Microsoft finally gets it right with the Surface 3

The new Surface 3 from Microsoft delivers a solid compromise between power and price that hits the sweet spot for many consumers.

 

Microsoft unveiled the new Surface 3 tablet yesterday rather than the Surface Pro 4 everyone was expecting. The new Surface 3 dumps the ARM processor and Windows RT to deliver an economical Surface tablet that still has the power and capabilities users need. It looks like Microsoft has finally hit the nail on the head.
 
The Surface 3 will be the device that finally drives serious mass adoption of the Microsoft tablet. Surface RT and Surface 2 are cheaper Surface tablets but never really caught on, because they run on an ARM processors and Windows RT. The Surface Pro line has a traditional Intel architecture and runs the full Windows operating system, but the cost has placed it out of reach for many consumers. The Surface 3 looks to deliver the power and capabilities of the Surface Pro line with the affordability of the Surface RT line. This is a win-win combination.
 
I was a fan of the Surface Pro 2. I thought it included all of the improvements it needed to deliver a better hybrid tablet / PC experience than the original Surface Pro. I was blown away when Microsoft introduced the Surface Pro 3, because it was better than the Surface Pro 2 in virtually every way. I have used the Surface Pro 3 as my primary PC since it launched, and I highly recommend the Surface Pro 3--but it's not cheap.
 
A recent survey asked consumers what they were hoping for in the expected Surface Pro 4. Lower cost and better battery life were the top requested features. Thinner, lighter, better cameras, and 4G / LTE connectivity also received a fair amount of votes. When forced to choose just one element as most important, lower cost was the dominant winner... by a long shot. 
 
Surface 3 delivers on lower cost. The entry-level model is only $500 (USD) and comes with 2 GB of RAM and 64 GB SSD storage capacity. For another $100, you can double both of those to 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB SSD. It also has better battery life, plus it's thinner, lighter, and has better front- and rear-facing cameras. The Surface 3 even offers optional 4G / LTE functionality.
 
At $500, the Surface 3 is still on the high end of what people are willing to pay for a tablet. As a computer, though, the $500 and $600 Surface 3 models fall well within the $500 to $1,000 most people plan to spend on their next PC. When you consider that the Surface 3 is both a tablet and a PC, $500 is a ridiculously affordable price to pay.
 
Do you need more incentive? Microsoft is including a one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal with the purchase of the Surface 3--a $70 value that effectively makes the Surface 3 just $430. Office 365 Personal gives you Office 2013 Professional (and Office 2016 Professional, once it's launched) along with other perks and benefits like Skype calling minutes and unlimited OneDrive storage.
 
The Surface 3 is affordable, powerful, versatile, and flexible. It isn't an engineering or gaming machine, but for the vast majority of Windows PC users, the Surface 3 seems to offer an ideal combination of features and functionality at the right price. It looks like Microsoft finally got it right with the Surface 3. 
 
Does the Surface 3 have the specs that you need at the right price point? If not, how could Microsoft sweeten the deal to entice you to make a purchase? Share your thoughts in the discussion thread below.
 
~ Tony Bradley

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Windows 10 will "run on everything", says CEO Satya Nadella

 

For Microsoft, Windows 10 is a very important step in realizing their next-generation vision for their operating systems. We've already heard how the Windows 10 core will be one and the same across Windows Phone, Windows RT and x86-based Windows (all of which will be branded as Windows 10), and the upcoming revamp of the Xbox OS.
 
Speaking at the Gartner Symposium ITxpo, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has reinforced the company's strategy for the next-generation of Windows, stating that "it can run on everything". Crucially, this includes Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which is shaping up to be a major platform in years to come.
 
Nadella believes that Windows 10 will be a fantastic operating system to run on IoT systems, as it's both manageable and secure. "It's the first step in a new generation of Windows as opposed to just another release after Windows 8."
 
Nadella didn't just talk about Microsoft's strategy for IoT; he hinted that we might see a revised licensing scheme for Windows 10. Microsoft has been looking at simplifying the way Windows is licensed, and will perhaps follow in the footsteps of Office 365, providing several options that focus on the user, not devices. This would allow customers to install Windows on a number of their devices with the one license, depending on the package purchased.
 
The cloud was also emphasized as part of Nadella's talk. Azure is an important part of Microsoft's services portfolio, and the company is planning to reveal more about the future of it on October 20th. However, despite the strengths of Azure, Nadella believes that the Office API is the most strategic in the company, which intertwines with their cloud services and has led to "billions of identity transactions in Azure Active Directory".
 
If Microsoft can execute well with all of these products, including Windows 10, 2015 could be the year we finally see their true 'one platform' vision in action.
 
~ Tim Schiesser

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Microsoft expected to unveil Windows 9 "Threshold" on September 30

 

Windows 9 may arrive sooner than most think. According to a new report from The Verge, the successor to Windows 8 is slated to debut at a special media event on September 30 - a date that lines up nicely with previous reports of a late September, early October unveiling.
 

Microsoft's next major OS release, codenamed Threshold, will likely be released to developers and enthusiasts on that date as a preview version.
 
The long-awaited return of the Start Menu is just one of the many features expected in Windows 9. Microsoft is also planning to remove the Charms bar and make several UI changes - essentially dialing back the radical redesign that was Windows 8.
 
Microsoft is reportedly working on builds of Threshold that include Cortana, Microsoft's personal virtual assistant. It's unclear, however, whether or not it will make the initial tech preview build.
 
