Is Microsoft Killing RT?

It's no secret that RT, the ARM based version of Windows 8, isn't winning the battle.  The problems identified a day or so ago with upgrading existing RT Windows 8 to 8.1 certainly hasn't helped.

By the way, some reports, probably including my last post, may imply that the whole Windows 8.1 upgrade has been pulled by Microsoft.  It hasn't and if you are running version 8.0 on a laptop or desktop, or on a Surface Pro, then it seems there is no reason why you shouldn't upgrade and plenty of reasons why you should.

But the RT version is a different beast and is a compromise.  It's designed to run on a mobile phone processor so there is inevitably some areas that it is going to underperform.  To be clear, if you like the form factor of the Surface, virtually the same size as an iPad, literally one once heavier, with the touchy, feely interface that the iPad has championed but you don't want the RT, then buy the Pro.  But be aware that although you're going to get a faster machine that will run legacy Windows 7 programs you are going to have to fork out a lot more cash.  And if you want to do something productive, such as using Word or Excel (and let's face it, if you don't hanker after that level of functionality, why aren't you looking at an iPad or Nexus?) then on the Pro you'll have to pay for the license.

But with the RT you get iPad-like functionality, Office 365 to run and edit your Office documents and, should Microsoft get the update to 8.1 sorted out, Outlook as well for much the same price as an iPad.  It should be a no-brainer unless you're computing requirements are limited to Facebook and surfing, in which case perhaps 'no-brainer' may be literally true.  If you want to write using a real word processor, calculate using formulas, produce PowerPoint slides that can be used on any PC in the world then perhaps RT isn't looking too shabby.

However it still doesn't seem to spin a lot of wheels, even now it's being discounted ahead of the Surface 2 launch.  The reason is the lack of apps.  Full fat Windows 8 is doing OK, but the developers are fighting shy of expending effort on the RT version.  And there's the problem; until the apps reach a critical mass, sales of the RT based machines will be slow.  While they are slow, development of new apps will lag.  A vicious circle.  Microsoft have been flashing the cash lately, and have even offered serious cash to developers to jump on-board.  Perhaps they need to do more.

One way would be to set up an app development team that worked with the major app producers; give them a financial incentive to develop RT based apps or offer talent to do the development specifically for the RT on their behalf, still providing cash incentives.  Make the offer time limited; sign up before a certain date or take a risk that the well will be dry.

Whatever Microsoft do, hopefully they won't give up on RT.  Unless they can produce a full featured version like the Pro at RT prices the world will be a poorer place and we'll just have to stand by and watch Google and Apple slug it out.  Microsoft have offered  the possibility of a third way, an alternative route that makes tablet computing grow up and act like adults.  Without this level of competition there's no reason for the other two to make their devices suitable the grown up world.

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One Step Forward

Regular readers will know that I purchased a Microsoft Surface RT earlier this year when I was let down by the self destruction of my Google Nexus 7.  For those who haven't read all of my posts, here's an abridged bitch about how I ended up spending £400 on the Microsoft machine.

I was given the Nexus for my birthday last year, just after it was launched and to be honest it was a good machine.  It went everywhere with me - which is reasonable as it is a portable tablet.  I do have a generic case for it, but often it was carried around naked in my jeans pockets - did I mention it was pocket sized as well as portable?  Anyway, after a not too taxing bimble around the Lake District earlier this year I pulled my Nexus out of a side pocket to while away a few moments while crossing a lake on a steamer when I realised that somewhere along the way the screen had spontaneously self destructed, cracked from arsehole to breakfast time.

A quick search on the internet using my wife's iPhone revealed that this was a fairly common experience.  Anyway, to cut a long story short, Asus (manufacturer) will only consider looking at such damage if the owner parts with £50 and will only refund that if it decides (without arbitration) that the fault is a manufacturing one.  If they throw the bones down and decide it is user induced, they keep the money and offer to repair at an exorbitant cost.  Somewhere between the cost of a new Nexus and the ticket price on a Virgin Galactic flight.

