So Microsoft has gone and done it.
The company has sold operating systems for other companies' computers for more than 30 years. Sticking to the software and letting other people deal with the hardware side is what made Microsoft the multinational behemoth that dominated the computing landscape through the 1990s and much of the 2000s. MS-DOS; 16-bit Windows 1, 2, and 3; the hybrid Windows 95 family; and the 32-bit (and, later, 64-bit) Windows NT family that is still with us to this day: all were sold primarily to computer OEMs for preinstallation on new machines.
With Surface, Microsoft is diving headlong into a new business model. Let's be blunt here: Redmond is going the Cupertino route. Microsoft is not merely writing the software. It's designing hardware to go with that software, and contracting manufacturers in East Asia to turn its designs into millions of units of real, shipping hardware, that Microsoft will be selling directly to customers.
Specs at a glance: Microsoft Surface with Windows RT | |
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Screen | 1366×768 10.6" (147 ppi), 5-point capacitive touchscreen |
OS | Windows RT |
CPU | 1.3GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30 |
RAM | 2GB DDR3L (non-upgradeable) |
GPU | NVIDIA Tegra 3 |
HDD | 32GB or 64GB solid-state drive (of which about 20 or 52 GB are usable) |
Networking | 802.11a/b/g/n with 2x2 MIMO antennas, Bluetooth 4.0 |
Ports | Micro HDMI, headphones, microSDXC, USB 2.0, Cover port |
Size | 10.81×6.77×0.37" (274×172×9.3 mm) |
Weight | 1.5lb (676g) |
Battery | 31.5Wh |
Warranty | 1 year |
Starting price | $499 |
Price as reviewed | $699 |
Sensor | Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer |
Other perks | 24W charger |
Why the change of heart? The president of Windows and Windows Live Division, Steven Sinofsky, says that Microsoft has its own point of view when it comes to tablets. He pointed at Google, Amazon, and Apple, saying that each of them have their own tablet take. Google's world is centered on search and collecting data; Amazon's tablets are intended to drive purchases from Amazon's store; Apple's is designed to capitalize on the iPhone's familiarity.
Microsoft's take is the same as it has always been: the tablet is a sort of PC, with all the flexibility, extensibility, and variety that that entails. This mindset is fundamental to understanding why Windows 8 is the way it is. It's also why Microsoft continues to sell its operating system to OEMs; it knows that there's too much variety in the market for one company to meet every need.
But Microsoft has a competing pressure. It wants to show off its software in the best light possible, and controlling the whole experience—software, hardware, and even retail—is how it plans to achieve that.