The Windows RT Review
by Vivek Gowri & Anand Lal Shimpi on October 25, 2012 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Windows RT
- Operating Systems
- Microsoft
- Mobile
- Windows 8
- Tablets
The Keyboard(s) - Handwriting Recognition Returns
Windows RT comes with three keyboards. The standard QWERTY keyboard looks and feels like a larger version of the Windows Phone 7 keyboard, with the same design aesthetic and similar pop-up options for punctuation. In Modern UI, it takes up the entire bottom half of the screen, but interestingly enough, in desktop mode it doesn’t quite stretch full screen - there’s roughly 20 pixels left on either side of the keyboard. You can choose to stretch it out such that it spans the width of the screen, which changes the key aspect ratio and makes the entire thing wider. It doesn’t change the usability at all, but it was an odd bit of discontinuity. The number page has a unique layout, with a number-pad on the right and commonly used punctuation and symbols on the left. Other than that though, it’s a pretty straightforward keyboard that does its job well.
The second keyboard is a split keyboard, but instead of being an overlay, it takes up the same amount of space as the regular QWERTY and adds a number pad right in the middle. The unorthodox layout is somewhat jarring at first, but if you want to type with your thumbs, this is the only way to do it. I honestly prefer the way Apple does it, with two separate key banks on either side of the screen (and actually, I think the first time I saw it like that was on the old Origami UMPCs back in the day) - it lets you see more of the display and ends up being more functional because of that.
The last keyboard is actually probably the most interesting, because it’s not really a keyboard. It’s the return of our old friend, the handwriting input panel. This is one of the only places I can find any remaining trace of the tablet PC era. None of the devices we had to test were pen-enabled, so the only way to use it was using our finger as a capacitive input. I was actually shocked at how well it worked. I know quite a few people waiting on the Wacom-infused Windows 8 Pro slates, but for those on a budget, I can easily see the handwriting input being quite useful in conjunction with OneNote and a capacitive stylus.
With Microsoft integrating a keyboard into the Surface covers, ASUS going so far as to bundle the laptop dock as a default feature with the VivoTab RT (they didn’t even want to talk pricing of the tablet individually), and almost everyone else offering at least the option of an add-on keyboard accessory, the virtual keyboard is a bit less critical here than it is on some other platforms. Beyond basic URL entry, I barely touched the virtual keyboard - for writing, email, messaging, or anything else, I just picked up the laptop dock. Given how much the physical typing experiences have been emphasized by the hardware manufacturers, it’s very plausible to think that the virtual keyboards could get relatively little use.
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taltamir - Friday, October 26, 2012 - link
Good observation.Being impartial I have to say I am applying the argument fairly to both sides.
I held that Windows v Mac has windows as the clear winner due to sheer amount of software.
And the iOS is clearly superior to Window (singular) Metro for the same reason.
PeteH - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
No one's going to install 10s of thousands of apps, but if you want an app with a specific feature that doesn't have wide appeal you might not find it unless the ecosystem you're using has 10s of thousands of apps to choose from.StormyParis - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
You're confusing depth and breadth. 10,000 fart apps does not mean there *has* to be 1 medical clinic management app, 100,000 10 .. etc etc. I would assume the vertical market devs that most probably already have Windows apps, maybe even XP for Tablet apps, will be rather quick to port them not only to Win8, but to Metro. It will certainly not take a month though, probably more like a year or two, and MS need to prove quickly they can sell their stuff.PeteH - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
No, I'm saying that the fewer apps a platform has, the less likely it is that the platform will have an app with a smaller target audience. It's the classic long tail argument, when there are only a small number of apps they will focus on the fatter head.Also, I'm not speaking of any platform specifically, just as a general rule.
Stuka87 - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
If you are making reference to the iOS App store, to say most of them are "fart and flashlight" apps is incredibly naive. Sure there are apps that are very basic and/or useless/pointless. But to say they are the majority is laughable.And does any one person install them all? Of course not. But not everybody has the same wants or needs. So it takes a large pool of apps to make everybody happy.
It will be quite some time before the MS store gets enough apps to have the same coverage. I too think a month is being overly ambitious.
StormyParis - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
There was that bit last moth about 75% of apps not having been downloaded even once ?PeteH - Friday, October 26, 2012 - link
I hadn't seen that story, so I looked it up. It was an estimate by an outside agency (not official numbers), and was 60%, but that's still eye opening.Although thinking about it, is it really surprising? The more apps available the more crappy apps (or crapps, if you will) available. I would assume such a relationship is common across platforms, at least once some threshold is reached.
What would be really interesting would be a breakdown of those apps. How many were free vs. paid? Of the paid apps, what is the distribution across price?
extra_medium - Saturday, October 27, 2012 - link
Laughable? Are you serious? Of course the majority of apps are pointless / crap. Do you really think over 350k of the 700k plus apps available to iOS users are high quality?Also not surprised at the 60% - 75% of apps never being used estimates. With the sheer volume available I'm actually surprised that number isn't higher. The average user isn't going to dig to find undiscovered gems. They are going to look at top sellers, listen to Leo laporte, and see what their friends use.
I do agree with the argument though that a huge marketplace is advantageous. Even if the vast majority is pointless, there are more of those gems out there.
Dekker - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
I think that the pricing of the apps is going to be crucial. If the Windows RT apps are all $10-20 (like the Mac AppStore) then that kills impulse buying and they are not going to be nearly as popular as the IOS apps (typically $1-3). Windows RT will then suffer as a consequence.As mentioned by others this is a platform war and starting a virtuous circle in software development is very tough at this stage of the Tablet market. That is particularly so if developers are targeting the corporate market, which is only a fraction of the consumer market for Tablets.
a5cent - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
A good piece of software is certainly worth $10 - $20! People go to the cinema for that price too, right?A software title that is targeted at impulse buyers, isn't likely to be even worth $1. We don't need 100's of thousands of apps, we need a couple thousand really really good ones and if they cost a bit more that is absolutely fine by me. I'll take quality over quantity anytime.