Im dreading the day touch screens become the norm... i am far more into reclining in my chair like a lazy sloth and clicking on the mouse til im outta breath.

my understanding is that app developers will not even be able to deploy to their own devices with out going through the windows store. I cannot write an app that anyone can voluntarily install unless I distribute it through the windows store. I have to submit my code for review first. this is similar to xbox. I can write games for it, but to deploy the game to my own xbox costs 150usd per year.

Yup that's why they are selling the OS on the cheap, they are abandoning the idea that OS's will make money in future, and it's all about apps and (possibly) hardware. In a nutshell M$ wants to be Apple.

The money isnt in the hardware. The hardware is the hook into the ecosystem. Once you have their hardware they make money off the apps and services.

wizard71


Im dreading the day touch screens become the norm... i am far more into reclining in my chair like a lazy sloth and clicking on the mouse til im outta breath.

Just because touchscreens will be the norm doesnt mean you have to use them as touchscreens. Touch pads and touch mice work well with the desktop in Windows 8 especially after MS just released the updated drivers for their touch mouse.

> The money isnt in the hardware.

Like I said "and (possibly) hardware" and for good reason.

Their surface netbook is their first venture into hardware (or one of their first ventures anyway for ages) that holds their OS which isn't just badged by them. The Microsoft Surface is not being sold at a loss. Why then does MS supply hardware when OEM's and third parties have produced this sort of hardware in the past and MS has just supplied the software?

Only these possibilities I think

a) They want to see if they can own it all, hardware and software like apple.
b) They want to diversify into hardware so they may have something to fall back on/expand their horizons
c) They want to set a good example for OEM's to follow. i.e. set the bar...
d) This is their insurance plan in case OEM's may abandon them in the years to come.

I suspect it's all of these reasons

@CakeAlexS.... Sometimes I think they thought they could provide a better product and cut some development corners by doing all the software themselves, from drivers to OS. No Hardware Abstraction Layer burdening them like it burdens Windows. Owning the supply chain I kinda think was a risky choice. I loved apple in 1984-88 or so. They still make great products, but I get more of what I want for my limited resources by staying away from Apple now.