Microsoft Hands Out 5000 Win 8 Tablets to Developers
Attendees at Microsoft's BUILD conference were this week gifted with free Core i5 Windows 8 tablets.
This week at BUILD, Microsoft talked all about Windows 8 and told developers what they can expect from the next iteration of Windows. However, the company also gave devs a little gift to ensure they get off on the right foot with Windows 8. The Redmond company dished out no fewer than 5000 Windows 8 Samsung slates to attendees.
Rumors about Microsoft gifting BUILD attendees with a Windows 8 tablet started last month, during Microsoft's TechEd conference in New Zealand. Microsoft afforded attendees there a glimpse of two Windows 8 tablets and some reported that Microsoft may be giving one out to attendees at BUILD. On Tuesday, right on schedule, Microsoft handed out thousands of free Samsung-made Windows 8 tablets. The tablet will give developers a head start for developing for Windows 8 as well as a chance to try out some new hardware.
ComputerWorld reports that the tablet in question is similar to the Samsung Series 7 Slate with a few customizations. Windows President Steven Sinofsky said that the Windows version has more sensors and AT&T has added a 3G-capable radio to the tablets. Devs will get 2GB of monthly data service free of charge for 12 months. Specswise, the tablet boasts a second generation Core i5 CPU, an 11.6-inch Super PLS 1366×768 display, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, USB, HDMI port, microSD slo.
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The specs on that tablet are pretty tight.
NICE
thank god for android\ios madness
go ms =p .. man competition is good for us
Hey,I hate tablets & I always will. No good for your eyes you know. As long as the developers make some money out of this & like usual some will like the freebie.
Pretty sick tablet with specs like that
A tablet with an i5 CPU? I suppose stranger things have happened.
Ah, finally proper tablets arrive. THAT can replace my netbook, if the battery life is any good (though the price must be way more than for a netbook), while iOS and Android (no matter how much I like Android) toys will NEVER do that for me. I don't want to migrate from the programs (not crApps, PROGRAMS) that I use in Windows.
@silverblue
you never noticed the EEE Slate, been around for over half a year now
@amk-aka-phantom
not even close to a netbook, imagine an i5 laptop without a keyboard and your closer to the mark, and considering it's an i5 sandy bridge laptop it's prices relatively reasonable actually
Makes me wish I was a developer.
Not really been that clued up on the more powerful tablets; I hope devices like this can push the iPad etc. into the "budget tablet" segment. (Apple WON'T like that
) Might actually do Apple some good to design a power version of the iPad for this sort of thing.
Clever move, sure they all cost quite abit but considering that dev's are one of the critical components of success in the os wars, this will be well worth it in the end!
Nice spec and actually runs window. If the price is right, it has the potential to replace the entire netbook class computer as well as some of the lower end laptop.
i will consider the first tablet that comes with a high end wacom screen to be my personal god, and name my first born (if that ever happens) after it.
@silverblue
you never noticed the EEE Slate, been around for over half a year now
@amk-aka-phantom
not even close to a netbook, imagine an i5 laptop without a keyboard and your closer to the mark, and considering it's an i5 sandy bridge laptop it's prices relatively reasonable actually
+1 on the Eee Slate comment, somehow people keep forgetting about it... wait, not "somehow", it's the price of the damn thing, but at least it exists.
It HAS a keyboard. Don't you see a part of the dock on the photo?
No need for the personal attacks. In any case, there's a market for these sorts of devices regardless of how much you might dislike them or people who express an interest in them.
@Wish I Was Wealthy's profile
Ok, hating tablet made by certain company which is under power and cannot do many task due to limited software available is one thing. But come on! I mean how can you hate a full window os tablet with i5. It is basically a proper laptop with the touch screen replacing the keyboard (which can be added by attachment).
^ok I mean @Wish I Was Wealthy. Bad copy/paste.
@Wish I Was Wealthy's profile
Ok, hating tablet made by certain company which is under power and cannot do many task due to limited software available is one thing. But come on! I mean how can you hate a full window os tablet with i5. It is basically a proper laptop with the touch screen replacing the keyboard (which can be added by attachment).
Take a look at the whole list of his messages and that will answer your question.
