Apple and Microsoft have been rivals for over three decades, dating back to the early days of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Microsoft positioned itself at the top of Silicon Valley right through until the early 2000s, when Apple emerged from near bankruptcy and went on to become the world’s most valuable company thanks to its success in iPod, iPhone, iPad and Mac. Since then, Microsoft has somewhat faltered and went through a rather dismal few years. All fingers are pointed at Windows Vista.

In the past year, however, Microsoft has reemerged as a true competitor with Apple by sharing similar business tactics that the Cupertino-based corporation uses. Microsoft took a radical departure away from its manufacturing vendors and released its own Microsoft Surface tablet, giving it full control over both the hardware and software experience. Sounds like Apple. Better yet, the Surface has a high profit margin of 43% on the $499 base model. Again, sounds like Apple. And it’s working for Microsoft.  (more…)

Windows – it isn’t known for being slim. That fact is most apparent on the Surface RT, which runs – you guessed it – Windows RT, where the 32 GB model actually only has 16 GB of usable space.

That 16 GB of space used by the OS and device is eaten up by a plethora of services and bits of software. First, once formatted the 32 GB becomes 28 GB. Then, Windows RT eats up the rest. A large portion of the space is likely taken up by Microsoft Office, which comes pre-installed on the device and is one of the devices key features.

This information likely won’t act as a detractor from the device for many, though it does put the price in context. Microsoft was congratulated for shipping the 32 GB Surface at $499 – the price for a 16 GB iPad. With this information now known and even advertised by Microsoft so as not to confuse customers, it does give a great reason as to why there is no 16 GB, low-end Surface: there simply can’t be.

So while Windows RT may well be the most capable tablet OS available today, it’s also the heaviest, showing its heritage as a full desktop OS.

[TNW]

The concept of LiveTiles – one of the main UI elements of Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and of various other Microsoft products – is being sued by an entity that, more or less, amounts to nothing more than a patent troll. The company, SurfCast, seems to be pouncing on the release of Microsoft’s Windows 8 and the Surface RT, both of which are prime examples of the concept of “live tiles” in action.

Nilay Patel of The Verge, a former patent attorney, took a look at the filing, and came away with the following conclusions:

SurfCast owns US Patent #6,724,403, which was filed in October 2000 and issued in April 2004. Broadly, the patent covers selecting a variety of information sources, assigning each of those sources to a tile, and updating those tiles at variable refresh rates. That’s very much what Microsoft’s Live Tiles do, but there’s a catch: SurfCast’s patent claims are for “a device under control of a program” and “an electronic readable memory to direct an electronic device,” not pure software.

So, while SurfCast does name Windows 8 as being an infringing product, the strongest case can only be made against specific devices. Patel also notes that this case could have been made against Windows Phone 7 (and possibly even the Zune HD), but that the monetary compensation wouldn’t have been as significant.

Regardless, these types of cases generally are settled outside of court long before they go anywhere, and just involve money changing hands.

[The Verge]

Last week marked a turning point for Microsoft. Finally, after three years, the Redmond juggernaut has a direct, plausible answer to the iPad. At the head of this newly-declared war on Apple is the Surface running Windows RT. In many ways, the Surface has been well-reviewed. People generally like the construction, and find the Metro interface to be an interesting departure from the well-trodden UI of iOS and the iPad. They also find the innovative Type Cover to be a brilliant way to turn a tablet from a consumption-only machine in to something that can legitimately produce content.

But there’s something that all of these reviews agree upon. Windows RT is not complete. Whether it’s the lackluster performance experienced when diving in to the third-party apps, the laggy transitions when rotating the tablet, or the odd way swiping gestures that enact the Charms Bar, Microsoft’s Windows RT was widely reviewed as showing promise, but not quite finished.

This perpetual state of incompleteness is the largest issue currently plaguing Microsoft’s products. (more…)