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"Tape and strings literally made Surface." Panos Panay, general manager of the team behind the Microsoft Surface, touches an old mockup made of black and white plastic. He's forgetting glue, certainly – two panels appear to have been hot-glued to form the "tablet" part of the device — but tape and strings really are two key ingredients in this prototype, the one Panay's team used to show off what Surface would look like. It's crude and fragile, but it's also unmistakably Surface. Surface... below the surface.
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Surface delivers the power of amazing software and the feel of premium hardware in one exciting experience. Originally unveiled in June, Surface with Windows RT will initially be available in three SKUs: a 32GB version priced at US$499, a 32GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$599, and a 64GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$699. So... are you going to buy one now that you know what it costs?
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Lame.
There is a conference coming up soon, and I would seriously consider getting a Surface if I didn't have to wait until 2013 to get the Pro version (i.e., the version that may be able to run Visual Studio, which would make the Surface actually useful for a developer conference).
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Terrence Dorsey wrote: So... are you going to buy one now that you know what it costs?
No, I will wait until at least several months after it's out, and then:
1. Get hands-on experience with a Surface with the keyboard that costs more (as of pre-release information) that allows "moving keys:" I would never touch a keyboard without moving keys for any significant work. Then I'd be looking closely at screen resolution, and clarity.
2. I'll be reading, by April, or so, I would hope, critical reviews of Surface performance, and reportage of the usual screw-ups with new hardware and software roll-outs that drive developers, and end-users, insane.
3. I'd then evaluate cost/benefit of a Surface compared to other tablets and OS's.
4. And, I'll be asking the same questions about the Surface, at any time, that I am now asking myself about getting a "smart phone:" do I really need this, either personally, or professionally; will I really use this ?
best, Bill
~
Confused by Windows 8 ? This may help: [ ^] !
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For the first time in the history of the PC, Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows ecosystem for which they will be the sole software distributor. If you buy Windows 8, the only place you will be able to download software that integrates with its new user interface will be the official Windows Store. Microsoft will have complete control over what software will be allowed there.... But how realistic is the assumption that the Windows desktop will still be a usable computing platform in the future? And what would be the consequences were it to disappear, leaving Windows users with only the closed software ecosystem introduced in Windows 8? All your apps are belong to us!
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Confused (and saddened) by the recent split between Anonymous and WikiLeaks? Allow us to help explain it all. [ITworld]
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The operating system's Metro interface is almost sure to cause a surge in calls to the enterprise help desk as users contend with tiles where the familiar 'Start' button and 'Explorer' icon used to be.
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With a host of new tools and capabilities--such as Secure Boot, Windows To Go and greatly improved file management--Windows 8 may have broad appeal in a variety of businesses. I like Windows 8 just fine. Give it some time and you might like it too.
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GeekForChrist wrote: I like Windows 8 just fine. Give it some time and you might like it too
I can't stand it. What I can't stand most is that, at its core it's an excellent OS. Security, the tweaks like the resource manager, file copies, the underlying security, and the general stability is excellent. A far more stable and flexible OS than iOS, and I use both.
The split of the UI, however, is so clumsily done that the fall is the worse for it being on something that should be so much better. I used to go back to iOS and complain about dumb things like having to eject USB storage, or not being able to shake a window and have all other windows collapse, or the stupidness of the "+" sign on iTunes minimising it. Now I no longer complain. Now I just stay quiet and sad.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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Chris Maunder wrote: The split of the UI, however, is so clumsily done that the fall is the worse for it being on something that should be so much better.
I agree that the split is quite clumsy. I guess I got used to it out of a feeling of necessity.
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i haven't really done too much reading but i think my investment in WPF is now considered obsolete.
dev
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Why is your investment in WPF now considered obsolete?
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i havent read much but is it true Metro apps runs on WinRT API and WPF/.NET all considered obsolete?
Read this?[^]
dev
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devvvy wrote: but is it true Metro apps runs on WinRT API and WPF/.NET all considered
obsolete?
