With its Surface tablet now a few hours away from launch, Microsoft has expressed its dissatisfaction with consumers carrying around both a tablet and laptop.
Microsoft's vice president of Windows web services, Anthony LeBlonde, said the desktop division is not being killed by touch UIs. In reality, the firm disagrees with carrying around both a tablet and a laptop as opposed to a single device, such as the Surface, which offers balance between the two.
"I'm going to be blunt about it, you just have to look at the amount of people who are walking around with multiple PCs today and that's because the world is cleaved in two. We're walking around with [a tablet] and we're walking around with a laptop and there's no reason [for that]," he said.
"There are the same components inside these things, it is just a software choice someone made on your behalf. A fundamental point of view we have is that you don't need to have multiple devices like this to do what you need to be doing - whether it's sitting on couch watching a movie or taking notes."
LeBlonde goes on to say that he doesn't believe the desktop is dead because there are so many great apps for the desktop that a lot of people consider important. He also stressed that owning a desktop and a more touch friendly modern UI contained within the same operating system is key to the current lineup of computer systems and tablets. His comment, of course, is solidified by the fact that Acer, Asustek Computer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, ZTE, among others are releasing their own Windows 8-powered tablets/laptops/ultrabooks. Elsewhere, HP CEO Meg Whitman has criticized Microsoft's Surface, saying it "doesn't function like a laptop" and "lacks a keyboard you can do real work on."