5 ms·

Having Full Microsoft Office suite running on phone is a game changer. Word, Excel, Outlook, Access etc... The cut down versions which are currently on Androi

Having Full Microsoft Office suite running on phone is a game changer. Word, Excel, Outlook, Access etc... The cut down versions which are currently on Android and iOS doesn't cover all the use cases like the full versions do. Also having Visual Studio on phone would be interesting :)

joshumax 10y ago
I think Ubuntu touch got it right with convergence; phone when you want it to be, "desktop" when you need it to be. Now if only I didn't have to bring a billion cables and a keyboard with me
agumonkey 10y ago
Do you think they will rename Office ?
gumby 10y ago
I don't think it would be game changer. In fact I think it would be a mistake, and one that Microsoft won't make any more. The screen on a phone is simply too small, even with a keyboard. The stripped down versions aren't just stripped down because of the slower processors; your fingers are too big to be able to select all the features. Instead the portable apps let you make minor fixes in the field. I have fixed a typo on a powerpoint via my phone, but I would never want to try to do any, say, spreadsheeting on a phone, even with a BT keyboard. A tablet, well, I still doubt it but I can imagine being wrong: perhaps it's a tablet game changer. We'll see. The reason I think Microsoft won't make that mistake again is that they already tried it, both ways (full-ish apps on windows phones, and a phone interface, metro, on the PC). Both bombed, and though I'm not sure Nadella really does know what he's doing, I do know he knows that repeating that would be a mistake.
- ocdtrekkie 10y ago
  You are missing the biggest announcement about the most recent generation of Windows Phones: It's called Continuum. Plug your phone into a monitor and a keyboard and mouse and you have a PC. ...Now one that runs full desktop software. Imagine being able to carry everything you need on your phone, and hook it up to any workstation or kiosk to continue working. Less security risks, because all the data is on your device, not anyone else's PCs or networks. And while the UI might not always be the best possible, hopefully you can use it straight from the phone in a pinch as well.
  - gumby 10y ago
    All I can say is hmm, we'll see (see a reply I wrote on another thread resulting from my experiences in trying to get even laptop, much less desktop performance on ARM). I would love to be wrong. I simply don't believe it's here yet. In addition I don't know if people really want the continuum experience rather than carrying their screen around with them. It's been tried before, but maybe those previous attempts failed due to wimpy processors.
    - ocdtrekkie 10y ago
      Things like the Moto Atrix, the best example of this, failed for a few reasons. Processor power is definitely part of it, and we've come a long way there. But the other one is apps. Android apps suck on tablets, and they suck on desktops. But if you can run desktop apps off your phone, we might get somewhere.
    - RandomOpinion 10y ago
      The full version of MS Office ran perfectly well on the ARM based Windows RT Surface and Surface 2 tablets and that was several years ago.
mtgx 10y ago
Most of the "ground-breaking" features of the new Windows machines have turned out to be gimmicks at best, and I doubt this time is going to be any different. Take "hybrid" tablets that can turn their screen around and whatnot. Who actually uses them like that in any significant amount of time? Nobody, that's who. Most people end up using them in the laptop form factor the vast majority of the time. As for running the desktop versions of Office or Visual Studio on a 5" screen....well you can imagine all the UX problems with that. If there's anything ground-breaking here at all (and assuming there isn't a huge performance overhead - should be 10% at most, under 3% ideally), it's the fact that now ARM chip makers will be getting access to the "real" (not counting Chromebooks, where Google never tried to encourage the use of ARM anyway, despite the fact that it's architecture-agnostic, and thus doesn't even need to emulate x86 apps like Windows does) PC/notebook market. That, along with AMD's Zen, should make the PC chip market much more competitive in the next 2-3 years. That's what should really excite everyone, not some gimmicks that will never be used despite all the hype they may be getting.
- pjmlp 10y ago
  Those hybrid tablets have kicked out the Android ones on display in most consumer shops here in Germany, so someone is buying them.
  - vetinari 10y ago
    The android ones proved, that no one (in Spolsky meaning of "no one") gets such a device and uses it in both modes. I had one of them, Asus Transformer, and used it as a tablet only, despite having a keyboard which served as an additional battery. It was both, worse laptop than real laptop and worse tablet than real tablet. So why purchase it at all, when you are going to use it in single mode? There are better choices on the market.
    - pjc50 10y ago
      I too have one and used it with keyboard and touchscreen. And occasionally in detached mode. The "detach at hinge" feature is less critical than being both a "tablet" (usable with touchscreen only) but with a keyboard for sustained text entry. And a hinge so you don't have to prop it up.