No. You can still run WPF/.NET apps on Windows 8. Where you get some confusion is in what you can run on Windows 8 running on ARM processors.
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From wikipedia:
Quote: Limitations
Only software written using the Windows Runtime (Metro style apps) can be used on Windows RT with the exception of Microsoft Office 2013 and the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10. Developers will not be able to create applications to run on Windows RT using the Win32 APIs.[10]
Eusebiu
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Now read what I actually answered, not what you think I answered. Did I state WinRT, or did I state Windows 8? WPF and .NET both happily run on Windows 8.
Oh, and Wikipedia isn't always correct - something to remember before you quote from it.
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Dude, Windows 8 has four editions; Windows 8 RT (if you like, WinRT) one edition of Windows 8.
So, when you say "Windows 8...", you have to complete the rest of the sentence when it comes to development. 
In this case, Wikipedia is correct. And I did not say that Wikipedia is always correct - you assumed that I always think that Wikipedia is always correct (which is not true).
Eusebiu
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Eusebiu Marcu wrote: you assumed that I always think that Wikipedia is always correct
No I didn't. I just pointed out that quoting Wikipedia isn't always a guarantee of reliability.
Eusebiu Marcu wrote: Dude
Please don't. I'm a middle aged white man from the UK. In no way do I qualify as "dude".
Eusebiu Marcu wrote: So, when you say "Windows 8...", you have to complete the rest of the sentence
when it comes to development.
Again, no I don't. Read what I put again. I merely stated that you can run WPF and .NET apps on Windows 8 so the skills aren't dead. There's a reason I mentioned the ARM processor - and that's because that's the one environment where you can't run them.
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Sorry for the "dude".
For the rest... whatever!
Eusebiu
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote: I'm a middle aged white man from the UK. In no way do I qualify as "dude".
I was about to say I'm a middle aged white man from the US. and I think I do qualify as "dude".
Then I remembered when I was 25, declared I was middle aged and when asked why, said the current life expectency is 75, so 0-25 is youth, 25-50 is middle aged, 50-75 is old age and anything beyond is bonus time. Using that criteria, I've been old for nearly a decade, but still think its OK to call me dude.
Then there is the definition of dude as someone who is inexperienced and naive. (IE Dude Ranch) I didn't even think to take it that way.
So, being from the UK, you're too staid and stuffy to be a dude? Or are you too old? (The Great Wobowski would disagree with that one.)
That kind of reminded me of the song that goes "when you only live a hundred years..." When I first heard that, I thought "You're a singer, what makes you think you'll pass 40?" along with the documented cases of people going past 110. What does age have to do with your "dude"ness?
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Staid and stuffy. Definitely. I cringe when I think of the crap and stupidity I came out with in my teens and twenties, all in a futile attempt to be hip and cool. Being a dude was one of those things, and I am old enough for it to have different connotations, going back to all the young dudes.
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote: Staid and stuffy. Definitely.
Said by someone who would also say
Pete O'Hanlon wrote: pre-emptive celebratory nipple tassle jiggle
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Actually, that was said by Sean.
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote: Actually, that was said by Sean.
True, but you think enough of it to include it in your tag line. Even if you are repeating someone else's saying, you are saying it.
I'm too lazy to add a tag line, so you're more hip than I am.
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote: Please don't. I'm a middle aged white man from the UK. In no way do I qualify as "dude".
Quite right; the correct form of address is clearly "Brosicle". 
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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You can absolutely write WPF/C#/.Net apps, in fact the Windows Runtime (henceforth WinRT) is just a COM based wrapper around exiting APIs already present in Win32 and the .Net framework and apps can be made in C# or C++ with UIs built in XAML (also in HTML/JS). There is also a set of APIs that are "whitelisted" that are present in the Win32 APIs but are not present in WinRT, that can still be included in store apps and work on Windows RT systems.
So your investment in WPF didn't get obsoleted, it just went multiprocessor.
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