Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Vapoursoft on the Surface

Microhard



Summary: Vapourware is all that Microsoft has to show when it comes to hardware ideas; in terms of actual products, Microsoft lags behind the competition

MICROSOFT is a major failure in hardware [1, 2], with the exception of mice and keyboards which it stamps with its logo.



One example of a huge failure, commercially (except KIN [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], which is a failure that's hard to beat), is the Surface. Microsoft can make negative reviews vanish if it wants to, but from a business perspective, there is no need for any reviews to show that this product was a money sink. It's self evident. Microsoft is not quite so sure what to even do with that thing. Now it may want to make a hugely expensive game controller out of it.

Microsoft Surface Used as a Big Games Controller



[...]

While it's not a perfect solution since your hands are still covering screen real estate, it's still a fascinating exercise that could point to how we someday may play hardcore games.


How about using a functional computer as a paperweight? This makes no sense.

“It's a face-saving exercise where they pull something out of the garage to show they can "innovate", in theory.”Surface has been just an experiment, but it wasn't supposed to be that way. Microsoft was about to cancel the project before it came out and this week it become nothing but vapourware for an unsuitable market [1, 2, 3, 4]. There are almost no programs designed for it (Vista Phone 7 has the same problem), so people can only praise the little that exists [1, 2]. The Surface has had no mention in the press almost at all for about a year, so now they do some demos and make empty promises for PR reasons. It's a face-saving exercise where they pull something out of the garage to show they can "innovate", in theory.

One wonders if it's "three years too late" because they have an oversized dud which nobody remembers even exists. Vapourware is all they have left against Linux and Apple (hypePad). It's a sign of changes to come. Speaking of vapourware, mind the recent discussion below.




Techrights logo

IRC: #techrights @ FreeNode: September 20th, 2010

Join us now at the IRC channel.

Chips_B_MalroyNotice the lack of articles on windows 8 vaporware.  I would suggest that MS learned not to sour the Xmas buying season with promo's of something newer.Sep 20 05:10
Chips_B_Malroyhttp://news.softpedia.com/news/Actually-Windows-8-in-2012-and-Office-15-in-2014-Makes-Sense-153933.shtmlSep 20 05:10
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Actually, Windows 8 in 2012 and Office 15 in 2014 Make Sense - Softpedia .::. Size~: 48.34 KBSep 20 05:10
Chips_B_Malroy"Considering that confirmation of the fact that the Windows 8 project had been kicked off dropped in early 2009, ahead of the RTM of Windows 7, the next major iteration of the Windows client could hit RTM by mid-2012."Sep 20 05:11
Chips_B_MalroySo really, with only a year and a half to go, why would businesses upgrade to 7?Sep 20 05:12
Chips_B_Malroythat is if they go with windowsSep 20 05:12
Chips_B_Malroyalmost halfway to another endless windows upgrade cycle for more pain for windows usersSep 20 05:13
cubevectoryesSep 20 05:14
cubevectorit really is an upgrade treadmillSep 20 05:14
Chips_B_Malroyit important to remind windows users that they only rent the software and have to pay for upgradesSep 20 05:15
Chips_B_Malroythat it might break a lot of their software and not have drivers for older hardware as wellSep 20 05:16
Chips_B_Malroyand like Vista, it might be full of bugs/bloat/drm and just plain slowSep 20 05:17

Recent Techrights' Posts

Yes, Microsoft is the Problem
"I am no MS shill."
Another Failed Use Case for Chatbots (LLM): Legal Advice and Analysis
They're just some self-discrediting toy that costs way too much to operate
Nonfree Software in My Bank, by Richard Stallman
Updated 8 hours ago
 
Someone Should Remind Microsoft Lunduke That Microsoft Hires Many Sexual Criminals and Pedophiles as Well
Microsoft Lunduke on an "expedition" to find one or more perverts, then generalise to everyone in the "community"
Cash Machines (ATMs) Make Mistakes and They're Proprietary Software
Correcting mistakes is a colossal challenge
We Cover Topics Other Sites Are Too Afraid to Cover (Even When They Know the Facts)
It's not that they doubt the truth, they just realise there may be consequences for talking about it
They Try to Tell Us the Free Software Foundation Inc is Dying, But Its Revenue Doubled Since the Dot-Com Bubble Burst
Being in "Activism" is never easy; but it does positive things for society
It's About the Cost of Workers, Not the Fictional Skills Shortage (That Does Not Exist, the Media Spreads False and Sometimes Self-Fulfilling Narratives)
This issue isn't limited to computing, some dub it "globalism"
Links 29/07/2025: More Pushbacks Against Slop and More Praises of Tom Lehrer
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Purple Yarrow and Understanding Op Amps
Links for the day
This Monday WebProNews Absolutely Flooded the Web With Fake (LLM Slop) 'Articles' About "Linux", Google News Promoted Them as Legitimate
All of the following are fake articles attributed to pseudonyms or authors that don't exist; the images are also slop. Why does Google promote these?
Linuxiac is Not a Slopfarm, But at Least Some of Its Articles Are Machine-Generated Fakes
what we said about it was correct
Expect More Microsoft Layoffs
"Are more job cuts coming?"
Microsoft Behaving Like It's Running Out of Money to Pay Salaries
Does that seem like the behaviour expected from a company which claims it is "worth" trillions?
LWN Downtime Due to Linode, Not LLM Bots
"I’ve received an email letting me know that there is a potential for data loss."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 28, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 28, 2025
Links 28/07/2025: Science, Health, and Conflicts
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Healthy Self-Image With Autism and a "New Life"
Links for the day
Links 28/07/2025: COVID-19 Sped up Brain Aging, "Circumvention is More Popular Than Compliance"
Links for the day
Richard Stallman is Usually Right Because He Thinks "Outside the Box"
he is able to observe society (mores and norms) as somewhat of an outsider
LWN Has Been Down for a Long Time, Another Casualty of LLM Bots?
Time will tell. How much time though?
Slopfarms Versus 'Linux' (and Against People Who Write Real Articles About GNU/Linux)
LLM slop in slopfarms by Brian Fagioli and Redazione RHC
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and Running pkgsrc in a FreeBSD Jail
Links for the day
Microsoft Turns News Sites Into Spamfarms
Is the site The Register MS the next IDG?
The Register MS/The Register US
On Saturday I contacted them for a comment (before issuing criticism)
Hacking revelations at Vatican Jubilee of Digital Missionaries
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 27, 2025
The Week to Come
Planning ahead
LLM Slop Has Only Been a Boon for Misinformation Online
The very same companies that were supposed to maintain quality (again, not limited to Google with PageRank) are now actively participating in generating and spreading slop
When They Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
We're Going to Focus Less on the Molotov Cocktail-Throwing Microsofters and More on Patents
We can get back to focusing on what we wanted to focus on all along
Just Trying to Keep Web Sites Honest (Journalistic Integrity)
the latest articles in LinuxIac are real
Links 27/07/2025: Political Affairs, Data Breaches, Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: Hot in Japan and Terminal Escape Codes
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles