Windows 8: How Microsoft's PC Overhaul Will Take on Apple's iPad
Added 19th Sep 2011For Microsoft, the timing of Windows 8 looks to be just right. Here's why.
When Apple launched the iPad in the spring of 2010, pundits assumed that a slew of competitors would quickly follow, all powered by Google's Android operating system. These iPad alternatives were supposed to beat Apple on pricing while adding features that the original iPad lacked, such as cameras and USB ports.
At the time, the thought of the Windows operating system running a tablet was limited to business applications and vertical markets, not to the consumers that Apple and Google had in their sights.
In reality, Apple's second iPad beat the vast majority of first-generation Android tablets to the market, and even now, there's no evidence that these competitors are breaking Apple's stride.
App developers, for the most part, have ignored the tablet side of Google's Android operating system, creating an opportunity for another OS to attract both consumers and the almighty app developers that make and break platforms.
Enter Microsoft and Windows 8. With no release date in sight, Microsoft took a deep dive into its upcoming operating system at the company's BUILD conference for developers this week. Tablet support took center stage as the company showcased a drastically different interface designed for touchscreens.
At every turn, Microsoft executives emphasized "fast and fluid," suggesting that Windows isn't a mess of legacy code. Everyone who attended the conference got a prototype slate running Windows 8, to use in developing and testing new apps. Better still, Microsoft made this Developers Preview version of Windows 8 available for download by anyone who wants to try it out.
With tablets taking off, and Android failing to capitalize, Microsoft and Apple are on track to rekindle their old rivalry. But this time, Apple's got the upper hand. Can Windows 8 be a legitimate competitor to the iPad? Here's why we think it has a shot.
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