So I decided to walk away from Google branded equipment and bought a Surface RT instead, hoping to find that replacement screens and digitisers come down in price in the near future.  I'm still waiting, and the near future is now a distant memory. As an aside, while in Boston, MA the other week I came across a stall in a mall offering to repair a variety of broken screens on iPhones, iPads, Galaxies, other machines.  Average price seemed to be about $60 all in.  I spoke with the young man at the stall to ask if they repaired the Nexus - I didn't have it with me, why would I take a broken tablet on vacation?  Anyhow, said young man pulled a pained expression when I asked if the Nexus could be repaired - he answered yes and started to fiddle with some spares he'd been collecting together, not really making eye contact.  How much? I asked.  About $200, he replied.  And he agreed that you could buy a brand new 16GB Nexus 7 for much the same amount, he just couldn't do anything about the price.  So if you're in the market for a pocket sized portable tablet then by all means consider the Nexus, just don't expect it to be portable or suitable for putting in your pocket.

Anyway, I bought the RT and it's been very good in general - it does have a habit of installing updates and rebooting without warning - we're talking Microsoft here remember - and I have had a few occasions when it didn't want to wake up at all, eventually rebooting.  Either it's a teenager, I'm interrupting an unannounced update or I've an intermittent fault on my machine.  On the upside, I've typed around 50,000 words on the snap-on keyboard and it's still working like brand new.  Outside of authors I suspect most users won't use the keyboard as aggressively.

But Windows 8 is far from perfect, so Microsoft have been working feverishly on a new version, Windows 8.1. Highlights are a Start button (I can't get too worked up about that - it lets you toggle between the old desktop and the new tiled interface, so what?).  It does allow unlimited web pages to be viewed by your machine - I expect there is a limit, but the current limit is way too small and the random culling of web pages is a little irritating, although the pinning facility means they are relatively easy to restore.  You can view up to four web pages side by side with the new OS, which is likely to be a little challenging on an RT screen, but useful on an extended screen.  Two pages maximum on the RT is considered the maximum that is practical.  It also allows a 50:50 split on screen - Windows 8 allows a 1/3:2/3 split, which has it's place but is often not a great choice.

Perhaps the biggest update is the inclusion of Outlook to complement the existing Office 365 that gets bundled in for free. 

So, what's the catch?  Well it seems that Microsoft pulled the upgrade off its store within 24 hours of launch.  There are a few sites out there that obtained the code to download but the way I look at this is if Microsoft are worried enough to pull the OS so soon after launch, why would I want to risk messing my machine about.  Plus some of the instructions to upgrade take me back to my maths degree - if you've got to resort to coding just to upgrade a piece of software then something is seriously wrong.

The upgrade sounds like it could be worthwhile, but I'm going to hold fire until I hear that Microsoft have re-launched the OS and then I'll let it stabilise, maybe 48 hours this time.

And the Nexus?  Well,  I'm convinced I'll get it up and running, it just may find itself in a different housing with a different function.  I'll canvas those inventive persons at B L O'Feld Megalomaniac Industries, I'm sure they will have a few evil suggestions that will make Google sit up.

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Could Microsoft Buy Nook?

Barnes & Noble are fighting an uphill battle, as are many of the traditional bookstores world-wide.  To be fair to B&N they recognised that the future of literature involved a heavy helping of eBooks and consequently invested in their eBookstore and launched generation after generation of ground breaking Nook eReaders.

The only mis-step I can see is that they took too long to establish themselves in the UK.  We may not be the largest eBook market on the planet - that's the US - but we're pretty big players.  They had an opportunity a year and a half ago when they were being wooed by Waterstones, a  UK bookseller filling a similar market segment to B&N.  I have no idea what went wrong - possibly they were a little too alike - but B&N didn't sign up and Waterstones started to stock Kindles, for goodness sake.

That brief outburst of frustration is not that there is anything wrong with Kindles - I have one and think it's great, I use the Kindle app on my Microsoft RT too. Technically I have it on my Nexus, but as I can't get past the cracked startup screen I don't count that one.  No, my frustration is due to Waterstones badmouthing Amazon and their overt attempts at ruling the eBook world.  If I didn't know better, I'd say I was writing copy for Waterstones back then, certainly I didn't have the monopoly on concern over Amazon.  But, the deal with B&N apparently gone south, Waterstones jumped into bed with Amazon even though their online eBookstore sells ePubs, not Kindle books.  Talk about mixed messages.

