Windows 8 Shoehorns Touch Into Desktops And Laptops: This Won’t End Well
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
Microsoft has laid a great foundation for an extremely diverse ecosystem. Apple-esque one-device-to-rule-them allism is so 2007. As someone painfully typing this out on an iPad (a platform which laughably does not support split window multi-tasking or variable thumb keyboard sizes and layouts) I can personally cannot wait to switch to a truly modern ecosystem.
No wonder Tim Cook is so eager to laugh it off.
Probably because most users settle for the default configuration of their machines, just like OEMs only barely change what MS hands them.
That is, someone has to design the whole functioning of the system and OEMs don't have a good track record.
Specifically, the keyboard is okay for typing text into a single text-box, but little else. You cannot navigate the OS with the keyboard - for example if you press the return to Springboard button (in the function row) you then have to swipe through the app trays and select an app with your fingers. In apps the situation is little better - in the Facebook app, for instance, you can't send a message by pressing Return, you have to touch the Send key.
Simply put, keyboard support in iOS is clearly a distant afterthought. Maybe with one of Logitech's nicer keyboard/case solutions, you could use it okay to fire off an email. But it's never going to be a machine you would want to do any sort of real work on. I like browsing the web, but as soon as I want to do any typing, forget it, I'm better off going back to my desktop. With W8 Microsoft appears to have put keyboard integration at the heart of the OS from day one - an attitude which hopefully trickles down to individual app developers. Not only that, but mouse and trackpad support is also fully baked-in (not to mention stylus support). And Microsoft seems to have a much superior focus on actual ergonoics and usability - eg their variable thumb keyboard sizing (try typing on an ipad with the thumb keyboard in the horizontal orientation - then try it with a case or smart case on for extra pain).
If Acer's Iconia w510 had stylus support for instance, I think you would have a device with class-beating flexibility, portability and productivity. Its already pretty close.