So Microsoft showed off some Windows 8 tech last week, and it looks like they're heavily focusing on the tablet market. Fair enough, it's an emerging market and they don't have any significant presence there. But what was interesting to me was that their future focus for client UI seems to be HTML5/javascript.

I can't say I'm tremendously surprised at this. The writing has been on the wall for a while now. As to whether it's a good thing, from a business and user POV, I'd argue it is. But from a developer standpoint, I can't say that the prospect of writing any kind of significant client in javascript fills me with optimism.

Now I realise that there will always be native and .net client development on windows. No-one is going to write Visual Studio in javascript (or at least, it's highly unlikely), but if HTML5 is "the way", well, ask a wpf developer how confident they feel about Microsofts commitment to that platform.

Or am I just being a grumpy old man? Kids these days, writing damn thin clients, etc!!

I never was a JS fan, but personally I'm pretty excited and impressed by JS + WebGL. As far as online multimedia and gaming is concerned, I think it will be serious contender one day. At any rate i hope this, and HTML5 kills flash once and for all. Now, browsers need to be more stable with that new tech, and capable of rendering at 60 Hz, and not run JS like arse.

I think MS needs to quit trying to be in every hardware market and focus on what they are good at.

Why would I buy a Windows tablet after seeing how bad they screwed up Zune and Windows Phones.

I wish they would spend their creative energy on making Windows 8 a better product for desktop users instead.

I think MS needs to quit trying to be in every hardware market and focus on what they are good at.

Why would I buy a Windows tablet after seeing how bad they screwed up Zune and Windows Phones.

I wish they would spend their creative energy on making Windows 8 a better product for desktop users instead.

Microsoft has been in the tablet market longer than anyone and their tablets are actually a lot better than most of the android/iOS tablets you see out in the wild.

And they didn't really screw up the Zune and Windows Phone 7. They are both solid products. They were just both released into hugely competitive markets and could have had better marketing strategies.

I recently had to do some design work (CAD + images). It was for print as well, so 25,000 x 15,000 images.

Not very interesting work, but a harsh reality check. Web is OK for CRUD applications. But it is several light years behind meeting even the most elementary needs of such tasks. Aka - utterly useless.

WebGL is just a toy. It will make sure ads run at 60FPS. But little more beyond that.

The problem is same as with 3D graphics in general. Sure, you can get photorealistic experience in Crysis. But what about 95% of your users who run on integrated Intel cards, 5400 rpm drive and 512MB memory? Because as soon as you get out of hardcore gaming, such specs become higher end.

Things will change and slightly improve in 10 years. But by then, landscape will look much different than it does now in everything, from user interfaces to hardware used to vendors.

[quote name='ChurchSkiz' timestamp='1307624290' post='4821297']
I think MS needs to quit trying to be in every hardware market and focus on what they are good at.

Why would I buy a Windows tablet after seeing how bad they screwed up Zune and Windows Phones.

I wish they would spend their creative energy on making Windows 8 a better product for desktop users instead.

Microsoft has been in the tablet market longer than anyone and their tablets are actually a lot better than most of the android/iOS tablets you see out in the wild.

And they didn't really screw up the Zune and Windows Phone 7. They are both solid products. They were just both released into hugely competitive markets and could have had better marketing strategies.
[/quote]

Actually I have to argue on that, I've owned 2 windows phones in the past and both I had to return immediately because of how glitchy they were, the last one being a 400$ phone that shouldnt of been having problems for the price, that and I dont know how Microsoft intends to compete with android and ios in the tablet market, what gives these tablets their strengths is the strong developer community backing them, and I havent really heard or seen of any strong Windows tablet development demand.

WebGL is just a toy. It will make sure ads run at 60FPS. But little more beyond that.

I think you being a bit pessimistic. Games on social networking sites are already doing well, and for it to get any better, WebGL will pave the way.

Actually I have to argue on that, I've owned 2 windows phones in the past and both I had to return immediately because of how glitchy they were, the last one being a 400$ phone that shouldnt of been having problems for the price, that and I dont know how Microsoft intends to compete with android and ios in the tablet market, what gives these tablets their strengths is the strong developer community backing them, and I havent really heard or seen of any strong Windows tablet development demand.

Windows mobile or windows phone 7? They are completely different animals.

I can say that I loved my HD2 (WinMo 6) but it had overheating issues, which are a known concern. I've upgraded to a HD7 (WP7) and the hardware has been stable. The interface... well that's a different story.

I can say that I loved my HD2 (WinMo 6) but it had overheating issues, which are a known concern. I've upgraded to a HD7 (WP7) and the hardware has been stable. The interface... well that's a different story.

I've only used WP7 for 5 minutes at a time either on friends' phones or at the store. Can you elaborate some? All the early reviews I read didn't have many issues so I never looked into it further.