back to article Fujitsu relieves Ballmer's iPad pressure

Pressed by investors over the iPad's success, Steve Ballmer last year promised Microsoft's response was coming and - later - that it would shame the iPad. It became clear, though, the army of Windows pads being raised wouldn't deploy in full force until 2011, with the delivery of Intel's Oak Trail generation of Atom chips. …

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  1. Inachu
    Pint

    heh....

    If it doesn't play World Of Warcraft then I'm not buying it.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Securing windows slates?

    "Fujitsu claims using Windows 7 will make it easier for enterprise IT departments to manage and secure this machine than invaders from the consumer side of life, running iOS or Android."

    This means endless policy updates doing silly things like... Stopping you from changing the screen background colour/image

    Eh? I hear you say.

    I was hauled over the coals recently for 'fixing' this. I was given a formal warning becaus this was considered to be a security threat despite being given Admin access to install... wait for it....

    Software to generate Security keys...

  3. HMB

    Press Release.. Eh?

    "As enterprises struggle to keep consumer smart phones and tablets off their corporate networks to avoid security breaches..."

    Oh, so that's what you need to breach security on Microsoft platforms? An Android/iOS device? How does that work?

    Or does security breaches mean employees playing angry birds when they shouldn't?

    In my experience most security breaches occur when infected Windows machines connect to corporate networks (Microsoft ones) without adequate protection mechanisms or architecture in place. See, that sounds like a reason to use an Android/iOS device instead of Microsoft ones.

    I'm not anti Microsoft, I'm excited about IE9 and love Windows 7, but I really don't think they thought very hard about that comment.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Corporate security...

      ...isn't the same as actual security. I'm doing business intelligence stuff, and the execs would like to be able to see fancy graphs and scorecards on their iPads but the information security policy says that any data more sensitive than the cafeteria lunch menu can only leave the datacentre if stored on 'approved corporate landscape devices'. Nothing about vulns or encryption, regardless of the ability of iOS or other devices to support those things, it's just 'if your name's not down, you're not coming in'.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Same old same old?

    I reached the end of the article without learning how this will relieve any pressure on Steve Balmer - is there anything that differentiates this from the WIndows-On-A-Tablet computers we've seen dribbling onto the market over the last decade?

  5. John Hawkins
    Jobs Halo

    They've lost before they've even started.

    >>"executive-class" machine that's "designed for the high-security requirements of mobile enterprise computing."<< means they're wasting their time. You succeed in the consumer sector or don't succeed at all. Ask Steve - he knows.

  6. Edward Clarke
    Coat

    Tablet computers versus iPAD/Phone

    I was about to purchase an Apple iPAD as a birthday present for my wife. I went down to the Apple store with $1000 in my pocket last week and took a careful look at it. There's no denying that it's a nice piece of hardware with a wonderful human interface. As with the Mac it uses a variant of BSD for the operating system. But.... Is it a computer?

    No.

    The iPAD is programmable and usable as a computer in the same fashion that a Sony PS3 is. You have to jail-break it to run your own programs. Your only source for programming is to buy from Apple. The iPAD is a glorified, much enhanced Nintendo DSi.

    Tablet computers, even if they run some version of Windows, are not locked into a one manufacturer support base. I can buy from Microsoft, Adobe or even Apple and there is some competition involved. If I get tired of Win/7, I can upgrade to Linux (probably). This is a computer that does what I want it to do, not a proprietary controller that does what some faceless marketing group thinks I want done.

    For my wife, this may be enough. The thousand dollars is still in my pocket while I try to decide. I suppose that the Apple fans will be all over me for this posting, but in this case Windows 7 really is better.

    1. BorkedAgain
      Pint

      Psst...

      Buy two Advent Vegas (one to practice rooting, and play with yourself, the other to gift) and take her for a lovely meal. Have some beers, take a taxi home.

      Far better value for money.

      Black turtlenecks strictly optional, too.

    2. Ascylto
      Big Brother

      From an Apple fan

      What a load of tosh.

      I agree with you about the iPad not being a computer but your going to an Apple Store with all those dollars in your pocket? Nah. You would have done your homework before examining what you describe as "... a nice piece of hardware with a wonderful human interface." and would have come to your conclusions well before posting your piece of trolling.