Anyway, B&N are struggling, have been for a couple of years.  They design their eReaders in-house, which is ballsy for a bookseller - it must be all those electronics books on the shelves - and they've been building them themselves too.  Now that does surprise me - I assume they are the first tier in the production chain, working with whichever factories produce their products, but now they are looking for someone to take over the whole production process.  They're still going to continue to design them in-house though, at least for the time being.

They'd be long gone, I reckon, if it hadn't been for a couple of handouts - or investments as the market probably calls them - and one of these was from Microsoft.  But the road is still very bumpy and there's a lot of concern about the future viability of B&N eReaders.  Speculation is that Microsoft may be muscling in for a takeover.

It makes a lot of sense, assuming B&N are truly up to their neck in muck.  Microsoft would get a foot in the eBook market, another step towards erasing the Apple differentiation and one that sits well with the Xbox music.  Also, the platform could be used to launch further Windows 8 tablets - maybe there's still life in RT after all?  And it keeps B&N as a viable entity in the eBook world and I for one would be grateful.  I'm unlikely to buy a B&N product right now - as I said they left it late launching in the UK and I'm up to my ears in Kindles, Microsoft Surfaces and cracked Google Nexii right now, but in another time I might consider it.  As an author who sells a proportion of his books through the B&N network to their clearly discerning readers, I want them to continue , if only to challenge Amazon.

The sale price is rumoured to be in the region of $1 billion, which suggests B&N aren't out of the game yet.  My guess is that Microsoft will be looking to get in before the main holiday sales push - there's only one real time to gain market share and that time is coming up in a few months.  So we should know before September  is out.

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RT, But Not Farty

I've spent the last few days getting to know my new tablet, the Microsoft RT.  In many ways this has been a voyage of discovery as I'm learning a new way of working with a tablet and with a new OS.

The first impressions of the RT are very promising - clearly someone at Microsoft has been paying close attention to Apple as unpacking the RT is very much in the same vein as unpacking an iPad or any other Apple product, down to the white packaging and the carefully laid out compartments for each item.  Also in keeping with Apple products, the RT comes with minimal instructions or indeed any other peripheral equipment.  Basically it is the RT and the charger.  The one thing that does strike you, though, is that the RT is a solid piece of hardware - it feels solid and does weigh a bit more than an iPad in my estimation.  The screen size is figured to be larger than the iPad, too, but due to its widescreen format it may or may not appear to be.  The screen format is designed around watching films.

The keyboard is an optional extra - you can use the RT like any other tablet, but I would expect you wouldn't be getting the best out of the supplied Microsoft Office package if you decided against a keyboard.  With my purchase the keyboard was supplied in the price - £399.99 or about US$650. There is a choice of keyboard - they have a flat keyboard with no moving parts that senses when you tap the keys and is essentially waterproof - possibly a good option for those who need to type in a pub.  The alternative is a micro-keyboard that's quite tactile and is the option I took up.  Being a touch typist I find it works very effectively and can recommend it, but please note it is quite clacky in use.

Placing the keyboard close to the RT allows the magnets to do their stuff and the keyboard attaches itself effortlessly and firmly.  Removing and reattaching is a breeze and the keyboard itself doesn't have its own power supply - all power is derived from the Li-Ion battery supplied in the tablet.  Initially, though, the keyboard won't be recognised until you've started your RT and set it up.  However the keyboard provides protection for the screen when it is closed up, and given my recent experience with the Nexus screen cracking spontaneously I can be forgiven for being a little protective of it, even though the guys at the Microsoft stand at the Gadget Show did insist that the screen is Gorilla Glass, as per the iPad.

It's worth recognising at this point the differences between the RT and its big brother, the Surface Pro.  Apart from the price - and for reasons that I haven't worked out I could have bought the same model, with the same keyboard in the same shop for £150 more than I did. Naturally I resisted. The Pro would have cost a lot more, no matter what deals they were doing.  The RT is basically based on mobile phone ARM processor technology and comes in 32gb and 64gb flavours.  I chose the 32gb version which comes with MS Office, the Windows 8 OS and a handful of apps installed and I have about 16gb left to play with.  However there is a micro SD card port that takes up to 64gb cards - one on its way courtesy of eBay for £12.50 including postage - so there's no real need to fill the hard drive up with photos, music and documents.  And of course it automatically links to your SkyDrive account so anything you have up there in the cloud is available on the RT.

