 devices are x86, but if you look at the new Atom benchmarks and power draw, they are doing very well in those departments now.
 
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