Surface

Acer warns Microsoft that hardware is like 'hard rice'

Acer is pretty peeved with Microsoft's hardware push and continues to let the software giant know it.

The latest comments from the Taiwanese computer maker again criticize Microsoft's recent push to compete with its hardware partners.

According to a rough translation from Google, Linxian Lang, Acer's manager of Greater China operations, compared making hardware to food. He described the process to "hard rice" that's "not so easy to eat."

Of course, the translation is riddled with errors, but the general sentiment is clear: Acer thinks Microsoft should stick to what it does … Read more

Oprah: Microsoft's Surface is like a Mercedes

When a person of influence endorses your product, your marketing department reaches for the sky.

Or, more likely, for the Skyy.

So, wherever you are, you will surely be hearing the ululations of vodka-fueled pleasure emanating from Redmond on hearing that Oprah has declared the new Surface one of her "Favorite Things" of the year.

As Mashable reports it, Oprah likened the Surface to a Toyota Prius, because it is such a perfect hybrid of tablet and PC.

No, wait, she actually said: "The Surface, Microsoft's first tablet, feels like a Mercedes-Benz to me, people!

Would … Read more

Surface is 'a quirky cat,' teardown shows

Microsoft's Surface is a little easier to repair than the third-generation iPad, iFixit says, but it's still pretty difficult to take apart.

The site rated Surface's "repairability" a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the easiest) following a teardown of the product. By comparison, the iPad has a rating of 2, and the Amazon Kindle Fire rates 8. According to iFixit:

The Microsoft Surface is a quirky cat. Microsoft engineers clearly took a different internal design direction than what we've seen in the iPad and the Nexus/Kindles. But … Read more

Life in the Microsoft Surface line

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- I'm no stranger to Apple lines. Come prepared with a chair, and a laptop to keep busy, and settle in among the converted. But a Microsoft line? The last time I was in one was for a midnight release of Windows 98. I didn't know what to expect as I joined the line Friday among the Microsoft faithful to get one of the new Microsoft Surface tablets.

I'd called the previous day to the Microsoft Store in my local shopping center, South Coast Plaza, in the Southern California city of Costa Mesa. A … Read more

Wait a minute. Is this an Apple store?

This week marked a pretty big time for Microsoft. It launched Windows 8 and its new Surface tablet, and it also opened up its first stores -- albeit temporary -- in New York.

But the reaction to all three has been a little mixed. It's uncertain what sort of demand Windows 8 will see, and reviewers say the company's Surface is innovative but lacks apps.

In the stores, meanwhile, there's a little confusion, a little curiosity, and a lot of resemblance to Apple.

The software giant officially unveiled Windows 8 yesterday during a New York event. To … Read more

Microsoft Surface: Not really a tablet or a laptop

NEW YORK -- Much has been speculated about how well the new Microsoft Surface will fare in the tablet world, particularly against Apple's iPad.

But if consumers flock to the Surface, it won't be because it's an alternative to the iPad. Microsoft's vision for the Surface goes well beyond the traditional tablet market. The company is betting that consumers will want to use the keyboard it's designed for the Surface to create documents, annotate pictures, and more.

And yet, the Surface, which Microsoft launched here today, isn't really a laptop either. The version that … Read more

Ahoy, there! The Surface surfaces tonight

Microsoft will finally test the waters of the tablet market as its new Surface goes on sale. More than 60 stores in North America will offer the tablet starting tonight at 10 p.m. local time.

The Surface RT, which Microsoft demonstrated at its Windows 8 event today, aims to stand out from the wave of other Windows 8 tablets due to hit the market.

Microsoft touted the contrast of the Surface tablet with its ClearView technology as one that reflects glare better than other screens. A Microsoft engineer recently played up the Surface display as superior to that of the iPad … Read more

Microsoft boss confirms more hardware on the way

Microsoft's top brass confirmed that the software giant turned tablet maker plans to develop and build more devices.

Speaking to the BBC News' technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said that the company, which will later today debut the Windows 8-powered Surface tablet, will build more devices under its name. (CNET will be live-blogging Microsoft's New York event later this morning.)

Is it fair to say we're going to do more hardware? Obviously we are. We did our first piece of non-Xbox hardware when we launch the Surface. Where we see important opportunities to … Read more

Top 10 biggest drawbacks of Windows RT

While Microsoft is spending a small fortune promoting its next-generation Windows 8 operating system, it also has another new operating system called Windows RT, which actually powers the company's Surface tablet and a few other devices.

Superficially, the operating systems look and feel the same. But Windows RT is designed for devices running on ARM chips, which are used to power smartphones and tablets and are considered more power-efficient.

Windows RT is more like "Windows Lite" than a full-blown update to the operating system. It's Microsoft's attempt to make a controlled environment similar to Apple'… Read more

Big surprise: Bill Gates thinks Windows 8 is great

Bill Gates is giving some initial feedback about Windows 8, and it's no shocker that he thinks the operating system is pretty nifty.

The Microsoft co-founder and chairman, speaking in a video interview with Microsoft's Steve Clayton, echoes CEO Steve Ballmer in calling Windows 8 an "absolutely critical product" that combines "the best" of tablets and traditional PCs.

Gates noted that people will be "amazed at the energy" Microsoft is putting behind its new products, and he said Windows 8 "is key to where personal computing is going."

"This … Read more