Thinking about tablets?

For those who’ve been following my thoughts on using a Tablet in business, it’s time to give another update.

So, where am I?  Well, I’m still using my Windows Surface as my main portable device.  No laptop for me anymore!  It’s really working well for me – though I wish Microsoft hadn’t introduced the confusion of having Windows 8 RT and Windows 8 Pro.  I will shortly be replacing my Windows 8 Surface (running RT) with a Pro tablet (the HP Envy X2) as the one thing I really miss is the Pen input that I used on my Samsung Windows 8 Pro.

But, we’re waiting on more details of the Windows 8 Pro tablets – Sarah and I have seen and tested a few models, but pricing information isn’t yet available.  I expect the Windows 8 Pro tablets to be more expensive than the iPad but they are targeting the laptop/tablet combined.  We were expecting pricing information in January – but that’s looking more like the end of January, not the beginning!

So, whilst we wait for more information from the manufacturers, most of the recent questions I’ve been answering have been about the bad press surrounding the lack of Apps available for Windows 8.

Is there an issue with the number of Apps available?  I guess it’s all about ‘what do you use it for?’.  To run projectfive, I use Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint, Access, Adobe and Sage.  I can, and do, use all of these on a Windows 8 Pro Tablet.  I can’t use any of them on my iPad – not properly.

Of all the apps that I can get on the iPad and Amazon Kindle Fire (two of the tablets I run at home), and the iPhone (which I have now given to my wife) – the only one I miss from the Windows platform is the Starbucks app for collecting my reward points and paying for my coffee – that’s not available on Windows 8 Phone.  Everything else is.  Angry Birds, Flow, Lync, OneNote, Skydrive, Dropbox, Skype, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Trainline.com, Sky Sports, Xbox glass, Maps, Torch, Auto-Upload of any photos I take.

Yes, there’s 750,000 apps on Apple, and the same on Android, whilst Microsoft only has 120,000.  I’ve just listed the 26 that I use.  I’m not planning on installing another 130,000 – so I’m not going to exceed what Microsoft have in their store!  The following story shows that Microsoft has 46 of the top 50 Apple/Android apps available on its platform…  http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57542103-94/windows-phone-8-users-can-access-46-of-top-50-apps/

So, I think the bad press is just scaremongering by journalists.  There’s plenty of apps on Microsoft!

And, when you start to look at using Windows tablets in a business environment, then you kinda wonder why the press would be anti a device that has Word/Excel/PowerPoint etc. on it?

But, it’s still early days…  Windows 8 could well become the Betamax still – technically superior, but ultimately doomed.  Or, it could pick up a ground swell of users from the business/corporate sector and gain ground on the iPad or Android tablets – despite what the journalists and bloggers say.

My prediction will be that Windows 8 RT Tablets will be short-lived and die out within a year.  They are there to keep the price down and the battery life up until the Windows 8 Pro prices fall and battery life improves.  But, as the Windows 8 Pro tablets are released onto the market this spring, they will become very popular.  Though, will they ever overtake the iPad? Probably not.  Will I ever give up my iPad? Probably not.  Which tablet will I take with me when I leave the house tomorrow – my Windows Tablet!

Steve.