    3. Valerion
      Stop

      May I suggest

      You are right, of course. It's not a computer and is limited in what it can do and blah blah blah.

      BUT. If your wife wants one, get her one. Do not come home with a Windows tablet and say "Honey, I know you wanted an iPad, but I got you this instead. It's much more flexible and I can put Linux on it if you want!".

      There is no way that will end well.

    4. Linbox
      FAIL

      Own programs = minority interest

      I doubt 1 in 1000 people use their "own" programs on a computer these days. The number of self-written programs I run on all of my home computers is NIL - and I write software for a living...

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The iPad isn't supposed to be...

      ... a general purpose, user-programmable computer. You are correct when you say it isn't, but that's like saying a car isn't a boat.

      The iPad is nice for certain games, light web browsing, reading email, and maybe a few other things depending on what apps you have. For everything else you would obviously want to use a desktop or laptop computer. But that doesn't make it a bad device.

      I think Fujitsu and Microsoft have lost the plot a bit, trying to make a tablet that's a full-on Windows computer. Interface and performance issues aside, touchscreen keyboards are crap for any serious about of typing, i.e., real work.

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      @Edward

      Don't disagree with you on the iPad being like a glorified DSi, although I think it's better described as a *really* big iPod Touch :)

      That said, and as someone who is pretty happy with W7, I couldn't imagine trying to do any real work on one of these. Like it or not, W7 and all those apps you mentioned were built for a mouse - which explains why Microsoft has always been such a fan of the stylus. Up until their Zune Metro and WP7 interfaces, for me at least, I always found touch (sans stylus) on Windows and WinMob maddeningly frustrating and I don't see that changing anytime soon (maybe W8?).

      Without being disagreeable, I respectfully disagree - I just don't see why anyone would want of these... it's like a touchscreen netbook sans keyboard and touchpad. For me, if I'm going keyboardless there are really just to options - Android and Apple. Microsoft would have been better adapting WP7 to this form factor IMHO.

    7. Player_16
      Paris Hilton

      Who's the gift for again?

      You or her?

    8. Bill B

      had to read this twice

      I agree with the conclusions you came after visiting the Apple Store. The iPad isn't a computer.

      On the other hand ...

      a) In this country it's not necessary to visit a store to come to this conclusion. We have something caled the I-N-T-E-R-N-E-T which allows you to do research before travelling to a store with a lot of cash in your pocket.. You may have something similar where you are

      b) I'm confused. This was a present for you or your wife?

    9. Gareth Gouldstone
      Unhappy

      Nice that the wife has a say then...

      That is all.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    ironic

    That they should claim to use Windows because it's more secure must be a joke.

    1. Robert E A Harvey

      Be fair

      It is a nice change for the M$ world to think about security /before/ they have shipped 3 million units.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      Having a single-OS environment

      means that you can keep everything consistent. A security problem on one machine is a security fault on ALL of your machines; while this increases the possibility of an attack it also means that you only need to find the one set of fixes for it and look in the one place for details of it. Even having just the Desktop / Laptop PCs running the one OS makes it easier to keep track of.

      So they're not saying that Windows is more secure, they're saying that a homogenous system is more secure as it's easier to keep up-to-date with bugfixes.

      It also simplifies things because you don't need to get a stack of different licenses for your software, any company-specific code doesn't need to be ported, your Excel macros still work, etc etc.

  8. Wibble
    WTF?

    WTF?

    > "executive-class" machine that's "designed for the high-security requirements of mobile enterprise computing."

    If an "executive" doesn't know the difference between an "iPad" style machine and a "laptop" then they wouldn't know the difference between a 'Slate' and an Etch-a-Sketch.

    Tablets are very different from laptops, not least the finger-friendly input and single-tasking user interface. Anyone who's attempted to use an iPad for writing a document or creating a presentation would know this.

    1. BorkedAgain
      Coat

      I'm still hoping...

      ...to see someone "rebooting" their iPad by holding it upside-down and shaking it vigorously. Hasn't happened yet, but c'mon...

      1. Dan 10

        Good idea though!

        With the accelerometer, it would be a trivially easy feature to add to one of the many scratchpad/drawing apps out there.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Horns

    And so they will catch up ...

    ... with my 5-year-old Motion Computing LE 1600 that I use every day. That's progress.

