Rumor: Microsoft To Yank Desktop From Windows RT, Metro All The Way
Even as the Windows 9 "Threshold" debut appears imminent, Microsoft is reportedly seriously altering Windows RT as well, by removing the Desktop environment from the OS. That would leave the Metro interface as the only means of interacting with Windows RT devices, thus effectively rendering them touch-only (or at least touch-primary) tablets.
On the one hand, this is a smart move that Microsoft should have made long ago. Having two environments in Windows 8/8.1 was confusing enough for users on PCs and notebooks, but it was awful on Windows RT tablets -- even devices that docked into dedicated keyboards such as the Dell XPS 10 (pictured). In that sense, going all-Metro is a no-brainer.
On the other hand, killing the Desktop side is a weak and futile attempt to save Windows RT. As strictly a tablet, Windows RT was a virtual rounding error in terms of market share when compared to Android and iOS. The relative unpopularity of Windows 8 among end users (which trickled down to Windows RT) combined with a woefully unpopulated app store doomed these devices, and to make matters worse, the ARM-based tablets couldn't run any legacy Windows applications.
The saving grace was that Windows RT included the Desktop environment, which came with several free Office applications. You could pair or dock a Windows RT tablet with a keyboard, and suddenly you had a budget laptop and access to Word, Excel and more. Without that functionality, what value does Windows RT bring to any consumer?
Windows RT has become an albatross for Microsoft, and we suppose Microsoft should get some credit for going down swinging. Really, Redmond doesn't have much to lose by radically changing a terrible product.
It's a bit unclear from the report, but it appears that Microsoft isn't going to roll out a drastic update that will affect current Windows RT users but will instead actually push out new devices sporting the revised Windows RT. (Whether this new version turns out to be "Windows RT 9" remains to be seen.)
Whatever Microsoft is doing with Windows RT on mobile devices, though, it begs the question of why the company isn't simply leveraging Windows Phone instead.
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So from what i gathered Microsoft will combine Windows RT and Windows Phone under one umbrella called Windows Phone which means combined market share of <2.5% in other words a joke. I wonder what Microsoft is going to do with Surface Pro? A device itself is expensive and again it fails to be a good tablet or a good laptop?
I have to say that Windows Phone name makes no sense because it has nothing to do with Phone. This is a great chance for Microsoft to rename Windows Phone OS to something else, also a great chance for Microsoft to gtfo Metro from Desktop Windows. Reality they won't do any of that again bottom line Windows 9 Eco System will be another flop. One of the reasons is decision by Microsoft to push Metro within Desktop, useless float Metro Apps. WTF are they thinking? Windows 8 failure wasn't just because of lack of Start Menu but whole Metro environment being on Desktop.
The Surface Pro is a good laptop and decent tablet. I have no idea what your impression of it is, but it is totally off base.
For professional people who have to move around a lot, make presentations etc... it is great. For someone who either sits in their living room all day checking face book, obviously there are better options....
No, it does not. You don't know what "begging the question" means. It does not mean "to raise the question". You have the internet, please look it up.
Unless tablets are only used for slinging birds or making them fly... In that case rt sucked having fewer games and apps.
Excuse me, Mr. Colaner... what's your opinion on Microsoft's upcoming Office "Gemini"? What's that, you've never heard of it?
Close. Windows RT was Microsoft hedging their bets. You have to remember that about the time it came out, people weren't sure how far ARM was going to go. ARM processors already dominated tablets and phones. Would it spread to convertibles and eventually laptops and desktops too? Would Intel improve Atom and x86 enough to stave it off? Could they make inroads into the tablet and phone market?
Nobody knew if it would go one way or the other. Microsoft needed a version of Windows for ARM just in case ARM began encroaching into the laptop and desktop market. If they hadn't made RT and ARM had begun cannibalizing laptop sales, Microsoft would've had one foot in the grave. So they had to make RT, just in case.
Author just trying to get more clicks for article.
It's a shame, though, that at the outset, MS immediately crushed/bought out competitors-- leaving only Apple in the commercial OS field. I think we'd have had a broader field had they not, imho.
The obvious answer is choosing one of the supported Linux OS's & simply freeing yourself from the tyranny completely. Then, donate to the OS group & apps you use.
Try Linux Mint Mate. I guarantee you'll be amazed. Cheers
Well.. Not exactly. For the same price point you have an atom with 720p screen and plastic body (still an asus device but the plastics of the body are not hi quality plastics). Surface 2 has a good full hd ips screen and the body is made from magnesium alloy. Which, you know, doesn't come for free :-)
The desktop option was the only feature, where RT was better than opponents when RT was released. Now there are so many apps that RT has a fighting change of its own. Only metro version of office would keep it interesting enough. Now it is very useful as a hybrid option. Cheaper than Atom based tablet, more vertisal than Android or iDevice options.
What killed the microsoft mobile products was the awful battery life they had at the beginning and the inevitable comparison with the laptop and the desktop products(the same price, even less expensive and orders of magnitude more powerful).
This and the fact that the apple/google gang managed to sell the idea they offer actual personal computing in a really mobile form with great battery life, while in fact they offered a severely limited appliance designed to offer them the most with laughable apps from a decade back. Microsoft must try sell such an appliance with whatever front end or "os" they think appropriate. It only has to last between 10-15 hours on one charge when surfing or watching videos. Stick an image of an oriental guru on it, have it advertised by madonna and they are set.
They should try to offer their big guns when they are ready, not when the market says so. Trying to force the pc to an appliance form is like trying to take the Sequoia supercomputer and confine it to a desktop. But I will not blame the supercomputer because it can't naturally fix in a box. I will wait for the technology to catch up. Which brings us to another black spot of today's tablets. They should actually be much cheaper for what they offer.