6 ms·

I'm a pro. I'm an experienced programmer, amateur photographer, edit home videos a lot and do a bunch of computationally expensive tasks on my workstation. Whi

by leonroy 10y ago

I'm a pro. I'm an experienced programmer, amateur photographer, edit home videos a lot and do a bunch of computationally expensive tasks on my workstation. Whilst I'd like to have the absolute latest, cutting edge GPU from AMD/NVIDIA I also appreciate that sometimes last gen parts are cheaper, more reliable (having benefitted from refinement over the manufacturing run) and sometimes cooler running than what's new. I use a Mac (for the forseeable) because I'm quite happy to spend quite a bit extra on form and function over just absolute function. I'm not the only one, just look at Apple's bottom line. I think what Microsoft are doing here are going after Apple's (previously) target market, the so called pro user. Windows has typically been a value proposition so it will take them time and clearly ruffle the feathers of those who've built their own PCs and put Windows on top (I for one do that on my gaming PC). This is not a gaming PC. It's aimed at the iMac crowd. Apple's alienating a lot of professionals who value form and function by focusing on purely form and I think props should go to Microsoft for being the only company (as far as I can see) who is not copying Apple and producing some incredibly innovative new form factors in a very staid sector - the pro workstation.

9935c101ab17a66 10y ago
I can kind of understanding skimping on the GPU because in a lot of cases it won't be necessary, and obsessing over high-power gpus for people who don't need them becomes unnecessary hand wringing. What I really can't get behind is the use of hybrid drives. That is really quite bad, and I can guarantee that anyone who uses this machine daily would notice a huge difference. The SSDs wouldn't have to be large capacity, but to not even offer them is pretty shocking TBH.
K0SM0S 10y ago
Something tells me many "pros" feel exactly as you do. I wholeheartedly agree.
rubber_duck 10y ago
The question is are you willing to drop 4k $ for this machine ? iMac crowd is dropping half of that for a pretty desktop that runs fine - I can see that. I don't see a lot of people buying a 4k$ device because it looks pretty. At that price range I need to be able to use it at least two years down the road and this is already outdated before release. It's just priced waay too high considering how weak the HW is, I would definitely skip this until they do a hardware update.
TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
Absolutely - this is an attempt to pick up the creative market that Apple is neglecting. The problem is that it's not really that big a market. This machine is too expensive for general use, and has the disadvantage of Windows for professional use. I think a lot of designers are going to be interested enough to look at it, but sales aren't going to be anywhere near iMac volumes. And sensible people will wait for the inevitable reports of serious flaws. (As I've said before, I have absolutely no confidence that MS can execute competently in the consumer market. I wish that was simple prejudice, but it's actually years of bitter experience.)
- leonroy 10y ago
  > The problem is that it's not really that big a market. I considered that too, that the market might be too small. Dell tried themselves to crack this market with some exquisite kit a few years back (see my links below). Sadly they canned those products and haven't revisited the market. Whilst there has always been premium Apple kit, there's never really been premium Windows kit. I really do hope Microsoft persever and don't give up on this segment of the market. The first few years can be painful when pivoting but customers do sometimes reward patience. > As I've said before, I have absolutely no confidence that MS can execute competently in the consumer market. I wish that was simple prejudice, but it's actually years of bitter experience. Agreed! But I do recall the 90s when people said the same thing about Apple... No company stays on top (or bottom) of the pile forever. I for one hope and look forward to Microsoft evolving and changing, as they must. Dell Crystal monitor: http://www1.la.dell.com/vc/en/corp/peripherals/monitor_22crystalwfp/pd.aspx?refid=monitor_22crystalwfp&s=corp http://www1.la.dell.com/vc/en/corp/peripherals/monitor_22cry... Dell Adamo notebook: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Adamo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Adamo

by leonroy 10y ago

9935c101ab17a66 10y ago

I can kind of understanding skimping on the GPU because in a lot of cases it won't be necessary, and obsessing over high-power gpus for people who don't need them becomes unnecessary hand wringing. What I really can't get behind is the use of hybrid drives. That is really quite bad, and I can guarantee that anyone who uses this machine daily would notice a huge difference. The SSDs wouldn't have to be large capacity, but to not even offer them is pretty shocking TBH.

K0SM0S 10y ago

Something tells me many "pros" feel exactly as you do. I wholeheartedly agree.

rubber_duck 10y ago

The question is are you willing to drop 4k $ for this machine ? iMac crowd is dropping half of that for a pretty desktop that runs fine - I can see that. I don't see a lot of people buying a 4k$ device because it looks pretty. At that price range I need to be able to use it at least two years down the road and this is already outdated before release. It's just priced waay too high considering how weak the HW is, I would definitely skip this until they do a hardware update.

TheOtherHobbes 10y ago

Absolutely - this is an attempt to pick up the creative market that Apple is neglecting. The problem is that it's not really that big a market. This machine is too expensive for general use, and has the disadvantage of Windows for professional use. I think a lot of designers are going to be interested enough to look at it, but sales aren't going to be anywhere near iMac volumes. And sensible people will wait for the inevitable reports of serious flaws. (As I've said before, I have absolutely no confidence that MS can execute competently in the consumer market. I wish that was simple prejudice, but it's actually years of bitter experience.)

leonroy 10y ago
> The problem is that it's not really that big a market. I considered that too, that the market might be too small. Dell tried themselves to crack this market with some exquisite kit a few years back (see my links below). Sadly they canned those products and haven't revisited the market. Whilst there has always been premium Apple kit, there's never really been premium Windows kit. I really do hope Microsoft persever and don't give up on this segment of the market. The first few years can be painful when pivoting but customers do sometimes reward patience. > As I've said before, I have absolutely no confidence that MS can execute competently in the consumer market. I wish that was simple prejudice, but it's actually years of bitter experience. Agreed! But I do recall the 90s when people said the same thing about Apple... No company stays on top (or bottom) of the pile forever. I for one hope and look forward to Microsoft evolving and changing, as they must. Dell Crystal monitor: http://www1.la.dell.com/vc/en/corp/peripherals/monitor_22crystalwfp/pd.aspx?refid=monitor_22crystalwfp&s=corp http://www1.la.dell.com/vc/en/corp/peripherals/monitor_22cry... Dell Adamo notebook: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Adamo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Adamo