Isn't it really just PenWindows v. 4 or something?

Post #359,212 by Another Scott 6/20/12 7:16:26 AM Reply	Isn't it really just PenWindows v. 4 or something? MS has had a version of Windows that accepts input from the screen since at least 1995 - http://en.wikipedia....for_Pen_Computing Fujitsu has been trying to sell $1000 - $2000 laptops/tablets with pen input for years. E.g. http://store.shopfuj...an.do?series=T901 I guess they sell some of them as they keep coming up with new models every few years, but they've hardly been a runaway success. I have no doubt that MS will sell some of these Surface things with an Intel processor as well - I just don't see that it's a new!!!. Competition is good, and Surface v3 in 2017 may be quite good - I just don't see that MS will have a runaway hit here. If Apple wants to, they can make things difficult for MS on the hardware side (since Apple has this habit of buying up a large fraction of the world's small hard drive, RAM, display, etc., production). Maybe they know this is really just a niche that MS is going after. Maybe Apple sees the future in more open APIs based on the web, so the corporate space will evolve away from MS's stuff. Maybe they know it is a fool's errand to try to go after current enterprise niches like this (where MS has its API advantages). I dunno. I've never seen a Fujitsu tablet PC in the flesh... ;-) Cheers, Scott.
Post #359,213 by pwhysall 6/20/12 7:49:39 AM Reply	No. Metro is nothing like previous iterations of touch Windows. Windows RT (i.e. the variant of Windows 8 that runs on ARM-based computers) doesn't have a desktop mode at all. All Metro, all the time. Win32 doesn't even exist on Windows RT. If you've got a spare machine of reasonable spec, and there's Windows in your personal or professional future, I strongly recommend grabbing the release preview from Microsoft's site and installing it. The times they are a-changin'. My personal take? Good! I was getting bored of the existing desktop paradigm. Even if Metro turns out to be a big steaming pile, at least MS tried to move the game on.
Post #359,241 by folkert 6/20/12 7:27:38 PM Reply	So... since W8 will be a steaming pile... And Since you are bored with current iterations, what DO you want in a new "desktop" paradigm now?
Post #359,271 by pwhysall 6/21/12 2:21:13 AM Reply	It's all about bridging the touch/point divide In order get to get over the "two devices" problem. I'm running W8 right now. It's not awful, by any stretch of the imagination. The new Explorer is a great improvement. I like the new Start screen, too. But then, I like Metro, a lot.
Post #359,335 by altmann 6/21/12 8:02:37 PM Reply	Re: Win32 (actually it is still there) The desktop is still there in Windows 8 RT. And presumably Win32 is still there as well, though only so MS can run the standard desktop stuff like Windows Explorer and the cut down version of Office (which will not be a Metro app). 3rd parties don't have access to Win32 on RT however..
Post #359,216 by static 6/20/12 9:09:30 AM Reply	You may have already seen a Fujitsu tablet. You just wouldn't necessarily know it. They're the sort of things sold as part of a platform where one part is tablet device running custom software. Example: When you pick up a parcel at an Australia Post office that needs your signature, you don't squiggle in a book anymore. Instead, there is a PDA-ish device with a touch-screen, stylus, bar-code scanner and a dock. The agent goes tap-tap, scans the barcode, taps a bit more, then hands it to you to sign the screen with a stylus. It's running a not very recent version of Windows Mobile with a custom app. Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/
Post #359,218 by Another Scott 6/20/12 9:56:21 AM Reply	UPS (and probably FedEx) have similar things here. My step-mom was involved with specifying such things for her field-service people around 20 years ago. In UPS's case, at least here, they're special-purpose boxes with a bar code scanner, a membrane keyboard, and a crude signature pad. Winders may be under the hood, or in a PC on the truck, but it's different from the general-purpose tablet that Fujitsu's been trying to sell for ages. But point taken. :-) Cheers, Scott.
Post #359,233 by static 6/20/12 5:22:45 PM Reply	It was the only example I could think of. There are probably lots of other industries where a 10" touch-screen device would be a good portable terminal and done with vertical integration. I just couldn't think of any. Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/
Post #359,236 by boxley 6/20/12 5:31:48 PM Reply	you mean like here? /me flees http://www.viewtouch.com/ Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep
Post #359,272 by static 6/21/12 6:51:57 AM Reply	:-D Yes. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/

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