Bill Gates defends Windows 8 and Surface

[nsane.forums]

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates defended the company's Windows 8 OS and its Surface tablets, saying that they are trying to gain market share in tablets which have been dominated by the iPad.

 

 

While Microsoft has yet to give any official sales numbers for its Surface tablets, research firm IDC claims that the company shipped 900,000 Surface units in the first quarter of 2013. In an interview on the CNBC business news cable TV network, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates defended Microsoft's efforts in entering the tablet market.

 

The interview was conducted in Omaha, Nebraska in a joint talk with Warren Buffet, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. When asked about what the world will look like in the future with tablets competing with the PC, Gates stated that Windows 8 was designed to work with both tablets and PCs and the Surface tablets can have the portability of a tablet with the uses of a PC. He said:

 

It's going to be harder and

harder to distinguish products,

whether they are tablets or PCs.

With Windows 8, Microsoft is trying

to gain share in what has been

dominated by the iPad type

device.

A lot

of those users are

frustrated.

They can't type.

They can't create documents.

They don't have Office there.

So we are providing something with the benefits they have seen that have made that a big category without giving up what they

expect in a PC.

 

Gates also said there are a number of strong tech companies out there, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Samsung. He added:

 

If you do deep software both on the

client and deep services, if you

have things that are unique for

businesses, which is a

particular strength of

Microsoft, the software business

is an amazing business to be in both

in terms of growth and the

profitability dynamics

.

View: Original Article

[DKT27]

This is where they fail hardly. They are trying to beat iPad, not targeting something unique, but something that all can adjust or love.

[calguyhunk]

The only thing I learnt from that video is that piracy rates are higher in China than in India :wtf: From what Bill said, even Govt. run companies and institutions apparently use pirated Windows!! :o I'd have never thought of that ;)

[dMog]

well..if you want to be better than an ipad..you gotta offer something better don't you...the big thing about ipad is that they do NOT have flash ... there is something to exploit...but you still have to be better or just as good as your competitor .... that ain't happening yet is it

[nIGHT]

The big problem is.... Micros0ft not listening to its customers, pc/laptop/tablet manufacturers and retailers. :unsure:

Customers complaints on the new Wind0ws 8 os., you already know about it!

Manufacturers said that Micros0ft should not enter into the laptop/tablet business market. "You're going to ruin the balanced!"

Retailers complaints are quite simple. "How are we going to sell these and who will buy these sh1ts?"

hahahaha! :P

[Bu7ch]

Surface is cool (noiseless, lightweight) but expensive for me

[MidnightDistortions]

Either Bill Gates doesn't understand where people coming from or he seems to not care so much about what MS is doing to their users. MS had the ability to create a start screen in a windowed mode, it didn't need to be full screen. But hey if you wanted it that way it could be an option as well as having an option to first load it at start up. It didn't have to be totally intrusive, i think Bill would have done it the way i mentioned above but they went and removed the start menu, replaced it with a start screen and tried to put on a fancy touch screen UI that more than often keeps everything hidden. While this is the case with previous Windows, you didn't have to try to search for the power settings or try to figure out how the start menu works. There's another article on 8.1: http://www.nsaneforums.com/topic/169073-microsoft-confirms-windows-blue-reveals-changes/

there are not many photos on it yet and i'd prefer to wait to see a demo before condemning it or praising it yet.. but i don't think it'll be much better than WIn 8. It'll fix most or all of the bugs but what about the UI? If they manage to bring back the Win 7 desktop UI and return many of the features that make Win 7 so great then MS will head in the right direction. From the photos i have seen though, that seems unlikely.. the UI still looks different but like i said i am not condemning it yet, but i'm not hopeful it'll be that much better than 8.

[Kalju]

The last 15 years in Windows life - only a facelift, and bug fixes, no development...

[dMog]

again...MS knows the future IS tablets with touch screens (phones too) and the MS product for mp3 is joke.does anyone own a zune...or for that matter know anyone that does???.. why they cannot see they need something just as good as an ipad/ipod/iphone is beyond common sense..more so to NOT bring to market something so similar in features that people that already own an apple product would seriously take a look and consider buying... i have looked at them and the MS product meant to challenge sales with my ipad and my ipod touch don't come close to what the apple products can do... that is why sales have faltered..they do not have a product people want to buy...as for new computers... desk tops are on the way out and not too many people want spend 2 thousand dollars or more every 6 months to a year when a new OS or new bigger stronger faster note book comes out...

