Microsoft's Surface tablets won't get Windows 10

[GreyFox7]

Microsoft's Surface RT tablets won't get Windows 10...
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/22/7871563/microsoft-surface-rt-tablet-no-windows-10-upgrade

Windows RT won't get the full OS. "We are working on an update for Surface, which will have some of the functionality of Windows 10. More information to come," says a Microsoft spokesperson.​

Then the spin starts...

This means tablets like the Surface RT and Surface 2 won't get Windows 10.

The software giant refuses to discuss details of the mysterious update, but it could involve rolling out some of the built-in Windows 10 universal apps to Windows RT. A similar situation occurred with Windows Phone 8, leaving Windows Phone 7 with no direct upgrade path. Microsoft supplied a Windows Phone 7.8 update to provide some functionality, but most of the new features were only available on Windows Phone 8 devices.

Windows RT is dead - The Verge
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Microsoft later said in a statement provided to CNET that "Surface Pro 3 (and the entire Surface Pro lineup) will update to Windows 10. We are working on an update for [the Windows RT version of] Surface, which will have some of the functionality of Windows 10. More information to come." The company declined to comment further.
http://www.cnet.com/news/microsofts-windows-rt-isnt-dead-yet/
Microsoft's Windows RT isn't dead...yet - CNET
​

Well Windows RT NEVER had all the functionality of Windows so its no surprise that it wont have all the functionality of Windows 10. However, if its anything like what the Verge is predicting and it could be right then RT its virtually dead.

If your gong to do something commit to it and do it. (Do or do not) Halfast is a recipe for failure.

 

[GreyFox7]

I hope they Open Source Windows RT if they aren't going to follow through with it.

 

[kundas1]

I find your title a little misleading, because well that's the same thing for Windows phones also, they won't get the FULL W10 but a watered down version of W10, but make no mistake they will be getting W10... whether it be 50% 0r 90% its still W10 on the devices...

 

[GreyFox7]

I find your title a little misleading, because well that's the same thing for Windows phones also, they won't get the FULL W10 but a watered down version of W10, but make no mistake they will be getting W10... whether it be 50% 0r 90% its still W10 on the devices...

My title is essentially the same as the title of the linked article. If Microsoft wanted to avoid this situation they shouldn't have named them "Surface <numeral>" and "Surface Pro <numeral>".

In the end functionality will determine what's what. IF RT or Bastardized RT has less functionality and there's no upgrade path as with WP7 they will alienating more customers, something not in line with what Nadella said they would do. I think the position The Verge is taking is conjecture but their point is, MS has done it before. With this in the wind it will be interesting if there's a further statement from MS or not.

 

[daniielrp]

Dang, I got burnt by the WP7 debacle a while back...

..."hey that 11 month old Lumia 800 you've got? Yeh that's obsolete now, no WP8 for you! kthanksbai!"...

I understand there could be hundreds of reasons for this, but I really liked RT, it was a proper attempt by Microsoft to make an new PC OS that wasn't so damn dependant on legacy 32bit era software. It had great ideas that valued actual useful tablet features (touch optimised, great battery, thin, light).
Yes, the SP3 is close to that, but it still has so much old software bloat. Even yesterday at the Win 10 event I saw an 8" tablet with a desktop and explorer??? Craziness!!

Shame really.

 

[kundas1]

fine then, I find THEIR title misleading.. all for shock value and peek interest....

 

[oion]

I don't think anyone in their right minds would have expected full-on "Windows 10" on the RT tablets. The real question is what features will make it onto the old gens.

Will the ARM hardware be completely abandoned now? I haven't followed Intel chip development for mobile these days.

 

[GreyFox7]

Will the ARM hardware be completely abandoned now? I haven't followed Intel chip development for mobile these days.

Close but there are differences that are tough to quantify.
Looking at benchmark comparisons I see Atom SoCs on par with the best ARM SoCs. A8X, Tegra K1, Snapdragon 805. it's very difficult to find the solid data on their power usage. The Atom is quad core, A8X is 3 core, some ARM implementations are 8 core with Big.Little config (4 high powered cores and 4 low power cores).

Snapdragon is king of the phones because they have LTE and other functions built in, less important in tablets. Some harp on it but iPad sales are predominantly wifi only.

IMO you want to keep the pressure on Intel by making RT on ARM the most potent it can be. Yes, compared to other tablets RT has the capabilities but there are artificial limitations on RT that shouldn't be there.

Make RT available to install on Android Devices too. There are lots of devices out there not getting updates... running ICS, or Jellybean not getting Lollipop or even KitKat ... with big gaping security holes. overnight you could double, quadruple your user base. Not everyone is married to Google... Now Devs have a bigger target for their apps... the missing link. I'm a little surprised by the number of people I see running Surface RT or still buying them and they are quit happy with it. I thought it was a little slow for my taste. Devices back to 2012 have the same or much better capabilities and most of them are stuck on the same version OS they were released with.

RT on a Snapdragon 810 or Tegra X1 would be a very capable system... currently the best ARM tablets still lag behind even the SP3 i3 in total power. These two chips (and others) are going to make it much much closer to i5/i7.

MS should have the pedal to the floor on RT instead they appear to be just toying around with it.

Maybe they still have a big surprise in store for us.

 

[GreyFox7]

One more little point sort of tangential but still important. MS is hoping via universal apps to close the App gap and there's been a lot written about it. One issue I think has been overlooked is that we are talking about desktop app devs converting to a new UI paradigm. I liken this to a much earlier experience I had. We asked a cobol programmer to write a program in Pascal. Upon review it looked shockingly, appallingly like a cobol program and looked unfamiliar to Pascal programmers. It worked but lacked finesse and polish.

 

[oion]

Good points.
MS screwed up the naming scheme entirely, and "RT" really wasn't helpful at all.

One point of limbo is the new Office (does it have a real name? I've only seen "touch-enabled Office" or "universal Office" apps, neither of which are great): Free for 8-inch and under Win10 mobile devices. I mean, I could see a Windows 10 mobile Surface Mini tablet with free Office that way, but that cuts out the 10-inch Surface RT line, and then you still have to buy for the larger Pros/Win10 devices. I hope this is addressed. I really do NOT want to be forced to upgrade to a Pro and pay out of pocket for an eternal Office subscription, yet 8-inch is just too small for me.