We are few weeks away from the official Windows 8 release. You might have already tried the consumer preview and release candidate. I tried it on my laptop and didn’t see much improvement than Windows 7 except the metro UI.
After few days with Windows 8 I figured out it’s not designed to work with keyboard and mouse. All the controllers, gestures and total metro UI is carefully designed to work with multi touch display. If you say “Win 8 suck” after trying it on your Laptop, give it another chance with a tablet. I’m pretty sure you will change your mind.
Versions of Windows 8
There are 2 versions of Windows 8, Pro and RT. Win 8 RT is capable of running on top of mobile browsers such as ARM. But supports only Metro apps and won’t be able work as a laptop. Windows 8 Pro is a full desktop OS, support all conventional software application, still designed to work with touch displays. A little question here, where can I find desktop PC with touch screen?
It’s clear that survival of Windows 8 Pro would depend on new category of devices. They will be portable, look like tablet but will be having specification of Laptops. Finally with Windows 8 Pro Tablets are ready to replace Laptops.
Many manufactures have already introduced Windows 8 Pro tablets. But the most attractive device I came across so far is Microsoft’s very own device. Microsoft Surface Pro is under NOG spotlight today.
Specification Spotlight
Design
It’s having a design of tablet and constructed with magnesium alloy, reminds me of professional DSLR cameras. It must be highly durable and protective. It’s having multi touch, scratch resistant capacitive screen in front. In addition there is a front facing camera as well. Thickness is 13.6 mm and weight is 903 g.
In sides you can find USB port, HDMI port, expandable storage ports etc. In back panel there is a primary shooter as well as Wi-fi antenna. Kick stand is a cool concept and built in to the device body itself. As add-ons you can get a leather keyboard cover or full keyboard cover with magnetic connector.
Display
Its display is 10.6 inch IPS panel with resolution 1920 x 1080 px which will give it 208 ppi of pixel density. They have configured everything to its sweet point, right size, best resolution and decent sharpness.
Going beyond traditional tablet display, Surface Pro is having a digital pen which you can use to draw things on screen. Microsoft has develop special technology to distinguish touch of pen and hand to avoid noisy inputs.
Processor and Storage
The processor is the main thing this device makes lot better than other tablets and let it stand side by side with laptops. It’s Intel CORE i5 Ivy Bridge processor with still unknown clock speed. This will give a perfect platform to run full scale desktop OS and applications.
Amount of RAM is still unknown but it will be at least 4 GB DDR3 to meet with ultra book standards. Internal storage is 64 / 128 GB SSD. If you want more storage you have options of microSD, microSDHC and microSDXC. If you need way bigger storage get an external USB 3.0 terabyte HDD.
Camera
There is a primary shooter at back and front facing camera as well. The specification is not released yet, but some features are revealed. It’s capable of recording 1080p video and 22 degrees slanted. So it will be having straight view when kick stand is on.
Connectivity
It’s having high power MIMO Wi-fi antenna built in to deliver super speedy connectivity. There are no signs of LTE or 3G radio, but it’s having GPS with navigation.
Battery Life
The capacity of the battery is not released but it’s expected to work 8 hours with connectivity on. However, you have to wait till it comes to market to get a clear picture about actual battery life.
Wrapping Up
The magic here is, this is a full scale PC, though it looks like a tablet. It’s having Ivy bridge processor and Windows 8 Pro. So you can forget that it’s a tablet and do whatever you used to do with your desktop or laptop, plug a printer, and connect external HDD or anything.
If you like to use this as your primary PC, it’s highly possible. All you need to do is attach a big monitor through HDMI port, plug USB mouse and keyboard. When you leave home you can simply unplug them all and take only the tablet.
Sometimes ago I was talking about Laptops replacing desktop and Tablet replacing Laptops.
There I mentioned that Laptop can easily replace a desktop but tablets need lot more work before they replace laptops. But now things have turned upside down. Windows 8 is few weeks away and we are about to enjoy devices that only looks like tablets but full scale PCs inside. Now I’s have to say within few weeks laptops will get replaced by this new category of tablets.
Microsoft Surface Pro is not the only Windows 8 Pro tablet out there. Many other manufactures such as Samsung, Acer and Asus has come up with amazing products to competitive market. Stay tuned, they will be featured on NOG in the next few days.
Tags: #Microsoft #Notebook #Tablet #Windows