> Removing the desktop to force the hand is a bad as crippling the desktop is now. Having the desktop there when you need it could be major selling feature!
If the desktop is crippled, there is no reason to keep it. Keeping it around lets Microsoft continue to use it as a crutch. "Well it's OK you can't do that, in Metro, just go to the desktop."
I don't think this would make another iPad clone, it still has a lot to offer. It would just be enforcing the ease of use and manageability of a Metro-only computer. That's one of the reasons the iPad is so popular, it's easy to use and manage. That's not a bad feature to copy.
> Especially critical business software.
This is the thing I found the oddest about Surface RT. In order to avoid canabalizing laptop/Surface Pro sales, they prevent the RT from joining a domain. I'm sure there are tons of businesses that would like an iPad style device with iPad style battery life and a sub-iPad price that could be secured with their domain. Instead they went consumer-only, and businesses had to buy the heavier, hotter, more expensive Pro.
> If the desktop is crippled, there is no reason to keep it.
I agree, that's why I said it should be un-crippled.
> I don't think this would make another iPad clone, it still has a lot to offer.
Really? It's a locked down API with apps sold exclusively from the company app store. The biggest selling app is probably Angry Birds! From a software perspective, it's almost distinguishable from the iPad except that the quantity of software is much smaller. That is not a recipe for success.
> That's one of the reasons the iPad is so popular, it's easy to use and manage. That's not a bad feature to copy.
It's a trade-off. The iPad is a very simple device and is very limited; it's difficult to impossible to make a file in one application and view it another! Microsoft can certainly try to out-simplify Apple but in the process they'll be leaving a large part of the market untapped.
> This is the thing I found the oddest about Surface RT. In order to avoid canabalizing laptop/Surface Pro sales, they prevent the RT from joining a domain.
It was a good plan, they made the RT so unappealing that nobody bought it at all! Microsoft should be trying to make the best possible product they can using all avenues they have available to them. Desktop, Metro, everything. Instead they're playing stupid games like this and the market is slapping them down for it.
If the desktop is crippled, there is no reason to keep it. Keeping it around lets Microsoft continue to use it as a crutch. "Well it's OK you can't do that, in Metro, just go to the desktop."
I don't think this would make another iPad clone, it still has a lot to offer. It would just be enforcing the ease of use and manageability of a Metro-only computer. That's one of the reasons the iPad is so popular, it's easy to use and manage. That's not a bad feature to copy.
> Especially critical business software.
This is the thing I found the oddest about Surface RT. In order to avoid canabalizing laptop/Surface Pro sales, they prevent the RT from joining a domain. I'm sure there are tons of businesses that would like an iPad style device with iPad style battery life and a sub-iPad price that could be secured with their domain. Instead they went consumer-only, and businesses had to buy the heavier, hotter, more expensive Pro.