{"id":12043,"date":"2012-01-21T12:46:41","date_gmt":"2012-01-21T12:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=12043"},"modified":"2012-01-21T12:46:41","modified_gmt":"2012-01-21T12:46:41","slug":"the-era-of-the-windows-device-is-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=12043","title":{"rendered":"The Era Of The Windows Device Is Here?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wasn\u2019t able to keep up with my usual feeds and sources of news and gossip during the week with all the meetings I was attending, travel, presenting, and catching up in the office.  But one thing I noticed was the re-emergence of some Linux people moaning<\/em> about secure boot, and more comments (positive, negative and speculation) about Windows 8 ARM tablets.<\/p>\n

On ARM tablets, other than the fact that we\u2019ve seen them at Build (behind glass cases) and that they will eventually appear on the market, we know nothing else.  There\u2019s no end of pointless speculation.  We can\u2019t criticise them because we don\u2019t know what they are.  If you are knocking them then I\u2019d love to learn about your hands on experience with these Windows 8 devices \u2026 mainly because the manufacturers haven\u2019t put any on the market or released any specs yet.  So shut the frak up!<\/p>\n

As for the Linux folks, I don\u2019t always agree with him but Paul Thurrot got it right on.  When Apple make it easy for you to install Linux on an iPad or on an iPhone, then come talk to us.<\/p>\n

The truth is that Windows devices<\/em> are changing.  When I got in the business in the mid 90\u2019s it was the norm for an IT person or an enthusiast to not buy a home PC.  Machines from Gateway 2000 (their abandoned factory in Dublin is still sitting there, with the alleged drug rehab clinic inside!) or Dell were so restrictive and overpriced.  Change was happening at incredible rates.  In Dublin we would have gone to a place like Peats to buy a case, motherboard, and all the other gubbins to build a machine to meet our requirements.  Later we\u2019d order from Komplett.  But most gamers switched to the PS2 (and PS3) or Xbox (and Xbox 360) to get consistent and easy to access games.  Switching out graphics cards every year to be able to play the latest game was not cool.  In fact, I felt like the price of a custom build went up and way beyond the factory PC.<\/p>\n

Customisation seems to be dying.  Take the slate PCs (the \u201cflat laptop with a touch screen\u201d precursor to the Windows tablet that) that are on the market now.  The one we got at Build 2011 has a small SSD.  I\u2019ve love to upgrade it but I can\u2019t.  The chassis is sealed.  There\u2019s no obvious way to open it.  It\u2019s probably a safe bet that if it was a retail model, even opening the chassis would void the warrantee.  The new ultrabook I got is similar.  It has tiny<\/em> screws that require an Allen key that you\u2019d find only in the best of PC toolkits (lucky I got one from MSFT a few years ago) or a jewellers.  But again, opening that chassis will probably void the warrantee.  <\/p>\n

I think we are moving from the customisable Windows PC era to the era of the Windows device.  Most BSODs I have encountered have been caused by device drivers.  If Microsoft can dictate device specifications, as they do with Windows Phone, then they can improve the user\u2019s experience of Windows stability.  That\u2019s one of the things Apple gets praise for, but they can control the hardware, driver, and OS to guarantee a better experience.  Microsoft has to deal with an incredible breadth of internal devices and drivers, made of manufacturers of varying skills and professionalism.  <\/p>\n

My desire to customise has reduced over the years.  Buying components by myself is expensive.  The likes of Asus or HP can bulk buy and sell on to me as a part of a machine at a much better price.  Maybe I\u2019m alone in this but I like this change.  A simple, pick it up and just use it appliance is what I want.  And I really don\u2019t care if it can\u2019t dual boot Linux.  Let the penguin shaggers go buy Linux devices instead \"Smile\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wasn\u2019t able to keep up with my usual feeds and sources of news and gossip during the week with all the meetings I was attending, travel, presenting, and catching up in the office.  But one thing I noticed was the re-emergence of some Linux people moaning about secure boot, and more comments (positive, negative … Continue reading “The Era Of The Windows Device Is Here?”<\/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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"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