What Lies Beneath Microsoft's Surface?

Microsoft made a big splash in the muddy waters of tablets and personal computing devices yesterday with the announcement of its new Windows 8 tablet called Surface. Surface will come in two models, "RT" and "Pro". So far, most of the reaction among the technopundits is about the hardware and the competition for the consumer infotainment dollar. How good is the screen? Is the external keyboard any good?  Is it really a threat to the iPad? What about Android?

The most important part of this news, obscured by all of the chatter about the gadget itself, is the operating system, Windows 8. When we talk about Surface, we have to talk about what makes it run.  We have to talk about Surface and Windows 8 at the same time, as though they were one product.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer answered the most important question that corporate IT people should be asking. Will it run my corporate applications? In broad terms, the answer appears to be yes. The introduction of Surface and Windows 8 appears to be exactly what a lot of business technology people have been waiting for - the ability to run things like the SAP GUI thick client or other Windows-based business applications on a truly full-featured, portable device. Imagine being able to scan bar codes, take pictures of damaged goods, work directly in the Windows-based ERP application, make a VOIP call, send and receive corporate email, edit Office documents, access web apps, and whatever else you do, all on one device, with a familiar operating system. Imagine not having to use three devices and a pocket full of flash drives to get through the day. You won't have to email files to yourself and wait until you get back to your PC in another building, or another city, to finish that important report. Imagine administrators managing these devices with all of the familiar tools in their existing Windows infrastructure. This could be the technological convergence that IT Directors have been waiting for.  It could be a game changer.

What might prevent the the few sample machines and a lot of hype from becoming widely deployed reality?  If Windows 8 and this hardware cannot truly support most legacy Windows applications, the game will not change. But if Microsoft gets this right, the game will change. People will stop sneering when they hear "PC", because Microsoft will have delivered everything that a truly personal computer can be.

If the first devices and first release of Windows 8 come are delivered in Microsoft's usual style, they won't be perfect.  They'll be pretty good, with enormous potential. Look for Service Pack 1 (SP1) within six months of the initial release of Windows 8 and Surface 2 hardware before 2015. Look for a constant stream of patches for Windows 8. At the same time, look for Surface & Windows 8 to eat a lot of the Android tablet market share. Android is just not sufficiently established in the enterprise environment to stand up to a well-executed tablet and OS from Microsoft.  Also look for Surface / Win 8 to take a few bites out of the Apple too. People want one computing experience for work and play. For many, Surface / Win 8 has the potential to give them what they want. All of this is possible if Microsoft gets it right and what's lies beneath the Surface rises above the hype.