Top Bananas | Tag Archives: Microsoft

Microsoft’s Dual-Screen Devices

Posted on October 7, 2019 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Microsoft revealed dual-screen phones and tablets, but they won’t be available until next year.

At Microsoft’s recent event, they revealed updates to the Surface laptop and the Surface tablet. Yet the real news came when Microsoft introduced two dual-screen devices that won’t be available until next year.

Unlike Samsung’s foldable phone that has developed problems in the crease where the screen needs to bend, Microsoft opted for the much simpler hinge joining two screens together. Just like many people use dual monitors on computers to view more screen space, so will people appreciate the dual screens of the Surface Duo devices.

Microsoft has steadily improved their hardware. Now the big question remains about the software. The dual-screen phone relies on Android while the dual-screen tablet relies on Windows 10 X, which is a version of Windows optimized for dual screens. So while the hardware may look great, the big question is how will the software behave?

The dual-screen Android phone will likely allow Android apps to appear on each screen. This could let you view a game while browsing the Internet at the same time.

The dual-screen Windows 10 X tablet will need software optimized for dual screens. If it runs current Windows programs, they’ll likely just treat each screen as a single screen to allow ordinary Windows programs to run on them.

Getting an ordinary Windows program to run on a Surface Duo might be nice, but the real goal will be having having programs optimized for dual screens. The Surface Duo hardware will likely be great, but the software experience remains its weak link.

Without optimized software, the Surface Duo can’t take full advantage of its dual screen nature. If the Surface Duo can run ordinary Windows programs, that allows greater compatibility but at the expense of optimized software.

So the key to the Surface Duo’s success lies in software that takes full advantage of the dual screens. Imagine if Apple had released the iPad as nothing more than a touch screen version of macOS. That’s essentially what Microsoft did with Windows. Having touch gestures in Windows is nice, but it doesn’t create optimized apps. There’s a huge difference between iPad apps (optimized for touch screens) and Macintosh programs (optimized for a mouse and keyboard).

Today, most people use a Surface tablet as an ultraportable laptop rather than as a tablet. You can find plenty of Windows programs that run on desktop PCs, but how many Windows programs can you find designed solely for touch screen interaction?

The Surface Duo hardware looks great. It’s the software that may hold up acceptance. By next year, we’ll know the cost of the Surface Duo and how well the software runs on it. the Surface Duo is a remarkable device. Let’s just hope that the software fully supports the hardware’s capabilities.

The End of Microsoft Windows Mobile/Phone

Posted on January 21, 2019 by admin Posted in Business, Hardware, Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Microsoft officially announced the end of support for their mobile operating system Windows Mobile 10.

Before Apple introduced the iPhone, Google was trying to make a Blackberry clone called Android and Microsoft had morphed their Palm Pilot clone (Windows CE) into a phone operating system. Then Apple introduced the iPhone and redefined the touch screen interface for smart phones.

Google quickly rewrote Android to mimic iOS and Microsoft abandoned Windows CE in favor of creating a new operating system from scratch. That took time and by the time Windows Phone 7 came out, Android and iOs were already dominating the smartphone market.

Even worse, Microsoft decided to rewrite their mobile operating system again and come out with Windows Phone 8, which was incompatible with Windows Phone 7 apps. That meant developers had to rewrite their apps all over again for Windows Phone 8.

Then Microsoft changed Windows Phone 8 to Windows Mobile 10 and forced developers to rewrite their apps once more. Even worse, the official language for Windows Phone development was Silverlight, a Microsoft clone of Adobe Flash.

When Adobe Flash started dying since it couldn’t run on mobile devices, Microsoft Silverlight also died. Now developers had to rewrite their Windows Phone 8 apps to run on Windows Mobile 10.

With all this constant changing, is it no wonder that Windows Phone/Mobile failed? To make matters even worse, Microsoft was so fixated on Windows Phone that they failed to anticipate the iPad, which forced Microsoft to come up with a separate tablet operating system called Windows RT.

Now developers had to write separate apps in different languages for Windows RT and Windows Mobile 10. Instead, developers simply abandoned Windows RT and Windows Mobile 10. With few apps, users started to ignore Windows Phone/Mobile as well.

The lesson is clear. Mere copying of a successful product is rarely the path to success. The real path to success is originality. Come up with a new solution that’s better than existing solutions, not simply a copy of the same solution.

Microsoft Silverlight was a slightly better version of Adobe Flash, but solved nothing new. So people tended to stick with Adobe Flash and when Flash died, so did Silverlight.

Fortunately with Steve Ballmer out of the way, Microsoft no longer seems content to copy other successful products and hope it pays off in the long run like the Xbox. In the meantime, Windows Phone/Mobile wasn’t a bad idea, but it showed that unless you make a dramatic leap like the iPhone did over Blackberry and Nokia, there’s little reason to adopt it.

