The Surface RT was actually good - Windows RT was what went wrong - XDA Developers

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October 26, 2012 marked a monumental day for Microsoft. When it came to Windows, everything changed successful a mode that we're inactive feeling the ramifications of today. That was the time that the institution released its archetypal PC, the Surface RT, and it was besides the merchandise day for Windows RT and Windows 8. A fewer months later, the Surface Pro arrived.

I bought some wrong a week of their release. I often archer the communicative of however my vicinity was deed by Hurricane Sandy and I inactive bought my Surface RT knowing I wouldn't person powerfulness to complaint it. That's OK though. I've been a Windows enthusiast my full life, and this was a caller Windows.

Windows RT was a mentation of the OS that was made for Arm processors, specifically the Nvidia Tegra 3 successful the lawsuit of the Surface RT. Not to ever permission Intel arsenic the unusual antheral out, the Surface Pro was announced astatine the aforesaid time, though it was thicker and heavier. It had the vantage of moving Windows 8 Pro (the products were named aft the OS), truthful portion Windows RT could lone tally pre-installed apps and apps from the Store, the Surface Pro had afloat Windows.

All of the products I mentioned supra were horrific failures, and astir each of them were for antithetic reasons. Surface Pro ended up being a palmy merchandise line, and a batch of the elements successful Windows 8 unrecorded connected contiguous successful a overmuch much refined form.

But the Surface RT, on with its Windows RT OS, volition everlastingly beryllium known arsenic 2 of Microsoft's biggest flops. While Microsoft did marque a Surface 2 and Nokia made the Lumia 2520 tablet with Windows RT, you'd beryllium reasonably hard-pressed to find different instrumentality that ran the OS. Every different OEM either canceled its Windows RT products, oregon rapidly discontinued them aft release.

As for the Surface RT itself, that ended up being a $900 cardinal write-down for Microsoft. After that, the occurrence merchantability began. Microsoft conscionable started selling these things for ungraded inexpensive to wide retired unsold inventory. Clearly, it thought it could merchantability mode much merchandise than it did.

The Surface RT was really good

To this day, I inactive person the archetypal Surface Pro that I bought backmost successful 2013. It was a workhorse that I could ever number on, but it ne'er made a batch of consciousness arsenic a product. As a laptop, it was excessively tiny with a 10.6-inch display. As a tablet, it was thick, heavy, and bulky. On apical of that, you were getting a third-gen Core i5, 4GB RAM, and 128GB of retention for a 1000 dollars, keyboard not included (back then, the pen utilized to travel successful the box).

I bash not person the archetypal Surface RT that I purchased a decennary ago, but XDA bought 1 for its 10th anniversary, and erstwhile I started playing astir with it, I was reminded of something: it's really beauteous good. Coming successful astatine fractional the terms of a Surface Pro, it came with an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 2GB RAM, and either 32GB oregon 64GB storage. It weighed 1.5 pounds, which is inactive lighter than immoderate Surface Pro.

It besides had a USB Type-A port, thing that Microsoft truly tried to amusement arsenic a worth proposition successful its tablets, close up done the Surface Pro 7. It was a clip erstwhile a batch of consumers were deciding if they truly needed a caller laptop, oregon if they could conscionable get 1 of Apple's chill caller iPads. Microsoft was trying to connection a solution that would lick some problems, and of course, support you connected Windows.

Side presumption of Surface Pro and Surface RT

The USB Type-A port, of course, ever highlighted conscionable however overmuch Microsoft clings to bequest portion its competitors are focused connected modernizing. The irony with the Surface RT was that Windows RT couldn't tally bequest apps. But that wasn't the tablet's fault.

Being an iPad idiosyncratic backmost successful 2012, I retrieve feeling similar it was much comfy to usage due to the fact that it had those softer, curved edges. Microsoft was much into sharper angles, and it astir felt a small spot jarring. Fast-forward a decennary though. Everything has crisp angles now, and abruptly the Surface RT feels comfy to use.

It's not perfect. The tablet was ever a small spot underpowered, thing that was solved successful the adjacent generation. Also, the Touch Cover was implicit garbage. Back erstwhile I bought mine, I returned it wrong the 14 days I had and got the Type Cover, which was the merchandise that really lived connected beyond the 2nd generation.

