If you've been reading the tech headlines lately, it sounds like Windows RT's funeral was held this past week. Over at the Register Neil McAllister wrote an article titled, "Microsoft's ARM blunder: 7 reasons why Windows RT was DOA." At InfoWorld Brad Chacos wrote one titled, "Why Windows RT is Hurtling Towards Disaster".
Why write these articles now? Chacos actually gives the reason at the end of his article: RT was nearly invisible at CES2013, a terrible sign for an operating system that just appeared a few months ago.
Even though I agree with much of Chacos' reasoning, as you can see from the title of this article, I'm not so sure we can order a tombstone for Windows RT quite yet. Let me give you two reasons why:
First, I think there's a bit of schadenfreude going on here, and it's causing people to miss the point. From the start, Windows RT and the Surface have been getting panned... And yet as someone who actually owns and uses a Surface, I'm actually finding it to be a fairly suitable bridge between laptop and tablet. Now do I think having a Surface Pro would suit my needs even better? Honestly, yes. But the pricing is prohibitive for me.
And so with my wallet
Second, even though RT has only been jailbroken for a short time, developers have already successfully recompiled several Windows 7 and 8 programs for ARM, and I'm guessing we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg. I haven't gone through with the jailbreak yet, but I most likely will when someone ports Chrome over.
In any case, jailbreaking addresses one of what I would agree are the biggest drawbacks to Windows RT for users and consumers: the wall of incompatibility. As we start getting the freedom to install the programs that we like, just as we would on a Windows 8 or 7 device, that wall comes tumbling down, and the limitations on the Surface begin to disappear.
One bonus point: though Chacos describes RT as hurtling towards disaster in his article, he actually closes the article by nothing that while Windows 8 might not be getting the kind of adoption and upgrade numbers Microsoft was hoping, the fact of the matter is new PCs come with Windows 8, period. And if that's the case, then more and more Start Screen apps are going to continued to be developed, which greatly enhances the tablet side of an RT device like the Surface.
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2 comments:
I truly think that Microsoft is playing the long game with both Windows 8 and RT. It's really an amazing set up that may very well be too far of a jump, too quickly. They just need to be patient for everyone to catch up.
I do think, however, that RT needs to evolve into something other than 8's cheaper, scrawnier little brother. It's biggest competitors are going to be the 8 tablets coming out, especially if they hit the same price point -- ie. the Asus Vivotab Smart.
Hey Troy, I love the way you put it: "playing the long game". I'm completely agree! And I think that Microsoft has the resources to wait it out until the rest of the market catches up.
I think RT makes sense for as long as tablet hardware continues to lean towards ARM. That may change though with Intel's latest high efficiency chips. It'll be interesting to see if Microsoft regrets its decision to dedicate an OS to ARM as technology continues to evolve.
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