14 DAY TRIAL // Just as rumored a few weeks ago, Dell has decided to give up on Windows RT and make the switch to the full version of Windows 8 for its future products.
The company has now confirmed that no other Windows RT products would be released in the coming years, as it aims to provide users “the full Windows experience.”
“We are not planning to refresh our current line of RT products. We're really focused on full Windows products. ...The full Windows experience provides great capability,” Neil Hand, head of tablets at Dell, was quoted as saying by CNET.
Dell has also revealed that the XPS 10 would be phased out, with the tablet already removed from the US market.
“We are very good at understanding our true customer demand and adjusting our supply chain to fit that in real time,” Hand said.
As for the reasons that made Dell abandon Windows RT, the lack of apps is considered to be a pretty important setback for tablets running the operating system, while the high price of such devices is keeping lots of users away from the platform.
“For the same range of price, you can get a full Windows 8 tablet. If you want to run the new Windows 8 interface, you can, but you can also run all the old apps as before. That's hard to compete against. Unless you're [priced] far below that, there's just not space,” Sam Burd, vice president of Dell's PC business, added.
Microsoft seems to be the only company that continues to bet big on Windows RT, as the tech giant is now getting ready to debut the new Surface 2 tablet running the 8.1 version of the operating system. The company implemented several updates in Windows RT 8.1, including better touch support, more customization options and support for smaller devices.