[calguyhunk]

This is where they fail hardly. They are trying to beat iPad, not targeting something unique, but something that all can adjust or love.

well..if you want to be better than an ipad..you gotta offer something better don't you...the big thing about ipad is that they do NOT have flash ... there is something to exploit...but you still have to be better or just as good as your competitor .... that ain't happening yet is it

Personally, I think Windows tablets have a huge market provided they come at a sane price point ($199-$499 depending on specs). Price 'em there and people will be buying 'em by the millions. Tablets that let you install legacy PC apps is bound to succeed for practical reasons - no matter how 'different the interface. Just no RT bull****. :angry:

If MS is convinced that they need an ARM tablet OS inspite of the upcoming low power Haswell x86 chips, they better follow the lead of Apple and Google and use the same OS for both their (ARM based) phones and tabs. 3-4 different OS'es with different underlying technologies is confusing the mess out of the regular folks and annoying the hell out of the techies :mad2:

Either Bill Gates doesn't understand where people coming from or he seems to not care so much about what MS is doing to their users. MS had the ability to create a start screen in a windowed mode, it didn't need to be full screen. But hey if you wanted it that way it could be an option as well as having an option to first load it at start up. It didn't have to be totally intrusive, i think Bill would have done it the way i mentioned above but they went and removed the start menu, replaced it with a start screen and tried to put on a fancy touch screen UI that more than often keeps everything hidden. While this is the case with previous Windows, you didn't have to try to search for the power settings or try to figure out how the start menu works. There's another article on 8.1: http://www.nsaneforums.com/topic/169073-microsoft-confirms-windows-blue-reveals-changes/

there are not many photos on it yet and i'd prefer to wait to see a demo before condemning it or praising it yet.. but i don't think it'll be much better than WIn 8. It'll fix most or all of the bugs but what about the UI? If they manage to bring back the Win 7 desktop UI and return many of the features that make Win 7 so great then MS will head in the right direction. From the photos i have seen though, that seems unlikely.. the UI still looks different but like i said i am not condemning it yet, but i'm not hopeful it'll be that much better than 8.

The big problem is.... Micros0ft not listening to its customers, pc/laptop/tablet manufacturers and retailers. :unsure:

Customers complaints on the new Wind0ws 8 os., you already know about it!

Manufacturers said that Micros0ft should not enter into the laptop/tablet business market. "You're going to ruin the balanced!"

Retailers complaints are quite simple. "How are we going to sell these and who will buy these sh1ts?"

hahahaha! :P

I personally think that the "Surface" is an idea worth exploring - just not at that price point :o Apple gets away with it 'cuz that's the 'Apple premium' that their legions of cool-aid drinking followers and their technologically challenged brethren are ready to pay and have been doing so for years. None of us will pay that much to get something that we can get for $300 ;)

[MidnightDistortions]

that is why sales have faltered..they do not have a product people want to buy...as for new computers... desk tops are on the way out and not too many people want spend 2 thousand dollars or more every 6 months to a year when a new OS or new bigger stronger faster note book comes out...

While i agree desktops are losing sales, it's mainly due to the fact that there is real no demand for more power. Windows 8 is proof of that, it's less resource intensive as Windows 7 is. There's still a pretty large amount of old XP machines running and no matter what there are still people every day either buying prebuilt or DIY desktops so while the market is declining there is still a market for them. It's just not as nearly well as it used to be and many retail stores may just either condense their PC displays (meaning fewer selections) or they will all together remove them depending on the areas that are not doing really bad. We'll still see plenty of DIY builds and that's not going to change much as there are quite a lot of people who are able to build their own PCs and know how to repair older ones. Heck if my 03' laptop was still functional i'd still be using it. The fact that laptops don't have a much higher lifespan (due to heat) than desktops do encourages me to primarily use desktops. Eventually i might go to laptop but only if i plan on being out for a lengthy amount of time. With the lack of money, i could always use my work's wi-fi and cut down my spending by cutting off my internet service. But i hope i don't have to go that route just yet.

Anyway right now i just don't have a necessity for tablets, i have an android phone that i am happy with right now. Tablets are fairly decent, but like laptops i don't have much use for them yet.

[dMog]

just purchased( 2 1/2 months) a good high end note book..win8 64 bit..this is the first computer i did not build myself... if you could actually buy a shell of a notebook and put your own customized stuff from cd/dvd/blueray to battery size to what display I as well as most of the rest of the poele that hang out here @ nsanedown would build thier own notebooks themselves too

[MidnightDistortions]

DIY notebook PC's would be great. We might see these in the near future if there is a demand for them. Although they won't be really thin and they might be a bit heavier than your conventional laptops.