Windows tablets, smaller, faster and affordable !
I have been watching the directions that Windows mobile devices have been taking in recent years. I know it seems it is all about Android and IOS today when it comes to tablets, but something amazing is happening with Windows and maybe it is time for businesses to take notice.
For a number of years I wrote custom software for businesses, from accounts payables/receivables to quality control in manufacturing. One of my goals during those years was to make businesses more productive, yet at an affordable price. Computer hardware and software cost money and it only made sense for a business to invest in them if it had a valuable payback.
In recent years I have watched the direction Windows has taken in the mobile area and I think finally things are starting to fall into place. The first thing that caught my attention was what Intel was doing with the Atom line of SOC’s (system on a chip). Many programmers sad to say likely laughed at the Atom CPU. Why ? Because much of todays software is written in a way which makes it bloated and slow, requiring too powerful of hardware. This did not phase me personally, because for the last decade and a half I have been a WIN32 programmer, learning how to tap into the native Windows API. By using the Powerbasic compiler (a BASIC language, native code compiler) I found that I could build programming libraries and tools which could run on very minimal hardware. While the typical programmer today likely is coding on a PC with the latest ICore CPU with a huge amount of memory, I have been able to code on what most would consider a legacy PC (first Windows 95, then XP and current Vista) years behind the current models. Why would I do that ? Because if I could write software for an older PC with less power, image what it could do on the latest PC’s. So for me, as a WIN32 programmer, a Windows computer (or tablet) with only a 1 ghz CPU (or even less), less than 1 Gigabytes of memory and a minimal disk drive space is still a power house of a computer to develop for. My entire development system (PowerBasic compiler and my own proprietary GUI framework written using only the WIN32) only requires about 20 megabytes of disk space to install. Yes, you read that right ! I said 20 megabytes. While many development tools today require a a gigabyte of disk space or more, yes a native coder can code in less than a 100 or 200 megabytes of disk space. Even a decent C (not C++) compiler used for native coding can be installed within a minimal amount of disk space. Now the executables, a native coder can create, can require even a lot less hardware resources.
So previous generations of the Atom were already very inviting to a native coder like myself. But Intel has out done itself in its latest BayTrail generation of the Atom SOC. For a native coder it is a powerful platform to develop for.
Intel’s Atom SOC’s have made possible the latest generation of low cost Windows (real Windows and not just WINRT) tablets in the 7 and 8 inch display range. I just recently saw the Dell Venure 8 Pro for only $229 on the Microsoft Store. Very reasonably priced and worth considering by a business.
Today, things just got very exciting with the news that Microsoft is planning on cutting the cost of Windows (to the OEMs) on low cost devices below $250 and discounting it an amazing 70% off. This means Windows could cost as little as $15 for such tablets !
All I can say is, now this is amazing !
Now this is where things can get interesting. Intel has gotten it right with the Atom SOC. Microsoft has gotten it right with Windows 8.1 and now the lost cost version for only $15. The last ingredient needed to put it altogether it to start teaching programmers how to be native coders again. Oh, I know, many may assume that it is all about Metro (Windows Store Apps). Yes, the WINRT apps have a benefit for consumers. But the real power in Windows is on the desktop and in native coding (WIN32). Why ? Because one can build applications with excellent performance which require minimal hardware. I am convinced that this is not only possible, but also very viable.
By putting all of this together, it is quite possible to see Windows (“real”) tablets in the $200 range or even lower capable of running amazingly powerful software. I would like to see it possible to get some Windows tablets as low as $100 and with the speed of technology improvements we see today, this could be a real possiblity. Now that would make Windows tablets truly a viable platform for business mobile needs.
Find it hard to believe that one could build powerful software for such possible future low cost Windows tablets ?
Check out my demo app I was working on the Intel App Innovation contest and download it and install it.
http://cwsof.com/forums/index.php?topic=921.0
The app is not finished yet, but it does demonstrate some powerful user interface features and the size of the application is tiny by todays standards. Even the applications EXE files size is mostly because of embedded bitmap images and not code. The application is native code software (the EXE uses a GUI framework written using native WIN32 code).
Yes, by writing applications using the native WIN32 API, programmers can be able to build very powerful, high performing programs cable of getting the maximum out of the coming low cost Windows 8 tablets. Windows has the potential of becoming a powerful solution for businesses when it comes to mobile devices.