It’s time for Ballmer to go.
Category: Microsoft
Surface RT Teardown’d⇢
Apple’s stuff looks better, even inside.
Navigating Windows 8⇢
The word “intuitive” doesn’t come to mind.
The Microsoft Store Experience⇢
Marco Arment, on talking with a retail employee demoing the Surface:
I gave up. It was like arguing with a Tea Partier.
It sounds like Microsoft copied all but the most important part of Apple’s stores: the people.
‘The Clock is Ticking’⇢
Joshua Topolsky:
The promise of the Surface was that it could deliver a best-in-class tablet experience, but then transform into the PC you needed when heavier lifting was required. Instead of putting down my tablet and picking up my laptop, I would just snap on my keyboard and get my work done. But that’s not what the Surface offers, at least not in my experience. It does the job of a tablet and the job of a laptop half as well as other devices on the market, and it often makes that job harder, not easier. Instead of being a no-compromise device, it often feels like a more-compromise one.
Why Microsoft’s Surface Ad Might be a Miss
Lots of words have been written about Microsoft’s new Surface ad. I think Gruber said it best:
It’s a brand ad, not a product ad — not about what Surface can do or how. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. The ad has a clear message: Surface is an iPad-size tablet with a magnetic keyboard cover and it’s fun. That’s a pretty good message. It’s about framing the product in people’s minds.
On the iPad and Surface RT⇢
Craig Grannell, on people comparing the Surface RT and iPad:
It’ll be interesting to see if this is how others weigh up the pros and cons of the two systems. But to me, an extra 16 GB of storage space doesn’t cancel out a vastly better display—the thing that you spend all your time looking at and interacting with.
It’s about far more than a screen, however — the iPad has a huge ecosystem of apps, and bump in storage can make up for that. Windows RT is Microsoft starting over, and it’s important not to forget that.
Microsoft Announces Surface RT Pricing⇢
Tom Warren at The Verge:
The 10.6-inch Surface, powered by Windows RT, will go on sale on October 26th and will be priced starting at $499 for the 32GB version without Touch Cover and a 32GB version with the Touch Cover for $599. Microsoft is also offering 64GB model for $699 with a Touch Cover included.
Microsoft Limiting Flash in IE 10 on Windows RT and ‘New Windows UI’⇢
Microsoft:
While any site can play Flash content in Internet Explorer 10 for the desktop, only sites that are on the Compatibility View (CV) list for Flash can play Flash content within Internet Explorer 10 in the the new Windows UI. We place sites with Flash content on the CV list if doing so delivers the best user experience in Internet Explorer 10 with those sites. For example, how responsive is the content to touch? Does it work well with the onscreen keyboard, or affect battery life? Do visual prompts comply with the Windows Store app user experience guidelines? Sites that rely on capabilities (for example, rollover events and peer-to-peer (P2P) functionality) that are not supported within Windows UX guidelines for Windows Store apps, and don’t degrade gracefully in their absence, are better off running in Internet Explorer 10 for the desktop with Flash.
Ballmer Publishes Shareholder Letter⇢
The Microsoft CEO:
In all our work with partners and on our own devices, we will focus relentlessly on delivering delightful, seamless experiences across hardware, software and services. This means as we, with our partners, develop new Windows devices we’ll build in services people want. Further, as we develop and update our consumer services, we’ll do so in ways that take full advantage of hardware advances, that complement one another and that unify all the devices people use daily. So right out of the box, a customer will get a stunning device that is connected to unique communications, productivity and entertainment services from Microsoft as well as access to great services and applications from our partners and developers around the world.
On Machine Gun Kelly and the Microsoft Store⇢
Well, my WTF quota is met for the day.
iCloud and Windows
iCloud for Windows got an update today too, but there’s not much to say about it.