For long-form writers: http://davidhewson.com/2013/01/08/microsoft-word-revision-the-best-solution-yet/

Thanks for the link, Hugh. Interesting. Things are changing so fast, and fracturing into so many different device/system options. Don't know if this is CRIMPer paradise or hell.

Steve Z.

My thought too. I got an iPad Mini just before Christmas. Then it was the latest thing. Now the latest thing is the Microsoft Surface - with, quite possibly, distinct advantages. Next week, perhaps a Windows 8 tablet with a digitiser. And after that?

You and I are in the same boat... I got a mini in November. I'm pretty happy with it, but the Surfice is certainly enticing. The one thing that makes me hopeful for the iPad is the promised Tinderbox for iPad! If that app comes out (and I think Mark mentioned on the forum that he was expecting it first quarter of this year) and is a good fit with mother app, then that could be nirvana (at least for a few weeks).

Steve Z.

The whole concept of Windows 8 has been to have an OS that transcends the hardware barriers, so that you can run it on desktops, notebooks, tablets, phones and whatever else might come out in the future. Windows 8 offer a significant advantage:

- To developers because they don't have to develop for a whole range of different devices and OSs

- To users because they don't have to pay for separate licenses in order to be able to run similar tools in their various devices

At the same time Microsoft has offered Windows 8 at a very low price to ensure that it catches up very quickly.

Microsoft can still strategize.

The fact that I personally don't like the actual system is quite irrelevant.

Well...

The whole concept of Windows 8 has been to have an OS that transcends
the hardware barriers, so that you can run it on desktops, notebooks,
tablets, phones and whatever else might come out in the future.

Well, at the moment Windows 8 RT is a different beast as WIndows 8 für Intel/AMD machines. Both share the same GUI but underneath it, there's 2 different OSses.
This means: x86/x64 apps do not run on Win 8 RT. This means for example no Outlook on the Surface RT, only on the expensive Pro edition - and Microsoft will not provide a RT edition of Outlook (for technical reasons).

Franz

Franz Grieser wrote:

Well, at the moment Windows 8 RT is a different beast as WIndows 8
fur Intel/AMD machines. Both share the same GUI but underneath it,
there's 2 different OSses.
This means: x86/x64 apps do not run on Win 8 RT. This means for example
no Outlook on the Surface RT, only on the expensive Pro edition - and
Microsoft will not provide a RT edition of Outlook (for technical
reasons).

Yes, understood. That's why I said "the concept is...". Of course, in theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is :-)

In the past Microsoft had done similar exercises in convergence, that took quite some time before they were fully implemented, e.g. uniting the Windows NT infrastructure with the Windows 95/98 interface. The various Windows CEs and Mobiles had little to do with Windows outside the name.

But it will get there eventually. Whether the world is willing to wait is another thing. Convergence may be Microsoft's strategy, but it doesn't own the rights to it. For example, Ubuntu Linux now has a version that can run in modern smartphones and tablets, therefore reducing the need for Android installations.

More damaging (to Microsoft) is their apparent intention to continue with per-device (as opposed to per-user) licensing. So you'll need multiple licences for e.g. MS Word to run it on multiple devices (including your brand spanking-new Surface). This is in direct opposition to the iOS/Android model, which works - more or less - on a per-user basis (buy once, run on many different devices).

Moreover I have a very strong suspicion that Surface RT will end up exactly like Windows CE - something that could have been very good, but was so hobbled and restricted by Microsoft that it gradually died off. I still have an old WinCE handheld PC - a lovely machine, especially for the time it was made, i.e. late 90s. Occasionally I take it out, look at it, play briefly with Pocket Word - what a joke! - and weep.

MadaboutDana wrote:

I still have an old WinCE handheld PC - a lovely machine, especially for
the time it was made, i.e. late 90s. Occasionally I take it out, look at
it, play briefly with Pocket Word - what a joke! - and weep.