So, we have a mobile phone processor.  What else is different?  Well, the biggest issue anyone might find is that you can only load native Windows 8 software on the RT, whereas on the Pro you can load Windows 7 software.  There are some obvious gaps in the limited software that I like to use, including some Apps that are freely available on Android and iOS, unfortunately including Sherlock, the feature of a recent posting.  I've checked with Everett at Kaser Towers and he's not interested in supporting the RT OS while it's still a niche OS..  However this is a new OS and support is building.  For example my printer, an Epson all in one WiFi model, isn't currently supported but Epson state on their site that they are working on making their products Windows 8 compatible.  Until then I'll have to transfer any documents I want to print to the laptop via SkyDrive.  However, as I said in an earlier posting, this device does address the issue that Apple and Android have failed to tackle with their tablets and that is making it a machine you can do useful work on as well as play.  Until Office is available for those other OS machines, this is the most practical option open.

But this is supposed to be about what the difference is between the RT and the Surface Pro, well one major difference between the two models is that you have to pay for MS Office on the Pro, so that makes the RT even better value.

In use the Windows 8 OS is different from any previous Windows interface, but a couple of years of using iOS and Android devices has prepared me for many of the features and I didn't even look at the on-line manual for the first six or so hours of playing with the RT.  As I'd had a preview at the Gadget show I knew to swipe from the right hand side to get the charms, as MS call them, visible.  The most useful charm is the Windows 8 charm which takes you to the Start screen.  From there you can look at your emails - although you need a Microsoft email account to access the on-line features of RT it does allow you to link other email accounts such as Yahoo to it - or one of a dozen other tasks straight out of the box. 

The browser does take a little getting used to - MS were late to the field with tabs in earlier versions of IE and in the Windows 8 browser they appear to have disappeared again.  However, when viewing any webpage, if you swipe down from the top of the screen you reveal all the open webpages and can toggle freely between them.  You can close down ones you no longer need to keep things tidy, but you don't need to - Windows 8 will close down ones you're not using after a decent period.  It's the same with Apps - they stay running until the system decides you're not playing any more, then it closes them down in the background.  You can also save webpages by pinning them to the Start screen.  So if you always open the same webpages every morning you can pin them and you can open them straight off.

Checking what Apps you do have open at any time requires a nifty swipe from the left hand side of the screen, arcing around and returning to the side of the frame.  At that point the left hand side turns into a column of icons showing you what Apps are open.  Touching the App you want to work on opens it up full screen.  if you decide to stick with the App you're currently viewing, just swipe the column back into the side.

Clearly I've only just scratched the - er - surface of the RT but early impressions are very favourable.  I've written this blog entry with the supplied keyboard and RT sat on my knee while sat on a sofa.  I have a wireless mouse plugged into the USB port and I'm currently streaming Joe Bonamassa tracks from the Xbox channel for free, listening through my Sennheisser wireless headphones with no latency issues.  The sound through the built in speakers is pretty good too.  All in all the RT is living up to the promise it makes in the adverts, although I have got over the novelty of clicking and unclicking the keyboard on and off.


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A Bit of Blue

I found Bill Gates agreeing with me the other day.  That's not to say Bill and I don't see eye to eye all the time, but it was a rare occasion where I posted a blog entry explaining reasons why I think Windows 8 tablets will revive the Microsoft product line.  I banged on a bit about how only the Microsoft powered devices can be considered fit for business purposes.  Then lo and behold!  Old Bill pops up and makes pretty much the same statements.  Now I'm not suggesting that Bill read my blog and thought he'd steal the words - rather I suggest that the direction Microsoft find themselves on right now isn't accidental and both Bill and I decided to mention it at about the same point in time.

I did notice Bill failed to suggest that Apple should be making their products more like business machines, unlike my posting.  Probably so that I couldn't cite him as a plagiarist.