  10. dssf

    Tell her

    You'll go 67%/33%, and this'll help her guage whether it was really worth it. Discretionary to zero income might be a better barometer of that gadget.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    How many executives are there in the world, btw?

    Fujitsu is aiming at the 5-digits population. Nice volumes.

  12. JDX Gold badge

    You succeed in the consumer sector or don't succeed at all

    Apart from all those companies who focus quite heavily on commercial/enterprise hardware and software. Blackberry for instance is/was primarily a business device, IBM are known more for servers, I guess most of the big server companies are not names we know as well but that doesn't mean they're not successful.

  13. IT specialist
    FAIL

    The executive class is using iPad

    There's no market for "executive" Windows Tablet PCs.

    The Tablet PC running Windows was released years ago and it flopped.

    I've seen boardrooms of many major corporations, and they are using iPads.

    Microsoft is misguided to think it can thrust these tablets at executives. The Windows Tablets are a mismatch, having a screen surface designed for finger touch, but the OS runs apps designed to be used with a keyboard and mouse.

    Microsoft will fail in tablets.

  14. RegisterThis

    Maybe just the Apple 'KOOL* stamp of approval?

    The one thing Apple manages to do through its horde of evangelistic fanbois is make that which was important non-important.

    Form factor was a big inhibitor to earlier tablets as people did not know how to hold them when typing. It became clear that other than the 'touch based input', they were less convenient to use for any kind of text entry - at least a laptop could balance on your lap as you typed on the keyboard.

    The 'Apple KOOL Factor' (as in KOOLAID) seems to have made people more tolerant and open to the idea - even though people trying to use them for the same use-cases complain of 'hover strain' using on screen keyboards and the awkwardness of placing them for usage.

    Apple has very successfully confused mass consumer market devices with the always 'enterprise first' MS approach of old. Today the lines are blurred as people intend to use their work laptops for entertainment too ... so why not use entertainment devices for work? Beside for what you would pay for a laptop or tablet 6/7 years ago you CAN buy both.

    My boss is a classic example with the form factor problems that were so widely publicised about the original MS tablets.

    He is a self-confessed fanboy who rushed out to buy an iPad. He now happily tells everybody how he now leaves his latop at work and only takes his iPad home or travelliong on short trips. BUT, when pressed, he will confess that it is actually *less* convenient for replying to emails quickly than even his iPhone i.e. he can use his iPhone with one hand, without a surface to prop the device on while typing etc.

    --> So in reality, the issues haven't really changed - just the perception. Better UIs for touch *may* help, but that is mainly for navigation - not doing 'work'.

    So we have mass confusion in a world where these types of devices were the preserve of enterprise and business -- now we see 'dumber' devices being designed for the far bigger consumer market with a far more entertainment centric use case drowning out the business/enterprise requirements.

    --> My prediction is that new 'Slates' for business usage will ultimately fail for the same reasons as before -- because the slate form factor is best for enter/info-tainment and NOT productivity work.

    1. dssf

      Adorn them like Benzite...

      Give them one of those portable gas mixture devices like Mordok, a Benzite.

      http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Benzite

      Strap-on that iPad, and if there's any uuber drooling, get the user a case with wings:

      http://boingboing.net/2010/03/01/ipad-case-with-wings.html

      http://www.geeksugar.com/iMaxi-Maxi-Pad-iPad-Case-From-Etsy-7540110.

      Takes care of neck strain, of bad posture, excessive dripping, and locked-back eyeballs...

  15. zanto
    Flame

    executive-class?

    yuck! i wouldn't want me one of those.

    call back when you have worker-class

    but then again, tablets were supposed to be for "consuming" data and not "creating" data. what they really need is to call it "parasite-class"

    dumbfaqs!!

  16. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Pass the mindbleach

    Upon reading the title "Fujitsu relieves Ballmer's iPad pressure" I was subjected to the mental image of a Fujitsu exec "fluffing" Ballmer to "relieve his pressure".

    Pass the mindbleach.

    1. Bill B

      you sir ...

      Owe me a frontal lobotomy. Nothing less will expunge *that* image.

  17. Jay 2
    FAIL

    Windows 7 + tablet = FAIL

    Hmm, let's see. Both iOS and Android I believe were developed for touchscreen phones, and then tweaked upward to support touchscreen iPad/tablet/fondleslab/whatever.