Still, successful utilizing it contiguous and putting it successful the position of thing that's a decennary old, I truly person to say, the hardware is truly good.

Windows RT was horrible

I mentioned earlier that Microsoft was trying to connection a unsocial merchandise that nary 1 other could successful effect to radical deciding betwixt laptops and iPads. This was done with some Windows RT and Windows 8. Windows RT was the 1 for Arm processors and could lone tally apps from the Store. There was 1 glaring problem: Windows RT looked and acted exactly similar Windows 8, truthful if you had a brand-new Surface RT and a brand-new Windows 8 laptop, they acted the aforesaid but did antithetic things.

It made for a precise confusing experience. Apps similar Google Chrome and iTunes would accidental that they were disposable for a definite mentation of Windows and newer, truthful if you had Windows RT, the newest mentation of Windows, you'd deliberation it would work, right? Wrong. This cardinal facet of users expecting things to enactment and past not moving was a large symptom point.

But that's not all. As Richard Devine precocious wrote, Windows 8 really had a truly bully tablet UI. Unfortunately, not everyone had tablets, truthful this weird hybrid OS conscionable didn't marque sense. When utilizing Windows RT oregon Windows 8, you'd commencement astatine the Start Screen; that's right, the Start Menu was gone successful favour of a full-screen array of tiles that scrolled horizontally. If you launched an app that came from the Store, it would unfastened full-screen successful the Metro environment. You didn't adjacent person the enactment to enactment it successful a model astatine the time.

If you launched an app that didn't travel from the Store, it opened successful a wholly abstracted desktop environment, which was much similar what you'd person been utilized to successful erstwhile versions of Windows.

Windows RT would person made a batch much consciousness if it didn't person that desktop environment, since you couldn't instal apps from extracurricular of the Store, but it did. The crushed is due to the fact that immoderate apps, which came pre-installed, did unfastened connected the desktop. The biggest examples would beryllium the Office RT apps, escaped versions of the Office 2013 suite that were made to tally connected Arm.

So for this OS that was optimized for tablets, you inactive had a desktop environment. Not lone that, but the Store was barren too, truthful determination conscionable wasn't overmuch to bash erstwhile the full existent plan of Windows seemed to beryllium failing.

Windows RT 8.1, which is inactive supported contiguous (for different mates of months), fixed galore issues with the archetypal OS. When Windows 10 came along, determination was nary upgrade path, which was saying a batch since adjacent Windows Phone had one. It ended up landing connected Windows RT 8.1 Update 3, a mostly cosmetic update that brought backmost the Start Menu.

How it started and however it's going

The Surface RT was Microsoft's archetypal computer, and the archetypal effort astatine an Arm Windows PC. While Windows RT was a wide nonaccomplishment immediately, it tried again with the Surface 2, swapping retired the Nvidia Tegra 3 with a Tegra 4 and introducing a caller metallic colour that became a staple for the Surface family. The Surface 3 was Intel-powered, serving arsenic a benignant of redemption for the archetypal tablets.

It wasn't until December 2016 that the thought of Arm PCs reemerged. That's erstwhile Qualcomm and Microsoft announced Windows 10 connected Arm, which dissimilar Windows RT, would see emulation of x86 apps. The idea, which inactive lives connected contiguous successful Windows 11, was that the acquisition would conscionable beryllium Windows.

In precocious 2019, Microsoft introduced the Surface Pro X with a rebranded mentation of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx called the Microsoft SQ1 processor. It was the archetypal Arm Surface since the Surface 2, but of course, this clip it ran afloat Windows.

Fast-forward to today. On the eve of the 10th day of the Surface RT shipping, the Surface Pro 9 started shipping, marking the archetypal clip that Windows with an Ar processor is deemed mature capable to stock the aforesaid branding arsenic its Intel-powered counterpart.

The Surface Pro 9 looks wholly antithetic from the Surface RT. Since then, the show facet ratio has changed to 3:2, the Surface Connect larboard has been changed, and there's pen enactment with haptics now.

Still, the Surface RT was truly bully for its day. If it wasn't for unspeakable software, it mightiness not person been a $900 cardinal write-down for Microsoft. Of course, we'll ne'er know.

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