My feeling is that this will be a hit because imagine finding there are some great applications you use daily on your Laptop in the WinRT mode and now you can take them with you on your Surface device. As a developer and consumer I am very excited about this and from an enterprise view consider being able to re-use a lot of your code base to make these applications for your workers - excellent!
I haven't used windows 8 so I don't know if it feels like a disaster to use on a desktop but I am hoping and assuming once I get used to not having a start button I will be quite happy using it and will love jumping into RT for the more funky fun stuff.
Very true this is aimed at a generation of Xbox players (youth) who aren't tied to the old methods of getting things done this is basically a computer/tablet with enough power for the standard user and if word,excel... etc runs on it, it's what my kids are getting for school very flexible for them. Though three things can kill microsofts growth.
1.price point, people won't understand the pro model's pricing which will be the same as a standard pc in the $1,000 range
2.dont try to be like apple actually do the opposite, prove your product is different.(the viewing should have been live your the new guy on the block)
3.make a tough decision and only allow windows 8 on touch screen desktop p.c's if it's not touch screen you have to use the alternate desktop interface.
On top of this I'm wondering how much the language their using will be an advantage C++ if any, if they supply devs with great templates like apple.
If they can get this out before Fall classes begin, this should enjoy a nice bump form the back-to-school demographic. If I were I student, I'd be considering an an Apple Air (and perhaps an HP equiv) and an iPad.
With the nice keyboard integration, and USB I/F along with windows application compatibility, this would definitely have the upper hand. An advantage an Ipad would have might be display quality, if I were in a creative field (i.e. looking at hi-res images). For note taking, this Surface seems like it hit a good balance.
Why don't you just grab a MacBook Air 11" with you and have everything you have ever used in your "bag". Small, light, enough processing power and no sacrifices using your notebook. Why on earth would you want a tablet which you could transform into a half assed notebook?
Would you buy a motorcycle and try to drive it like a car?
I haven't used windows 8 so I don't know if it feels like a disaster to use on a desktop but I am hoping and assuming once I get used to not having a start button I will be quite happy using it and will love jumping into RT for the more funky fun stuff.