14 DAY TRIAL // Called Surface, Microsoft’s own Windows 8 tablet has created quite a bit of stir when unveiled back in June, as well as afterwards.
The Redmond-based software giant promised a great user experience coming from the combination of its own hardware and the upcoming operating system, and OEMs wowed their disapproval on the product.
Microsoft is a software company, and some of its partners have suggested that it should stick to making software, while leaving the hardware part to them, while also noting that they would lose their bread if the company started producing its own devices.
Clearly, their point of view is a strong one, but not all hardware makers share it. According to Dell, the release of Microsoft’s Surface tablet won’t impact the performance of its own Windows 8 devices.
In a recent interview with PCWorld, Michael Dell, founder and CEO of the company, notes that Surface should be seen exactly how Microsoft intended it to be seen: a baseline for the Windows 8 experience on mobile devices.
Surface was said right from the start to be Microsoft’s way of speeding up adoption of the Windows 8 platform, and not to represent a possible entering of the Redmond company on the hardware market.
This means that OEMs will have nothing to fear from a possible competition with Microsoft on the tablet area, but that they should pay attention to what Surface has to offer and try to come up with better hardware, better experiences.
“I think the impact will be limited, given the number of units they expect to ship. Microsoft developed the product largely as a reference architecture—to set a baseline for Windows 8 user experience,” Dell reportedly said.
“We’re aligning a significant portion of our product development with Windows 8, and we think it offers some great, new capabilities. Anything Microsoft does to support faster Windows 8 adoption is fine by Dell.”
Windows 8 will arrive on shelves on October 26th, the very day when the first tablets, notebooks and desktops powered by it are set to land as well. Dell should have multiple such products released starting with that day.