EDIT: You can edit your messages (as long as you view the comments on the forum).
^Thanks. Didn't know that.
i5=yes; battery life=no
Apparently the MS tablet department just got thawed after spending the last two+ years cryogenically frozen. That's the only plausible explanation *I* can think up for their, "Hey, let's make a tablet JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER ONES NOBODY BOUGHT FOR THE LAST DECADE!" approach...
Sorry Microsoft, I'm out. No Windows8 here ever. Mac or Linux maybe, maybe even Win7 for a long time. But cloud based apps? Nope. Everything is online? Not for me? Closed system again? No control panels, no browser plugins? No command line? Everything is fee based. "Pay per view". Want to use office 2012, no problem, it's in the cloud, but it'll cost you. Want to read your email? It's in the cloud, it'll cost you. Thanks, but I'll just keep my own stuff local thank you.
@amk-aka-phantom
"It HAS a keyboard. Don't you see a part of the dock on the photo?"
lol, and in the same vein it also has a 42" flatscreen TV, thats not a keyboard it's an accessory ;p now if you had some way to stow the keyboard on the tablet that's a different kettle of fish (as well as self defeating)
I tried windows 8, the developer preview, yesterday on my desktop and lets just say it was kind of difficult to use, I really hope that ther come out with a version that is more oreinted for desktops. If not then I do not think it is worth my money unless if I am willing to buy a tablet, which I may consider now that they can actually run full desktop programs.
i5=yes; battery life=no
I am pretty sure that it's an ultra low voltage processor or else I would agree with you.
FInally! Win 8 Home group capable tablet (and most commercial ones will have an HDMI out as well!) so I can listen to my music library in any format through out the house while easily browsing the web and my computer. As much as I love my desktop I get tired of my office but need to have convenient access to databases while working. Im sure ill even be able to run programs remotely on the desktop too.
I want it , I old you guys windows 8 will be the end of ipad 2 dominance, the holy grail of os's , running windows desktop applets in tablet form and tablet interface while still being able to use that same OS on desktop. Forget these toy OS's that are closed eco-system of android and iOS
I tried windows 8, the developer preview, yesterday on my desktop and lets just say it was kind of difficult to use, I really hope that ther come out with a version that is more oreinted for desktops. If not then I do not think it is worth my money unless if I am willing to buy a tablet, which I may consider now that they can actually run full desktop programs.
Yeah, but from my understanding you can just switch to the windows 7 style desktop why didn't you do that? You don't have to use the tiled interface.
Sorry Microsoft, I'm out. No Windows8 here ever. Mac or Linux maybe, maybe even Win7 for a long time. But cloud based apps? Nope. Everything is online? Not for me? Closed system again? No control panels, no browser plugins? No command line? Everything is fee based. "Pay per view". Want to use office 2012, no problem, it's in the cloud, but it'll cost you. Want to read your email? It's in the cloud, it'll cost you. Thanks, but I'll just keep my own stuff local thank you.
That was quite a tirade, you must be exhausted.
OK for a start it will have a proper explorer, you will be able to install local apps, you can store everything locally (or on your local home network), email will still be free as long as you can use a web browser or a local email client.
All of the above things that you say you don't want are nothing to do with Windows 8, or indeed any other operating system, by any chance are you smoking crack?
All these people speaking without conscious. How many of you actually installed the Developer kit and have used it?
Windows Explorer is one keystroke away. ONE. YOU PRESS THE WINDOWS BUTTON. They'll even let you turn off Metro all together when it's released! It's still Windows, people! Btw, native image mounting, Hyper-V 3.0, huge multi monitor support, so far I love 8. All the good things about 7 + more.
Back to the tablet. Wow that thing is awesome; finally a tablet with witout a dumbed down OS. As a content consumption device I would rock the hell out of one of those. Maybe a Windows 8 + AMD Trinity APU when they hit the market next year, hot damn. Play some Diablo 3 on a nice monitor with the HDMI out and then just bongrips/internet on the couch. It's literally a computer/tablet/accessory/whatever
i guess if you put win8 on tablets with anything less powerful than an i5, you'd end up with 5000 more Android developers
Those are very respectable specs on a tablet!