Aside from these features, it's anyone's guess as to what else Threshold will deliver. Another unknown is whether the preview will be available to everyone or if Microsoft is only planning to release it via TechNet and MSDN.
 
In related news, Microsoft may also fill us in as to the fate of Windows RT which is being integrated into Windows Phone as part of the company's unified Windows vision. No word yet on how far along Microsoft is into this project but we'll likely find out next month.
 

~ Shawn Knight

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New stats show Windows 8 usage up sharply as XP usage plummets

Summary: The latest monthly NetMarketShare reports contain a few eyebrow-raising numbers. Windows 8 is up sharply, XP usage has plummeted, and Google's Chrome browser seems to be falling out of favor. But this month's report might need a big asterisk to account for a key methodology change.
 
On the first day of each month, the good folks at Net Applications release their NetMarketShare statistics, which measure worldwide usage share of desktop and mobile operating systems and browsers.
 
This month’s numbers, covering August 2013, contain several eyebrow-raising blips:

• After posting steady but unspectacular monthly gains since its launch last October, Windows 8 usage spiked up dramatically, going from 5.42 percent to 7.65 percent of worldwide web usage in the course of a single month.
• Windows XP usage, which had been dropping at a similarly steady but unremarkable pace, suddenly and dramatically plummeted from 37.19 percent to 33.66 percent.
• Google’s Chrome browser showed a sudden drop in usage, plunging in one month from 17.76 percent to 16 percent. Every other browser gained in percentage terms, with Internet Explorer hitting a two-year high of 57.6 percent.

With a worldwide installed base of nearly 1.5 billion PCs, each one of those moves represents a shift of tens of millions.

 

What happened? Did 40 million people suddenly wake up to the fact that support for Windows XP is ending in a matter of months and rush out to replace their outmoded machines with shiny new Windows 8 devices?

 

Sorry, no.

 

The real explanation might be more prosaic: Net Applications recently changed its formula for measuring usage. In an undated note labeled “Important methodology change,” the company explains:

This month we start deducting hidden pages from our usage share statistics. Hidden pages are pages that are rendered but never viewed by the user, therefore, they should not be included in usage share data. An example of a hidden page is a page that loads in a background tab upon the launch of the browser and is never made visible.

That note appears to have been added to the site in July, although it's not clear from the note when the new methodology took effect. The change in methodology is intended to help measure actual behavior by PC users rather than background activities performed by browser code. Previously, the company’s stats had excluded prerendered pages, which Chrome uses to load pages in the background as a Google user types a search request. In February 2012, prerendered pages accounted for 4.8 percent of Chrome pages. In June 2013, that number was over 12 percent.
 
This month’s change goes still further. In its FAQ page, Net Applications notes the impact of hidden pages on the raw page counts from different browser families. These figures were measured in June 2013:
 
Hidden pages by browser family

• Internet Explorer 0.70 percent
• Firefox 6.38 percent
• Safari 0.15 percent
• Opera 6.33 percent
• Chrome 5.60 percent

If you factor those methodology changes in and assume all other factors are equal, both Firefox and Opera should have seen greater drops in usage than Chrome. Yet the usage share for each of those browsers was up, with only Chrome showing a drop. It will take a few more months of data to confirm whether this is a trend or just a blip.
 
That methodology change also suggests one possible reason for the apparent sudden drop in Windows XP’s usage. Windows XP users, blocked from using the most recent versions of Internet Explorer, are more likely to use an alternative browser such as Chrome or Firefox, both of which use hidden pages. Windows 8 users, by contrast, are more likely to use the standards-compliant Internet Explorer 10 (and IE 11 in Windows 8.1).
 
A few more nuggets worth noting from this month’s report:

• Windows 8 (7.65 percent) now has more users worldwide than all versions of OS X combined (7.26 percent). Extrapolating that number from the worldwide installed base of desktop and portable PCs suggests that more than 100 million Windows 8 PCs are now in use.
• Despite being available only as a preview release and then for less than 60 days, Windows 8.1 earned enough share (0.24 percent) to gain a place on the chart.
• After more than two years on the market, Google’s Chrome OS still hasn’t garnered enough usage to cross the 0.1 percent threshold that Net Applications requires for an entry in the monthly list. Alas, comparisons to Microsoft's Windows RT aren't possible, as Windows RT stats are included with Windows 8.

All of these numbers need to be placed in the context of a shifting market, of course. Worldwide, consumers and businesses are buying fewer traditional desktop and portable PCs and spending more on tablets and other mobile devices. But with an installed base of 1.5 billion or so PCs it's still a force to be reckoned with.
 
~ Ed Bott

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Microsoft unveils free Windows 8.1 update

(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's forthcoming update to its personal computer operating system will be called Windows 8.1 and will be available later this year free to existing Windows 8 customers, the marketing chief for the Windows unit said on Tuesday.

The world's largest software company has been touting the update, previously code-named 'Blue,' as a series of improvements to the Windows 8 software, launched in October, which has not been as popular as it had hoped.

Microsoft has sold 100 million Windows 8 licenses in the six months since launch, roughly in line with the previous version, but wants to combat sputtering interest in its flagship software with a substantial update to make it easier to use and compatible with smaller tablets.

"Windows 8.1 will be delivered as a free update to Windows 8 and to Windows RT and it will be easy to get right from the Windows start screen through the app store," said Tami Reller, head of finance and marketing at Microsoft's Windows unit.

A preview version of Windows 8.1 will be made available at the start of Microsoft's annual developer conference on June 26, Reller said, with the finished update released later this year.

~ Bill Rigby

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