Tablets shouldn't bear the Windows name -- that's according to Dell, which begged Microsoft to come up with another name for the software in the Microsoft Surface and other tablets.
Dell boss Jeffrey Clarke suggested to Microsoft top dog Steve Ballmer that extending the Windows name to tablets was a bridge to far. Clarke reasoned a Windows logo on the back would suggest tablets ran the same software as laptops and computers -- when in fact they run a different operating system with fewer features, and only selected apps from the Windows Store.
Microsoft decided instead to keep the brand for tablets, electing to simply present the tablet software as Windows RT. Windows RT is optimised for the low-powered ARM processors found in most tablets, and is presented as a stripped-down version of the full-sized Windows 8 software designed for the powerful Intel chips found in laptops and desktop computers.
Sadly, that's proved confuddling for some consumers, who bought the Surface expecting PC power. According to Financial Review, Microsoft has had to relax its returns policy for perplexed Surface buyers after they discovered they didn't have quite the access to apps they were expecting.
Apps designed for Windows 8 are called Modern apps -- known as Metro apps before Windows 8 launched -- but must be specially recoded for Windows RT.
Some tablets will run the full-fat Windows, allowing you to install regular programmes just like on your PC, from other sources and not just Modern apps. The Microsoft Surface Pro, for example, is an Intel-powered tablet that will run Windows 8 when it arrives in the new year.
For more on Windows, check out our nifty 50 Windows 8 tips, or take a look at our history of Windows.
Should Microsoft stick with the Windows brand, or think of a less confusing name for tablets? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 17
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Khurram Gohar 17 December, 2012 17:38
Simple monopoly of Microsoft
anonymous 17 December, 2012 21:06
Yes. "Windows RT" is a terribly confusing name, but Microsoft is married to it. They can't go back in time on this one. Why not a name like Glass OS or Panes or Shutters or something, anything but "Windows." There's too many sheep out there. I really hope they smarten up the way they present products. At the end of the day, though, it's going to be up to the OEMs to come up with products to move Windows into the future.
BenniBlob 17 December, 2012 23:25
Microsoft selling thing to people which they don't know could not do some thing.
anonymous 18 December, 2012 01:13
Typical Microsoft always wanting to get that extra buck by copying apple
anonymous 18 December, 2012 02:09
A great looking product being hampered by confused marketing and a company that doesn't have a clear focus on what it's trying to do.
Microsoft first turned their attention to tablets as a pure knee jerk reaction to the arrival of the iPad and the following development of that booming sector.
They were already trying to imitate Apple in Windows 7, copying many of the GUI features and ideas.
Windows 8 is an attempt to carry both those paths forward, but you get more of a feeling that Balmer is just panicking and demanding Microsoft follow the current trends, rather than following a new vision.
anonymous 18 December, 2012 04:38
Most of these comments are from apple addicts. I'm not. What's the big deal with a name? Concentrate on the product's productivity. As a nurse lecturer I find that the surface RT has replaced my laptop. However, due to some limitations, I will upgrade to surface pro when it debuts
anonymous 18 December, 2012 06:16
I have a Surface RT and it is nothing like the iPad. It blows the iPad away at nearly every turn. As far as knowing that it does not old Windows software, I was told by the MS sales staff specifically that Surface RT did not run legacy Windows software. I do not know if they say this to all the customers, but I would not be surprised if they were required to do so.
The Surface is no copy of the iPad. It is radically different. Does the iPad allow for multiple user accounts (good for families and schools)? No. Does the iPad allow you to extend (not just duplicate) the desktop onto other monitors? No. Does the iPad come with MS Office software (the only app I really ever wanted)? No. Does the iPad allow you to plug in any of thousands of USB devices (including many, many printers) and enable you to use them without special drivers? No. Is the iPad designed to work both as a tablet and as a laptop with a kickstand and specially designed keyboard? No.
Ninteen thousand apps and counting!
anonymous 18 December, 2012 08:28
Typical Microsoft always wanting to get that extra buck by copying apple
"
What utter rubbish, the tablet was and is an MS concept, Apple took this and produced the iPad which is great as a consumption device and also as a toy. MS wanted to (and now have) released a device that can do this and also be used as a serious business tool (which the iPad cannot and will most likely never be used as). MS have been looking at doing this for many years and now finally have.
RT is not the greatest OS but it gives a Tablet which in a great consumption device (like an iPad) a great toy (like an iPad) which can also be used for business (unlike an iPad) at an ipad price.
As for the pro this is simply not comparable to an iPad, it does everything an iPad can do and so much more. Sitting doing proper editing on photoshop with a stylus or buggering about on a watered down photoshop app with your finger springs to mind.
Most of the reviews I've seen are so biased against the surface its ridiculous, yes the iPad is great, yes we love it I get it, I've got one, its brilliant but now I have an RT I have given it to my 8 year old and I will eventually upgrade to a pro (unless of course a better windows 8 slate is developed).
Just because you love apple doesn't mean you have to hate other devices. Apple have locked you into thier OS and apps system to do just this. Baaaaaaa.
Peter Hudson 18 December, 2012 08:52
How did this turn into a MS vs. Apple argument. The story has nothing to do with apple.
Why wouldn't MS call it Windows? the whole point is that they are promoting windows 8 as a single OS with a consistent look and feel across phone, tablet, and PC. If they started giving the OS different names based on what device it is on it would contradict that.
Having said that, they could have called it: Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Windows Tablet 8.
Might have cleared things up a bit.
anonymous 18 December, 2012 09:12
Wait, so did Dell beg or suggest? Pretty different actions rreally and yet both are reported in the Soave of a few lines...
Good writing.
anonymous 18 December, 2012 10:59
Why does no one actually comment on the articles on this page?
'OH MY GOD APPLE IS SO MUCH BETTER'
'ITS JUST TRYING TO DO AN ANDROID'
Take stock and make sensible comments on what's being mentioned in the above article.
Stupid idiotic fan boys.
Rant over.
anonymous 18 December, 2012 12:35
I think if you buy a Surface RT tablet and expect it to run the full windows 8 experience then you are a fool. what happened to looking at specs and reviews. Microsoft even tells you the difference between the Surface Pro and Surface RT operating systems on their website!
Finally, what the hell are dell on about? If microsoft make the tablet AND the software that goes on it why the hell would they not put their name all over it? Putting a Windows logo on the back of the product does not automatically mean it is exactly the same experience as laptops and computers.
anonymous 18 December, 2012 13:35
If you can't run any application as you would on a laptop, or desktop then tablets should not be Windows branded.
anonymous 18 December, 2012 14:18
Daft logic - you don't hear people complaining they can't run their desktop applications on their Windows Phone...
Justice007 18 December, 2012 18:21
Tell Dell to simply strive to make the very best computers. That way it will ceased to matter what MS or Apple or HP etc. do.
anonymous 18 December, 2012 21:49
I have to try and sell the darned things.
Try and explain the simple difference between Windows 8 RT and full fat Windows (Pro) to potential customers and watch their eyes glaze over.
anonymous 20 December, 2012 17:38
The problem is people like my Grandmother will think it good enough to run Office and older programmes with the Windows Surface. For some people the windows name is more than an operating system it represents PC's. Its not going to affect most people on a site like this but think of the mass public who dont know a hard drive from a Usb port. If it doesnt do what they expect it will affect sales which in turn will affect Microsoft. Bad marketing has a part to play in all tech flops.