If Apple were to observe and opine on today’s announcement (which they never do) they would tell you how they cut the cord of desktop OS concepts in mobile: they took the kernel of OSX and made iOS for mobile, threw out any x86 OSX app-compatibility, and strictly kept it that way for iPad as well. Only one of Microsoft’s announced tablets can say that today.
Apple’s tablet concept has a completely different use-approach that served them very, very well. Any similar success in Microsoft’s approach will remain to be seen.
It seems to me that Microsoft risks slowing Metro app-adoption (by consumers & developers) by offering a tablet that lets users bring their bag of x86 apps with them in an Intel tablet. But what choice do they have? With such a huge install-base and little track-record for heavy-handed slashing of legacy platforms (a-la Apple), MS clearly feels their offerings have to cover x86 apps for now.
Choosing to buy the fatter, heavier, and more battery-hungry “Intel” Surface tablet can also frustrate some users: trying to use mouse-oriented Wintel desktop apps on a touch tablet form-factor risks frequent disappointment. By disallowing native OSX apps from iPad, Apple never had that baggage. Sure, many Apple users in 2010 complained iPad would fail because it can’t run OSX apps…and nearly all of those people have bought iPads and use iOS apps daily in 2012.
Microsoft’s other problem to deal with will be price-point: their demo today mentions that Intel tablet pricing will be on par with Ultrabooks. Ultrabooks start around $999 and go up from there, last I looked. Nearly twice the price of the entry-level iPad for those wanting to run x86 apps.
Make no mistake, today Microsoft was very brave. But in the short-term their two-platform tablet approach, and price-point, likely gives Metro app-growth a bit of headwind.
Originally published at julianwest.me on June 18, 2012.