joshumax 10y ago

I think Ubuntu touch got it right with convergence; phone when you want it to be, "desktop" when you need it to be. Now if only I didn't have to bring a billion cables and a keyboard with me

agumonkey 10y ago

Do you think they will rename Office ?

gumby 10y ago

I don't think it would be game changer. In fact I think it would be a mistake, and one that Microsoft won't make any more. The screen on a phone is simply too small, even with a keyboard. The stripped down versions aren't just stripped down because of the slower processors; your fingers are too big to be able to select all the features. Instead the portable apps let you make minor fixes in the field. I have fixed a typo on a powerpoint via my phone, but I would never want to try to do any, say, spreadsheeting on a phone, even with a BT keyboard. A tablet, well, I still doubt it but I can imagine being wrong: perhaps it's a tablet game changer. We'll see. The reason I think Microsoft won't make that mistake again is that they already tried it, both ways (full-ish apps on windows phones, and a phone interface, metro, on the PC). Both bombed, and though I'm not sure Nadella really does know what he's doing, I do know he knows that repeating that would be a mistake.

ocdtrekkie 10y ago
You are missing the biggest announcement about the most recent generation of Windows Phones: It's called Continuum. Plug your phone into a monitor and a keyboard and mouse and you have a PC. ...Now one that runs full desktop software. Imagine being able to carry everything you need on your phone, and hook it up to any workstation or kiosk to continue working. Less security risks, because all the data is on your device, not anyone else's PCs or networks. And while the UI might not always be the best possible, hopefully you can use it straight from the phone in a pinch as well.
- gumby 10y ago
  All I can say is hmm, we'll see (see a reply I wrote on another thread resulting from my experiences in trying to get even laptop, much less desktop performance on ARM). I would love to be wrong. I simply don't believe it's here yet. In addition I don't know if people really want the continuum experience rather than carrying their screen around with them. It's been tried before, but maybe those previous attempts failed due to wimpy processors.
  - ocdtrekkie 10y ago
    Things like the Moto Atrix, the best example of this, failed for a few reasons. Processor power is definitely part of it, and we've come a long way there. But the other one is apps. Android apps suck on tablets, and they suck on desktops. But if you can run desktop apps off your phone, we might get somewhere.
  - RandomOpinion 10y ago
    The full version of MS Office ran perfectly well on the ARM based Windows RT Surface and Surface 2 tablets and that was several years ago.

mtgx 10y ago

Most of the "ground-breaking" features of the new Windows machines have turned out to be gimmicks at best, and I doubt this time is going to be any different. Take "hybrid" tablets that can turn their screen around and whatnot. Who actually uses them like that in any significant amount of time? Nobody, that's who. Most people end up using them in the laptop form factor the vast majority of the time. As for running the desktop versions of Office or Visual Studio on a 5" screen....well you can imagine all the UX problems with that. If there's anything ground-breaking here at all (and assuming there isn't a huge performance overhead - should be 10% at most, under 3% ideally), it's the fact that now ARM chip makers will be getting access to the "real" (not counting Chromebooks, where Google never tried to encourage the use of ARM anyway, despite the fact that it's architecture-agnostic, and thus doesn't even need to emulate x86 apps like Windows does) PC/notebook market. That, along with AMD's Zen, should make the PC chip market much more competitive in the next 2-3 years. That's what should really excite everyone, not some gimmicks that will never be used despite all the hype they may be getting.

pjmlp 10y ago
Those hybrid tablets have kicked out the Android ones on display in most consumer shops here in Germany, so someone is buying them.
- vetinari 10y ago
  The android ones proved, that no one (in Spolsky meaning of "no one") gets such a device and uses it in both modes. I had one of them, Asus Transformer, and used it as a tablet only, despite having a keyboard which served as an additional battery. It was both, worse laptop than real laptop and worse tablet than real tablet. So why purchase it at all, when you are going to use it in single mode? There are better choices on the market.
  - pjc50 10y ago
    I too have one and used it with keyboard and touchscreen. And occasionally in detached mode. The "detach at hinge" feature is less critical than being both a "tablet" (usable with touchscreen only) but with a keyboard for sustained text entry. And a hinge so you don't have to prop it up.