Windows RT and Surface: Microsoft's big mistake?

(MoneyWatch) The new versions of Windows was supposed to change everything for Microsoft (MSFT). Windows RT would help lever the company into the burgeoning tablet market and bolster consumer interest in Windows-based smartphones. Some also expected Windows 8 to reinvigorate the flagging PC market, still one of Microsoft's profit mainstays.

So much for wishful thinking. Early results are disappointing for Microsoft. CEO Steve Ballmer characterized initial sales of the company's Surface tablet as "modest." And now comes word that Windows head Steve Sinofsky is out of the company and has already been replaced. 

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Microsoft is in a tough position, mostly of its own doing. By acting so late to revamp its mobile strategy, the company let Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) grab practically the entire smartphone market, a segment in which Microsoft was once a major player. Then Apple jump-started the tablet market, and eventually tablets using Google's Android platform began to catch on. Meanwhile, Microsoft continued to fall behind, as people moved away from Windows-based computers and toward tablets and smartphones.

But even putting aside the expected grumblings about Windows 8, there are some serious issues. Microsoft has created a branding problem by using variations of the same name for the standard PC version of Windows and the RT variant that runs on tablets. Many people find the differences confusing, wrongly expecting that Windows RT should run normal Windows programs, when it actually only supports mobile applications.

Ordinarily, that wouldn't be much of a problem. After all, the iPad doesn't run the same software as a Mac. But Apple was clearer in its marketing strategy by calling its mobile platform iOS, while the company's desktops and laptops run Mac OS. Google also makes a distinction, using Android for phones and tablets but Chrome for its Chromebooks.

Then there are the more tangible problems for Microsoft's latest gear, like cracking keyboard covers and some reports of audio issues. Not that competing products don't have similar issues, such as iPhone 5 devices that came out of the box scuffed.

The difference is that Microsoft, not Apple or Google, is the company that must prove it can be a force in the mobile tech market. And the time for do-overs is fast running out.

[hypnotoad72]

Especially as reports were coming in last week of the Surface splitting in half thanks to poor sealing of the edges!

Try for 54% profit gain instead of 55%, Ballmer... or whatever the difference is to get proper glue (easily 1% at worst)...

[heyitsbryan]

I was one of those people. I expected the Surface to be my complete tablet/laptop replacement, running both versions of that kind of photoshop.

I love the Surface and I think it's revolutionary. I just don't like RT.

[hypnotoad72]

How is it revolutionary? It's a touch screen with an external keyboard. Like a cell phone made 5 years ago, only larger.

It's evolutionary.

And how are you getting Photoshop running it, since there is NO VERSION OF PHOTOSHOP AVAILABLE for the Surface at this time.

If you want anything approaching a REAL laptop/tablet replacement, including Photoshop compatibility, wait for the Surface Pro - and then hope its OS (Win8) doesn't incorporate an "eggs in one basket" registry...

P.S. "RT" is WinRT, an API. The only one the tablet edition of Surfaces utilizes. Surface Pro has the full-blown OS, with RT and Win32/Win64 APIs...

[shocked_cbs]

Funny seems like another Apple shareholder at the helm of a ridiculous anti-MS keyboard.

Facts: I bought a Microsoft Surface RT. I love it, my kids think I am cool because of it and I've never wanted to touch anything so, besides my wife. The author has not a clue.

[hypnotoad72]

He doesn't? So the comment about the keyboard and audio problems is a total falsehood? Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean it's not happening to anyone else, or reported by anyone else?

[eriksherman]

Sorry, but you're wrong. I own neither Apple stock nor Apple equipment. I use both Windows and Android equipment.

The branding fusions are real and significant. Logic and understanding of marketing make that clear, and I've had people from Microsoft admit the confusion problem to me.

[0135boom]

I am with XPLATFORMER. Who are these people that don't know what they are buying with the Surface. Frankly the Surface with Win 8 RT is outstanding. It does everything I need to do in the office but CAD. I thought about waiting for the Surface Pro, but given that my family needed another computer to replace an old unit, the fact that the Surface does everything students need to do, it has functional MS Office, and it seamlessly integrates across applications, Microsoft has a winner.

As for the Modest Sales comment, what does everyone expect with all of the pre-sales bashing the tech press has done. Take a look around the web to see the serious negative comments from people that had not even seen a Surface other than in pictures. I just wish Microsoft would legally go after those "reporters" for the outright lies they have been telling prior to the availability of the product.

The Surface is an OUTSTANDING product that has exceeded my expectations. I use it more than my regular work computer because it does so much. It makes me wonder what Microsoft considers as modest sales. This could be a very big number...and it is pre-holiday season. If you question whether to get a Win Surface or Win 8 PC, DO IT!!! In my opinion you will be glad you did!

[hypnotoad72]

Thanks for the advertisement.

I'll see what my own needs are.

Unless you want to buy me a Surface Pro, in which case I will comply. So DO IT!!! ;-)

P.S. On Zdnet, are you known as "Mike Cox"?

[eriksherman]

There was a lot of positive coverage in the press, so I don't think you can use that to explain sales problems. And a lot of the press reports are based on actually using the product. I've seen examples even there, though, where even reviewers argued that RT was problematic because of the inability to run full Windows programs, which shows a pretty serious problem Microsoft has had of explaining the branding and difference.

Personally, I think that's silly. Would you expect an iOS device to run Mac OS applications? but then, Apple didn't call them the same thing. For many people, Surface - or some other RT device - might offer something useful. However, if it's not coming across correctly, it comes down to Microsoft, not everyone else.

By the way, a tip I got from a Microsoft tech person is that you can use remote desktop access from a Surface to gain access to full applications. Basically, you use the Surface as a terminal.

[Xplatformer]

Who are these people that are expecting to install Windows 8 applications on a Windows RT device. Are you pulling those numbers from somwhere, or are you speculating just because you can.

People are spending $500 on a device where they expect to install a full version of Photoshop instead a "potentially" the Touch version of that software?

I'd say you're wrong. Unless you can provide something to back up your claim.

[eriksherman]

People from Microsoft have admitted to me the branding confusion problems. So, more than speculation. And given that you can get laptops in the $600 range and run PhotoShop (though it seems nuts, because it would run so slowly), the pricing expectation may not be so silly as you think.