Windows 8 Tablets/Slates

[proffesso]

Originally Posted by NSanity

Except the Surface Pro will join a domain, will run x86 apps and will be controlled by corporate group policy.

Assuming the Surface Pro is just as quality built and robust as a "New ipad", the ipad just died in the corporate space.

Dead. Game Over.

can I hold you to that?

im all over a surface pro, provided its actually reasonably beefy inside (photoshop/3d on the go? yes please)

but im certainly not proclaiming its the second coming of jebus, i'd actually be suprised if it managed to significantly reduce ipad use in corp enviroments

[obi]

Originally Posted by NSanity

Except the Surface Pro will join a domain, will run x86 apps and will be controlled by corporate group policy.

Assuming the Surface Pro is just as quality built and robust as a "New ipad", the ipad just died in the corporate space.

Dead. Game Over.

Bwahahhahahahhahaha.

The only people that care about the "features" you have listed are IT people that don't see the sun.

[atmo]

We've recently started a trial with Asus EP121 slates as take home devices for a small group of VCE students. They're running a Win7 based SOE but we've spent some time testing them with Win8 and they're very nice.

Where the Asus needs improvement for our needs is battery life (4.5 hours specified) and the 64gb SSD being a bit small to hold the OS and student's personal data. Asus currently also don't seem to be able to provide the same level of support that we've come to expect from Dell and Lenovo.

[Matt_NZ]

Originally Posted by elvis

You got it in one. But I tend to believe in giving end users whatever they want, and not dictating hardware to them.

Of course, I make a few requirements known. Like, if I'm going to roll out iPads, then I want a management tool to go with it. But generally speaking that's a piece of cake when the CEO stomps up and down about wanting an iPad *NOW*.

But I'm well aware users want toys, and not production tools. Those who do want real production tools are few and far between, but I'm happy to give them special attention when it comes to doing real work (hint: these people don't use tablets or phones to do real work). I've got no problems with the other 80% being kept amused by shiny things, of course. It keeps them out of the way when they're busy in meetings showing each other their latest iPad keynote presentation with moving pie charts.

Except they get their shiny new iPad, love it for a few weeks and then start asking questions like "Why can't I edit the Word file that's in X network location?" or "Why can't I print from my iPad to the LaserJet in my office?". While their are solutions to these problems with the iPad, they're not cheap, easy or very tidy.

At least with the slates/tablets based on the x86 version of Windows 8, this will be no different to how they do it on their PC. Windows RT is looking much easier to solve these problems then it is with iOS as well...

[NSanity]

Originally Posted by Matt_NZ

Except they get their shiny new iPad, love it for a few weeks and then start asking questions like "Why can't I edit the Word file that's in X network location?" or "Why can't I print from my iPad to the LaserJet in my office?". While their are solutions to these problems with the iPad, they're not cheap, easy or very tidy.

At least with the slates/tablets based on the x86 version of Windows 8, this will be no different to how they do it on their PC. Windows RT is looking much easier to solve these problems then it is with iOS as well...

This is exactly why the Surface Pro is a game changer.

Elvis - all of a sudden you're running LibreOffice, ubuntu or whatever. Its not just about running MS desktop bits and pieces - its there is finally a decent competitor to the iPad.

Android had the chance but there isn't an Android Tablet out there that isn't flawed in some way (The Transformer series has each had a problem or has been pipped at the post by the iPad).

iPad is all a solid, well built product and the applications available - all of a sudden, you have the entire Windows eco-system (and Linux, and whatever else). So long as the Surface Pro is built as robust as an iPad - it will fly off the shelf like hotcakes.

Originally Posted by proffesso

can I hold you to that?

im all over a surface pro, provided its actually reasonably beefy inside (photoshop/3d on the go? yes please)

but im certainly not proclaiming its the second coming of jebus, i'd actually be suprised if it managed to significantly reduce ipad use in corp enviroments

I don't think its the second coming of Jesus. The iPad is *clearly* limited in the corporate space the second you try to do some corporate work (Office). No Flash (less of a problem today, but still a nuisance).

People like yourself proffesso finally get a stylus AND capacitive touch.

My unknowns about the Surface Pro are the following;

* General Speed - both out of the box, and 1 month in. My iPad3 is "slowing" down, random App lockups (crash to home screen), etc.
* Battery life - both actively and standby
* How your productivity Applications work in the real world. Can I get Photoshop on it? Can I get Autocad? Revit? Inventor? - doesn't matter if these apps aren't full speed, but if you can get it there and people can start to sketch things up on the job, then come back to their workstation - huge huge benefits.

I'm quietly hopeful about the whole thing. MS is pissing off a lot of people - particularly the cheaper 2nd and 3rd tier OEM's with this (Acer won't shut up about how sad they are) - doing it, but as many have said "They had their chance".

I'll have one on Day 1 - mostly because i have probably 10-15 clients all seriously curious about it.

Originally Posted by obi

Bwahahhahahahhahaha.

The only people that care about the "features" you have listed are IT people that don't see the sun.

Actually the whole reason for the success of the iPad and iPhone in the corporate space isn't just because the Church of Jobs evangalism - there was no real alternative. WinMo sucks, Blackberry sucks, Symbian was shit, Meego was too little too late, WinCE sucks, Android was too late.