    Windows 7 on the other hand was developed to run on a PC (out of the nastiness that was Vista). There may be a bit of a nod toward touchcreen somewhere in there, but that could be said of the previous versions of Windows shoehorned onto tablets with a bit of extra software for donkey's years at the behest of BillG who thought it was a good thing.

    Meanwhile Windows Phone 7 (or whatever they call it) was written with touchscreen in mind. MS even moved away from Windows Mobile/CE/whatever which always tried to hark back to their PC-based sibling. I haven't payed with it myself, but I hear that it's pretty respectable, even if it is just playing catchup with everyone else.

    Maybe, just maybe, they might have been better off trying to build on top of WinPho7 rather than using Win7. OK so that would effectively mean a different platform, but that hasn't stopped Apple doing MacOS and iOS has it?

  18. Mark .

    Business use is a bad thing?

    I don't see how being better for business, and having better specs, makes it poor for consumer products. Let's face if, if this was the new Apple Islate, the media would be all over how amazing it is.

    You can use Windows for consumer rather than business use, you know. This isn't the 1980s anymore. Nor is it running Windows NT 4.

    "is there anything that differentiates this from the WIndows-On-A-Tablet computers we've seen dribbling onto the market over the last decade?"

    Is there anything that distinguishes any tablets? Tablets and related mobile devices aren't new - only the hype is.

    Edward Clarke: I agree, and this is one reason why I much prefer a Windows netbook (Linux is fine too). To be honest, I suspect that the biggest competition for Windows on tablets will not be the Ipad, but Windows netbooks (which sell far more than Apple).

    Linbox: The issue is what's a computer, not how many people need a computer. If you want to count the Ipad as a computer, fine, but also be prepared to include every feature phone, not to mention other things with electronics like games consoles, media players, even TV set top boxes and microwaves...

  19. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    Start listening

    Two words: Speech recognition. Windows has it and it works.

    (Okay, it's "peach wreck ignition" sometimes, but still.)

    Your office software is written for Windows, the real Windows. Your enterprise software is written for Windows. Your games are written for Windows, if we're talking "Call of Duty" and not "Angry Birds".

    Admittedly, making Windows useable on a portable slate with acceptable battery life evidently is pretty difficult.

    And, some more words: "sixty-four", "bits", "four", "gigabytes", "RAM", "or", "higher". Selling a 2 gigabytes computer in 2011, even to executives, is a filthy trick. You want 4 or more gigabytes, which means you also want 64-bit Windows, if you want Windows. (If you don't, then try 64-bit Linux.)

    And Android has speech recognition, if you know how to get at it - and if you don't mind your input being e-mailed around the world to be decoded for you in a secret computing centre constructed under the Great Pyramid of Giza and powered by pyramid energy, and operated free of charge to users until the time is "right". At least I assume that's what the Google bloke was doing by overthrowing the government there. Pyramid energy is the future of world computing (unfortunately not safe, those mummies aren't pharaohs, they are industrial accident victims, too bad)

    I might be wrong about the pyramid stuff, but I think the rest is actually how it works. Surely performance suffers?

  20. dssf

    Seriously, though, this might spark more vigorous

    iPad contender validation:

    http://modmyi.com/forums/iphone-news/751253-6-inch-minipad-maxipod-coming-fall.html

    But, there is some suspicion that the photo may be a fake, considering the USB port.

  21. GrantB
    FAIL

    April?

    You mean that about the time Apple roll out the second generation of iPads, building on the market that they created and dominated over the last year, some Japanese company will release a more expensive tablet featuring an OS not designed for tablet usage?

    And the key selling features are things like dumb finger print scanner (I have one on my lappy & it takes longer to log in via fingerprint than to enter my password) and a stylus; something that tablet users have been rejecting for years..

    Amazing how slow and cumbersome MS is looking these days - even Android tablets will be second gen by the time this thing rolls out. What took them a year; the hardware is obviously largely generic, and they are just sticking Win7 on it?.

    The fact that MS are not looking at Win Pho 7 on tablets, suggests even more strongely that they don't believe that OS has a future.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Husband´s present

    I was thinking about present an i-pad to my husband being a common user of W OS.

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