So rather than blatantly copy, companies should strive to solve problems that aren’t currently met by today’s technology. The iPhone’s touch screen interface solved the problem of tiny screens and physical buttons. Windows Phone/Mobile solved nothing over Android and iOS.

Nobody will miss Windows Phone/Mobile. Even Microsoft’s employees stopped using that operating system years ago. The lesson is copying rarely leads to success so strive for solving the problems of today, not the problems of yesterday that are already being met with today’s products. Just that simple lesson alone could have saved Microsoft billions of dollars and years of wasted development.

Clinging to the Past (The Surface tablet vs. the iPad)

Posted on December 4, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Microsoft is comparing their Surface tablet with the iPad.

Microsoft’s latest ad pokes fun at the iPad as a “toy” that is no longer suitable for older children who really need a computer like Microsoft’s Surface tablet. While Microsoft’s Surface tablets are really ultraportable laptops, they can work as tablets although most people likely don’t use them exclusively as tablets. The real appeal of the Surface tablet is the ability to run Windows, which can run a variety of programs from Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Visual Studio to AutoCAD and Adobe Premiere.

Yet if you were around in the early 80’s, you might remember when mainframe and minicomputer users dismissed PCs as “toys” that couldn’t do what “real” computers could do. In case your memory is foggy, mainframe and minicomputer users were absolutely right in claiming PCs were simply underpowered compared to mainframe and minicomputers, and this state of affairs remained completely true right up until the time PCs were more cost-effective and good enough for most people. Then mainframe and minicomputers rapidly fell out of favor to the “toys” that were more powerful PCs.

Think the same thing won’t happen with Microsoft’s latest comparison of their Surface tablet to the iPad? Right now, laptops like Microsoft’s Surface tablet can run more variety and powerful programs than the iPad, but Adobe Photoshop is coming to the iPad along with AutoCAD. Apple even claims that the latest iPad is 92% faster than most laptops on the market today. Considering that the Surface tablet isn’t the fastest laptop around, the latest iPad’s processor is probably on par (or even surpassing) the power of the Surface tablet.

Wait another year or two and the iPad is rapidly growing in power and versatility while the laptop world of Windows and Intel (commonly known as WinTel) progresses at a much slower pace. That means the iPad will eventually surpass traditional laptops if not next year, then within the next two or three years. This is exactly the same trend that mainframe and minicomputer users fought against PCs and lost, and this is exactly what Microsoft is facing with the Surface tablet compared to the iPad.

In the long run, the Surface tablet is minimal tablet features but its biggest strength is its ability to run Windows. On the other hand, the iPad’s processing power is growing exponentially and as more apps appear on the iPad, it’s only inevitable that the iPad will soon equal and eventually surpass the Surface tablet.

So for Microsoft to compare a Surface tablet against an iPad is no different than mainframe and minicomputer users comparing their big iron machines against the “toys” that were called PCs. As we saw with mainframe and minicomputers, the PC eventually took over the computing market. That means if trends continue, the iPad will eventually take over the personal computing market despite being labeled a “toy” just like early PCs were dismissed as “toys.”

The future of computing is the iPad, which is advancing rapidly, and not the Surface tablet, which is hobbled by clinging to Intel and Windows. If you want a great laptop today, you might want a Surface tablet today. However, if you want a great computer tomorrow, chances are good it’s going to be an iPad.

The Surface Go Mini-Laptop

Posted on July 10, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware Leave a comment

What it is: Microsoft released a smaller, cheaper version of the Surface tablet.

At one time, netbooks were popular since they were small, light, and cheap. They were also slow and under powered due to weak processors, which made them a compromise solution where their only advantage was their diminutive size. Because netbooks were a step backwards in terms of features and powers compared to regular laptops, they ere easily dumped when Apple introduced the iPad.

In comparison to netbooks, the iPad was also light and relatively inexpensive compared to a laptop. The huge difference was that the iPad was designed to grow and improve while the netbook was designed to use older generation technology to keep down costs. Not surprisingly, the iPad essentially killed the netbook market.

Then Google introduced inexpensive, maintenance-free Chromebooks and these helped kill the iPad in the education market where schools care more about costs and maintenance. chrome books have also helped kill sales of Windows laptops too so that’s why Microsoft has decided to compete by offering the $399 Surface Go, a smaller Surface tablet with a weaker processor as well. Essentially the Surface Go is trying to compete with the iPad and Chromebook.

If you want a tablet, the iPad is the best solution. Even Android tablets pale in comparison. If you want an inexpensive laptop, Chromebooks are still cheaper and easier to maintain for organizations like schools. Only if you want to run Windows programs on an inexpensive laptop will the Surface Go appeal to you.

For people looking for a light, low-cost Windows laptop, the Surface Go may be perfect. It’s still going backwards in terms of processor power but it doesn’t sacrifice much else besides a smaller screen in return for a lower price. The big question is will the Surface Go become popular?