Those "features" are everything for corporates.

[ewok85]

Originally Posted by proffesso

can I hold you to that?

Pro doesn't run Win8 RT, its Win8 x86 full-featured desktop edition.

[elvis]

Originally Posted by Matt_NZ

Except they get their shiny new iPad, love it for a few weeks and then start asking questions like "Why can't I edit the Word file that's in X network location?" or "Why can't I print from my iPad to the LaserJet in my office?". While their are solutions to these problems with the iPad, they're not cheap, easy or very tidy.

At least with the slates/tablets based on the x86 version of Windows 8, this will be no different to how they do it on their PC. Windows RT is looking much easier to solve these problems then it is with iOS as well...

In the last three years I've worked in 4 offices ranging from 50 to 1200 users, all with substantial percentages of iPad users. I kid you not when I say that I haven't had a single one EVER ask me how to print.

Most of them get the whole "passive information viewing portal device" concept, and still do "real work" on their PCs.

Seriously, they just get that the iPad is for browsing websites, reading PDFs, and showing off keynote presentations. Although I see more and more of them working on spreadsheets via Google Docs these days, which is kind of interesting. But if there's anything I can say positive about the iPad, it's the fact that it's done more for the concept of the "paperless office" than any Microsoft tool ever has.

[Matt_NZ]

Originally Posted by elvis

In the last three years I've worked in 4 offices ranging from 50 to 1200 users, all with substantial percentages of iPad users. I kid you not when I say that I haven't had a single one EVER ask me how to print.

Most of them get the whole "passive information viewing portal device" concept, and still do "real work" on their PCs.

Seriously, they just get that the iPad is for browsing websites, reading PDFs, and showing off keynote presentations. Although I see more and more of them working on spreadsheets via Google Docs these days, which is kind of interesting. But if there's anything I can say positive about the iPad, it's the fact that it's done more for the concept of the "paperless office" than any Microsoft tool ever has.

I wish our users would, but despite explaining that they're just toys that you use for casual browsing or the like, we get those requests. As a result, a lot of the iPads that our executives have been given after requesting them simply sit in their cupboards - I looked in AirWatch today and saw that the good majority of our iPad fleet hadn't been in contact with the server for a few weeks :|

Once we get some high quality Win 8 based tablets out on the market I'd be keen to trial them on a couple of users and see if there's a difference. I'm hoping we'll see some with decent performance (ie. better than a netbook) that could even become their only PC. I think if we can get to that point that truly will be the game changer as there's no longer the sync annoyance, the different interfaces or the "oops, I didn't copy that across before I left" situation.

[elvis]

Originally Posted by Matt_NZ

As a result, a lot of the iPads that our executives have been given after requesting them simply sit in their cupboards - I looked in AirWatch today and saw that the good majority of our iPad fleet hadn't been in contact with the server for a few weeks :|

In those sorts of situations, I do up a report with a dollar cost (hardware, software, management tools, IT time/wages) at the cost of the rollout, and then present it to the people who were the loudest voices when it came to pushing for the product. I present it a second time when they loudly cry out for the next fad product, and ask them if it will be different this time.

IT cop the blame for frequently saying "no" to users. I always say yes, and make it very clear that the cost of rollout is also on the heads of the users. Keep the figures handy, and present them to users when they get frivolous with requests for trendy toys. After three or four of these cycles on the merry-go-round, users finally start to take responsibility for their requests, particularly when the CFO comes calling and asks them to better justify their requests.

Our jobs are not to play police, CFO, or any other role. IT aren't there to offer any sort of control. We're here to provide users with the things they want. If they want to get silly about it, it's important that IT don't cop the blame or own the cost of such silliness.

[Matt_NZ]

Originally Posted by elvis

In those sorts of situations, I do up a report with a dollar cost (hardware, software, management tools, IT time/wages) at the cost of the rollout, and then present it to the people who were the loudest voices when it came to pushing for the product. I present it a second time when they loudly cry out for the next fad product, and ask them if it will be different this time.

IT cop the blame for frequently saying "no" to users. I always say yes, and make it very clear that the cost of rollout is also on the heads of the users. Keep the figures handy, and present them to users when they get frivolous with requests for trendy toys. After three or four of these cycles on the merry-go-round, users finally start to take responsibility for their requests, particularly when the CFO comes calling and asks them to better justify their requests.

Our jobs are not to play police, CFO, or any other role. IT aren't there to offer any sort of control. We're here to provide users with the things they want. If they want to get silly about it, it's important that IT don't cop the blame or own the cost of such silliness.

Yeah we don't say no either, except to request by execs for Macs as we're just not setup to support them. The cost of the devices go to their cost centers so it's not out of our budget.

I think like many they got caught in the hysteria that tends to surround Apple devices and are now suffering the Apple hangover when they realize that it doesn't actually do a lot of the stuff that they'd like the device to be able to do at work. Which is why when the first quality Win 8 tablet makes its appearance I'll try get a trial model or two that I can pass out to the same people and see if it gets used more than the iPads have.

[figrin]

What's the cpu on the acer W510? They keep trying to keep the 'intel cpu' secret but I guess that's because everyone hate the atom.