The iPad Mini’s out, but here’s why Microsoft’s Surface is going to be huge

So, the Surface is going to do well because it's the third competitor against two well-established players, and a three-player market is better for consumers? This must finally be the year of the Linux desktop as well.

I think that releasing Surface RT first will confuse a lot of customers. Many people are saying incorrectly that Surface will run Windows apps, but my understanding is that Surface RT won't, but a subsequent version will. If this is true, and if this gets Microsoft a lot of bad press, it will basically kill the Surface. Also, the iPad mini, despite my belief that it will completely cannibalize iPad sales and hurt Apple, will likely inhibit people from buying Surface as well.

In the Windows PC world, of which the Surface is an extension, you are used to being able to shop around for a less expensive model with the same fundamental specs.

They're fighting against OEMs that will try and make something like Surface, only cheaper. If they can, then Microsoft will be competing against them. If they can't because the licensing costs are too high, they'll abandon Windows and actively work against Microsoft.

Apple doesn't have this problem because of how they've structured their market. It's a premium product. You don't look for cheaper versions. At best you look for sales.

This site is a usability horror.

Ugh this is a pretty mobile site but scrolling all the way to the top enables some kind of pull to refresh type action that takes me to the next story. Also the now obvious icon for menus on the top left opens something completely different to a site menu. This is a visually appealing but otherwise frustrating mobile site to explore.

> The biggest breakthrough is upgrading the touchscreen revolution to the next generation. The new flavor of Windows uses large, animated tiles to convey when and where your new information, apps and services are updated. It’s a giant leap.

I really hate it when people use a banal description of the Metro interface as some kind of self-evident proof that is is better than Apple/Android and "the future".

You like Metro? Fine. But stop pretending that just because it is different it is necessarily better than everything else.

This site does not load at all with the Ghostery plugin, and I'm having a hard time figuring out what I need to allow to see the content, because it all looks like tracking code.

From the reviews I've seen Surface has pretty poor performance outside of animations and UI transitions, which shouldn't be too hard to begin with considering its low 1366x768 resolution. I don't think I'd pay $500 for an experience that's effectively worse than a netbook and has only half of the storage that it promises as free for the user. And you also get almost no apps of note, nor many apps that cover any niche you might be interested in.