Microsoft unveils new era of Windows 10 devices at event in NYC

[bill]

Microsoft unveils new era of Windows 10 devices at event in NYC [blogs.microsoft.com]

Among the new devices built to make the most of Windows 10: Surface Book [microsoft.com] (the new, ultimate laptop that brings together best-in-class performance with the versatility of pen and touch), Surface Pro 4 [microsoft.com] (now thinner, lighter and faster), new Lumia Phones [microsoft.com] (Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL and Lumia 550) and the Microsoft Band 2 [microsoft.com].

[incrediBILL]

They're finally getting serious about competing with Apple and Google, about time they got with the program.

I know some Apple users actually dumping their ipods and iphones for Win10 and Android so they're both making progress

The big problem Microsoft has isn't hardware, the software is still a mess. The wifi networking is a hodge podge of new things and old things and I had a nightmare this weekend trying to connect to certain networks. There should be more management tools right there on the wifi popup from the taskbar, instead of running multiple other programs. It was a pain in the ass and they'll never fix this in my lifetime.

They need consolidation, right mouse options, something simpler the guide people to the right places

But new faster lighter hardware is nice.

Hell, I'm writing this on a crappy little Acer 2-in-1 laptop/tablet and while it may be over powered for the snobs, it performs really well IMO, esp for the under $300 price point. Surface stuff is crazy Apple-like prices and no thanks to that. My little Acer can run an extra monitor, play full screen streaming HD videos on a 27" screen and it's just fine. So while all the new stuff is cool, it's for the elitists that can't wait a whole second for a browser to launch. Those things used to matter to me when I compiled software but in the land of scripting, speed no longer matters to me that much as the browser speed is all I really care about and it has to be reasonably quick, that's it.

I was told I couldn't survive in 2GB RAM and that's not true, I have yet to run into an issue but the I don't run RAM hogs like PhotoShop either.

Guess what I'm saying is these new machines are like a Porsche, nice to drive if you have an excess of case to waste but nothing you really need. Pretty much like anything from Apple <ducks> :)

[RedBar]

Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL

I don't get this, in the UK we've been waiting for the 940/940XL and now they're announcing the 950/950XL, are either ever going to be released?

[elguiri]

I was told I couldn't survive in 2GB RAM and that's not true, I have yet to run into an issue but the I don't run RAM hogs like PhotoShop either.

You're right in that, for most purposes, 2GB of RAM is more than enough. Until last year, top end phones had no more than 1GB and they can be powerful gaming machines.

I run massive spreadsheets for data analysis, with a lot of internal calculation. I also use indexing software that runs out of RAM really quickly if your spidering a big site. I'm often working on the two things at the same time, with a browser open and some music streaming in the background. Problems have been largely resolved with a i7, 16GB desktop PC, which wasn't $300, but it wasn't an arm and a leg either. RAM is cheap, as are great processors. It's expensive sticking them in a tiny box.

I think the new Microsoft line-up is awesome. What was funny was watching Apple's presentation of its new products this year. It's the first time I've seen them trying to play catch-up with MS. The iPad pro, with its stylus, is clearly an "oh-crap" product. The new Surface Pro 4 and, especially, the Surface Book will have Apple's engineers sweating for another year.

The MS phones are now as good as, and as sexy, as iPhones on all fronts except the App Store. In many regards they're better, and for less money. The big stitch-up with Apple these days is that the 16GB phone has nowhere near enough memory for anyone taking any photos or videos and running a few apps. So the real base price is $749 for the 64GB version (of the 4.7" screen). Compare that with Lumia 950 at $549, the best camera on the market, full MS Office compatibility and a MicroSD slot so you can have 200GB of memory.

The reason of course that Microsoft won't make much of a breakthrough with this is because the press seem to be all Apple fanboys. Compare the media coverage of the Microsoft launch event with that of Apple. The Apple non-event (a bigger ipad and the 6S) was front page everywhere. You had to search for info on the Microsoft event. Microsoft will have to play a long game.

[RedBar]

the press seem to be all Apple fanboys.

Absolutely and how many TV programmes and films do you see using non-Apple products?

Very few and they are only acting they're not doing anything serious with them!

[Mike_Feury]

incrediBILL said: "these new machines are like a Porsche, nice to drive if you have an excess of case to waste but nothing you really need. Pretty much like anything from Apple"

Just reading, they seem better value than Apple, but I agree generally--pricing policy smacks too much of Apple's "screw the flock" approach. I expected they'd adopt a more reasonable and competitive pricing structure, as part of spreading the Win10 system to gain market share and dev interest. Win10 free for now won't be enough to make a real breakthrough in the smaller devices' market.

However, maybe MS' devices are more intended as a benchmark for all the other manufacturers, who will be the ones to compete on the value proposition. MS may well be better off leaving most of the hardware market to others, while maintaining their focus on their core software competence. Then again, they have great and competitive mice, keyboards and X Box in their stable, so who knows.

Has anyone seen a roadmap statement from MS, re if they're getting serious about smaller device hardware?

[elguiri]

Here's a decent article on the business logic.

[seekingalpha.com ]