I\u2019d say I\u2019ve had more than a dozen people ask me what my Windows Build (Windows 8 DevPrev) \u201ctablet\u201d was like.\u00a0 I\u2019d show it to them and they\u2019d give me the usual it so big compared to an iPad response.\u00a0 There is clearly some confusion because it is a slate PC, not a tablet.\u00a0 So let\u2019s clear it up:<\/p>\n
Slate PC<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n What we got at Build was not a tablet.\u00a0 It was a slate PC.\u00a0 A slate PC is pretty much like a slim laptop with a touch screen and no keyboard.\u00a0 Characteristics include something like an Intel Core i3 or Core i5 CPU, it will have a relatively short battery life (compared to an iPad), and it probably has 2 GB to 4GB RAM \u2026 and it can run Windows at this time (Oct 2011).\u00a0 It is not<\/em> a tablet, and Microsoft (to their credit) hasn\u2019t tried to call it a tablet.<\/p>\n Tablet<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The typical Android tablet and the iPad fall into this category.\u00a0 The Build slate PC does not.\u00a0 The key traits of this device type are driven by the need for long battery life.\u00a0\u00a0 There is relatively little storage, not much memory, and the CPU is some low power thing like an A5 (iPad) or the Nvidia Tegra (as seen in Motoroal Xoom Android tablets).\u00a0 Traditional Intel\/AMD processors are very different beasts with different instruction sets.<\/p>\n Microsoft currently has no offerings in this market.\u00a0 Their future in this market is based on the ARM \u201csystem on a chip\u201d processor<\/a>.\u00a0 This will mean that sometime in 2012 we get the usual\u00a0x86 (Intel and AMD), x64 (Intel and AMD) media, along with with a new Windows 8 compile for ARM processors.\u00a0 Various vendors build ARM processors including Nvidia and Snapdragon.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t surprise me to see MSFT set out a standard design for a Windows 8 tablet, much like they have done with Windows Phone 7.x handsets to avoid market fracturing as has happened in the Android world.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen (but not used or touched) Windows 8 tablets.\u00a0 They are about the same size as Android tablets or iPads.\u00a0 They are nothing like slate PCs.<\/p>\n Ultrabook<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Here comes Intel to confuse us some.\u00a0 I guess they are irked by the arrival into the Windows world of a new low power competitor in the form of ARM.\u00a0 The ultrabook is kind of laptop.\u00a0 Quite simply, it is to laptop what MacBook Air is to MacBook.\u00a0 It\u2019s Intel\u2019s attempt (with OEMs) to supply a lighter, thinner, sexier laptop to compete in the lightweight, long battery life market.<\/p>\n Like I said, it\u2019s a mini laptop.\u00a0 It has a Core i5 or Core i7 CPU, GBs of RAM, and an SSD.\u00a0 Typically they are on the smaller side, but bigger than netbooks, at 13.3\u201d (with some smaller variations).\u00a0 And advantage is the presence of a keyboard, which can be detachable.\u00a0 This could leave a touch screen device that might be easily confused with a slate PC.<\/p>\n I\u2019d say I\u2019ve had more than a dozen people ask me what my Windows Build (Windows 8 DevPrev) \u201ctablet\u201d was like.\u00a0 I\u2019d show it to them and they\u2019d give me the usual it so big compared to an iPad response.\u00a0 There is clearly some confusion because it is a slate PC, not a tablet.\u00a0 So … Continue reading “Confusion About Windows Tablets”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[180,109],"class_list":["post-11872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-desktop","tag-hardware","tag-windows-8"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t