I still have my NEC Mobile Pro, which was a great little computer running WinCE. I do the same as you, pull it out, tap the nice keyboard and wonder if it is worth trying to get it running again.

Steve Z.

Yup, mine's an NEC MobilePro, too - my HP and my LG machines both died off (see? I'm not just a CRIMPer, I'm a gadget freak!), but the NEC is still going strong. I like to joke it has the same benefits as an iPad: same weight, same battery life, plus a touchscreen - and a physical keyboard! But I'm lying, of course...

It could have been an iPad! Ten years earlier than Steve's effort, too! Woe!

Guess who was in charge of Microsoft back then. Yup, it was Steve "there's a kind of magic" Ballmer...

Since we are exploring the attic...

I have an Amstrad Notepad (remember the flat black portable word processor?) and a Psion Series 5. They were both excellent in what they were made for; I once took the Notepad at a volunteer camp and used it most of the summer for data entry and texts, without the need for electric power. As for the Psion, if its screen hadn't died, I would still be using it for writing; I've never experienced a better portable keyboard.

I do remember those (sadly). I have, lurking in a drawer, no less than TWO Psion 5mx's - which are amazing machines. And my favourite of all, which I also lived on, much like your Amstrad: an AlphaSmart Dana keyboard running PalmOS. Still unbeatable with a ca. 25-hour battery life. I used to use that all the time. And yes, it also had a fantastic keyboard. It even supported WiFi (although not very well!).

The machine I always wanted but never did get my hands on was the early Psion MC Series laptop (the MC 400, to be precise), which was so far ahead of its time (and so expensive) that it went straight down the toilet. But the 5mx's (actually, they're the rebadged Ericsson variant) kind of made up for it. You can even touch type on them if you don't mind severe bruising and the likelihood that the Psion will, after a couple of minutes, end up whizzing round the room as you misfire on the front edge of the keyboard.

My Palm TX is within arm's reach because it's still the quickest way to access some of my old addresses. It's literally one click: the Address book button also switches the device on. And the battery still lasts for over a month, after all these years.

In contrast, on my iPod Touch it's at least 3, sometimes 4 or more clicks/swipes (depending on what screen/app I was on when I last closed it). Why does it have to be this way? Oh why?....

MadaboutDana wrote:

The machine I always wanted but never did get my hands on was the early
Psion MC Series laptop (the MC 400, to be precise), which was so far
ahead of its time (and so expensive) that it went straight down the
toilet.

For reference
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2023689_2025276_2026975,00.html
http://justwebware.com/mc400/mc400.html

Dr Andus wrote:

In contrast, on my iPod Touch it's at least 3, sometimes 4 or more
clicks/swipes (depending on what screen/app I was on when I last closed
it). Why does it have to be this way? Oh why?....

Development is no longer guided by the engineer, but by the consumer. There's a massive difference in overall processing power between the Palm and the iPod, but the vast part of the additional power is used for the graphics, multitouch interface etc. Much effort has been put in making the modern machines work 'intuitively' (swipes, magnify etc.) and the tools have been rebuilt so that nobody will ever need to read a Friendly Manual again. On the way, we may have actually lost quite a lot of functionality--as evidenced by this forum's overall preference for installed software vs. cloud webware.

It took me a very long time to switch from WordPerfect 5.1 and Paradox for DOS to its Microsoft counterparts for Windows. I frankly never saw the point. Especially since I'm still looking for minimal interface software, like the dark screen text editors recently discussed here--similar to the screen layout I have for Brainstorm (bright letters over dark screen).

In brief, overall hardware and software development has not been driven by existing users but by the efforts to further expand the market. A relatively recent example was the OLPC concept (a cheap lightweight machine that anyone on earth can own and use), which led to netbooks, and now to tablets.

Let's face it: we have been privileged specialists and we are privileged no more. We can only hope that, as in the case of David Hewson which started this discussion, that we will be happy with what the market delivers to us.