Probably not because it’s geared towards people who want to run Windows programs, and many people are learning they don’t need Windows. They can use Chromebooks and access basic computing tasks like word processing and email, or they can get an iPad to do similar basic computing tasks. For those who absolutely need Windows compatibility, the Surface Go is fine, but it basically lets you run common computing tasks using Windows programs. Since you can do common computing tasks on a Chromebook or iPad, there’s little incentive to use an Surface Pro unless you absolutely have to use Windows.

The Surface Go may be a decent product, but it alone can’t reverse the general trend away from dependence on Windows. If you absolutely need Windows compatibility, then get a Surface Go. For everyone else, a Chromebook, an iPad, or even a smartphone may still be all anyone needs.

The Mythical Microsoft Folding Computer

Posted on July 3, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Microsoft has a rumored foldable computer called Andromeda.

At one time, Microsoft shared dominance of the smartphone market with Nokia and Blackberry with their Windows Mobile operating system that they even licensed to Palm Computing at one time. Then Apple introduced the iPhone and made all smartphones up to that point obsolete. Microsoft tried to get back into the mobile market with Windows Phone and then tried to take on the iPad in the tablet market with Windows RT. Both flopped.

Windows Phone was a decent operating system, but few companies had a reason to license Windows Phone from Microsoft when they could just use Android for free. Likewise, Windows RT was Microsoft’s attempt to create a tablet operating system that flopped because Windows RT couldn’t run any software designed for Windows or Windows Phone.

Now Microsoft is rumored to be working on Andromeda, a folding computer that consists of two screens, similar to Microsoft’s Courier project years ago. That shows Microsoft has been experimenting with dual screen devices for years. While some people want Microsoft to release this rumored Andromeda device, others believe this device may never reach the market because there’s no need for it.

According to the latest rumors, Andromeda is meant to be a folding computer you can fit in a pocket. It’s not designed as a smartphone but as a companion device. Right away, people may wonder do they need to carry another device besides a smartphone? Some people carry tablets but the bulk of carrying a tablet makes them impractical in many cases. Thats’s where Andromeda’s folding concept comes into play.

Ideally, this device would fold to be easy to carry, yet fold open to be useful. However, will the split between the screen make this device clumsier to use than a regular tablet? Will the convenience of folding a device in half make up for a clumsiness of a screen split in two? Even more importantly, what type of operating system will Andromeda use? Will it rely on Intel x86 processors to remain compatible with most windows programs or will it use ARM processors for maximum energy efficiency?

Andromeda looks like an interesting concept, but how much will it cost and will people embrace it? As a substitute for an iPad, Andromeda’s main advantage is its smaller size when folded in half. Andromeda’s main drawback is that if it relies on Windows, it will likely be clumsy to use on a device without a keyboard.

Ultimately, the question boils down to whether Andromeda solves a pressing need at the right price for most people. The device looks interesting but if the price is too high, it won’t sell. If the price is reasonable but the device doesn’t seem to solve any pressing problems, then sales will be weak.

Andromeda is an interesting concept that will likely be revised by other companies, but for now, it may just be a prototype that will never become a real product.

Are Keyboards and Mice the Best User Interface for Gaming?

Posted on June 26, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Microsoft may hand keyboard and mouse support to the Xobox One game console.

Game consoles like Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s Playstation make life easier for developers because they know exactly what type of hardware to expect. Unlike the PC that can come with varying amounts of memory and graphics card capabilities, game consoles are generally fixed. However, gamers have discovered a unique problem. PC gamers rely mostly on a keyboard and mouse while console gamers rely mostly on joysticks.

With cross-platform games like Fortnite becoming popular, keyboard and mouse gamers are dominating their joystick playing competitors. That’s why Microsoft may offer keyboard and mouse support for the Xbox.

Such support could allow gamers to gravitate towards the Xbox at the expense of the Playstation if they find that games are easier to play with a mouse and keyboard. That means Sony will have to offer similar keyboard and mouse support as well or risk falling behind. If more gamers start embracing mice and keyboards, that could limit joysticks and other devices to second class status.

Essentially, this is part of the demise of game consoles. PCs are far more flexible than game consoles in the same way that people prefer PCs over the Macintosh since its’ far easier to customize and modify a PC compared to a Macintosh. If people don’t like the closed architecture of a Macintosh, why would they settle for the closed architecture of a game console? Especially if a game console doesn’t support a mouse and keyboard that allows players to defeat non-mice and keyboard users with ease?

Mice and keyboards are likely going to be standard user interface devices for years to come, thanks to gaming. In fact, mice and keyboards might be around longer than game consoles which are being threatened by mobile devices on the one hand and PCs on the other. Given a choice between a game console and a gaming PC, more people are looking at gaming PCs, and that could spell the end of the game console in the future.