Anyway, it seems that a lot of people aren't as enamoured by Windows 8 as me and Bill are.  It seems that in part many don't like it on non touch-screen computers.  I looked at it being demonstrated on a computer without a touch-screen and although you do lose a chunk of the intuitive nature of the software, it still seemed like progress.  It would make me hark for a touch screen monitor, if used on a desktop, but it wasn't a deal breaker.  In fact I looked up my options to upgrade my Windows 7 laptop as soon as I got home and found that it was £100 to upgrade.  That was a deal breaker for me and I said so.  Microsoft need to incentivise the transition to non touch-screen devices now, in my opinion.

Another complaint from Windows 8 users and wannabees is the lack of the Start button.  Until Windows 95, the Start button didn't exist.  I've two favourite memories of this innovation, one from the papers, one from personal experience.  The first one is that to launch Windows 95 Microsoft wanted a strong Ad campaign backed by a strong musical hook.  So they decided on 'Start Me Up' by the Rolling Stones.  Now I'm of that generation and while I agree it's a great track, I hadn't heard of it when they launched.  To be honest, I don't think I even registered the song when the adverts came out even though I was eagerly awaiting any information about the new OS.  Anyway the story goes that Microsoft phoned up Mick Jagger, or one of his flunkys, and asked how much to use 'Start Me Up' for the advert and the answer came back in a heartbeat '£1 million' or some similar ridiculous sum.  It was intended to either get them to put the phone down or at least start the negotiation at a sensible number.  Apparently the Stones nearly fainted when the voice on the other end said 'OK'.  I bet Mick wished he's asked double.

The second story was recounted to me by the owner of a B&B in Kent when I was on a course with a bunch of other RAF guys.  Anyway, this guy explained that he'd decided to 'get into computing' and had bought a brand new Windows 95 PC from a  local seller who promised to set it up and get him going.  The seller turns up, shows the guy how to start the machine up and, once 95 had loaded, proceeded to make a big deal about how you used the 'Start' button to start just about anything.  It seemed sensible and really intuitive, so the seller left the house with our hero really pleased and playing with his new toy for a few more hours - we've all been there.  Then he decided he really ought to go to bed and spent an hour trying to find the 'Stop' button.

The 'Start' button did in fact cause a lot of complaints when it arrived - who needed it, we never had it before.  But people persevered - they had to, Windows 95 was a step change from Windows 3.11 and the Start button was an integral part of it, and now we have a generation and a half that believes it can't live without it.

So Microsoft have listened and now they are about to announce an upgrade to Windows 8, codenamed Blue.  The option to have a Start button is apparently part of that upgrade.  I hope it isn't compulsory - I'm not afraid of change and while I don't welcome change for change sake, neither do I like hanging onto redundant features like a blanky.

Another feature that is likely to be launched is the ability to boot into the legacy Windows OS screen - you can currently flip into it once you've booted into the Windows 8 tile screen.  I can see the benefit of being able to run to what is familiar, especially if you're struggling to complete some real work - remember Windows 8 touch-screen tablets allow you to do that - and you can't find what you're looking for.  I'm not saying I won't flip to the legacy screen when I start using Windows 8, but my intention is to move forward whenever possible.  Flipping once booted, if needed, will be fine by me.

I see the complaints to be similar to the ones I get all the time when people are exposed to Office 2007 when they're used to using the earlier versions.  I was an early adopter of Office 2007 - actually in 2007 - as the firm I was working for wanted 100 people worldwide to trial it.  I invested a working day to get my head around the ribbons and I've never looked back.  If you can't find something in Office 2007 and later versions then you're probably looking too hard - whoever decided what to put on the home ribbons really understood how real people use the products and put all the useful bits on that ribbon.

So to keep momentum going Microsoft are getting a bit blue.  As usual it will present an opportunity for them to iron out the inevitable faults that will be in the first production version, and that alone marks a good point in the development cycle, unless you're one of the unintentional beta testers who paid for the privilege.  But it also presents an opportunity for the less brave to take baby steps towards the future. 

Because although I think tablets are here to stay I'm not convinced that they will be the predominant technology in five or ten years time.  But touch-screen computing in many guises will be and the software needed to support that will need to support business uses too.  Hopefully Blue will be the version of Windows 8 that marks its general adoption.

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