Microsoft Surface Release Date Confirmed

twoheadedboy writes "Microsoft is going to release its Surface tablet on the same day Windows 8 goes on general availability, Oct. 26. The news was disclosed in a filing made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which also revealed that the company expects launch and the accompanying marketing to harm its profits. We'll soon find out whether Microsoft has what it takes to take on the seemingly indomitable iPad."

So basically no news then?

[UnknowingFool]

I would 't read too much into the loss of profit declaration. New product launches cost money and new products may not make profit for some time until after the launch to recoup costs. As a general rule, financial statements disclose risks like this all the time. The issue will be six months to a year after launch. If Surface isn't profitable by then, that would be news.

Uhh..

[Anonymous Coward]

So why the fuck is this under apple.slashdot.org? Maybe it's time for /. to be slightly less biased and add a ms.slashdot.org?

Except that MS isn't competing with the ipad

[milkasing]

.. it is trying to create a new niche. One that has more in common with the ultra book market than iPads. Something that plays nice with business / enterprise setup. Surface could become a hit without making a dent in iPad sales.

Re:Except that MS isn't competing with the ipad

[am 2k]

The niche between the iPad niche and the ultrabook niche? Must have been a genius who came up with this.

Re:Isn't there a "late to the game" borderline?

[SilenceBE]

Yeah I guess that didn't work for IBM, HP, Dell, Sony, Acer, Asus, Samsung and hundreds of other computer OEMs after Apple released their first PC back in the 70's.

The tablet world is relatively young and there is no sign whatsoever that people are bored by iOS or Android. You are comparing the situation over decades. It is iOS and in lesser extend Android that get's all the love from developers, I don't really hear a lot of enthusiasm for Windows RT. I develop apps and I don't care, let alone that my clients care. And apps is what can make and break a platform. It is also a lot easier to shell out 99$ for developer license and that for a platform that has proven itself, then something that is very questionable to say the least.

The only people I do know that are enthusiastic about Microsoft tablets offering are the typical Microsoft people. The kind that get their trousers wet when they hear things like "exchange", "sharepoint","office",... . Those guys that have such a tremendous thrilling life that girls fall on their feet when they spread their theory about how integration with exchange will make Microsoft conquer the tablet space. Or my favorite "it comes with office", because that is really a fun factor... .

The only enthusiastic things I hear about those tablets are about the integration with current Microsoft software and that for 99% in the work space environment. And while Apple does have an enterprise program (which is btw not that strict), I think it is safe to say that most of their tablets are sold to consumers.

That group of people where Microsoft isn't a strong brand or where consumers have a lot of confidence in. I once had a friend who tried to argue that because most people used windows on their pc, it is a "strong" and "popular" brand. The difference is that for PC (especially if you like gaming) you don't have a lot of choice, in tablet space it is a complete other story.

I'm even sure that this was a wake up call for Microsoft and is the reason why they try to shove down "Metro" and their "unified" vision down our throat. That in the hope that familiarity will influence the choice people make when buying a new tablet. I know a lot of people who replaced their PC with a tablet or are using the PC a lot less since they have a tablet. I think for the general population that does some surfing, e-mailing and simple games a tablet can be good enough. And that is a big threat for Microsoft when the dominant tablets don't have a Microsoft operating system on board.

For the more boring environments like most businesses they have a change, in consumer space I don't see it happening. I know it is popular to predict doom and gloom, but if you think about it Microsoft is facing the biggest threat it has in years or even decades.

Sure they are...

[Shivetya]

they just won't admit it because everyone wants a slice of that pie but most cannot even get to the table.

MS's other issue is that if rumors hold true a new smaller iPad hits stores in September. I still think MS blew it by announcing a product they could ship at the time they announced it.

Rule #1 now is, do not announce what is not shipping now. Apple already exploits the magic in that phrase, NOW SHIPPING

We All Win

[Scot Seese]

I'm cheering for Microsoft.

Competition is good.

I purchased an iPad 1, used it for less than two months and sold it to a friend for half what I paid for it. I wanted it to be so much more than it was - more than they still are. Steve gave his amazing presentation, I swooned - I drank the kool-aid. I was Captain Picard, carrying my StarFleet tablet around. Then I bought one.

They are just 10" iPod Touches.

I wanted to be able to prop it up and type papers on it. I purchased the sleek 3rd party bluetooth keyboard/case combo. They keys were a compromise, tiny, poor travel, poor to type on. So I bought the Apple wireless keyboard. Apple's Pages software was friendly, and easy to use, but failed utterly to have any true usefulness in a world where Microsoft Word so utterly dominates academia or corporate America. Printing was a nightmare. Moving documents to my PC required iTunes syncing. .. iTunes..?? The music store software? What kind of "computer" was this!? My dream of a sleek, cool Sci-Fi space man computer was dashed as I realize the iPad is little more than a toy for reading Facebook on the toilet and clumbsily tapping in replies to emails from your sofa at a blistering 15 words per minute.

A sleek tablet with integrated, nearly full-size keyboard/cover and full, actual Microsoft Office built in?? A solid, well-engineered stand that folds out of the tablet to support it without needing to buy a pile of 3rd party cases, folios, etc. ? Be still my heart.

Touch is awesome. Touch is great for web surfing and watching cat videos on YouTube. Touch, paired with NO keyboard or keyboard and a very lightweight word processing app was absolutely useless. The keyboard is an order of magnitude more efficient for actually doing WORK.

The Surface tablet brings us so much closer to the dream of the all-in-one small, lightweight portable computer. I have hated Micro$oft as much as any other linux-using, Android using Slashdot reader. But I am cheering for them on this one. I hope the Surface takes it to Apple, and takes it to them hard.

Competition is good.

Re:Marketing campaign started too early?

[UnknowingFool]

The difference is Apple doesn't put out those rumors. They are usually by third parties. MS put out this one themselves. It had been a tactic for MS to pre-announce products like this to keep customers from going to a competitor. That would almost kill competing products. But times have changed. The response now is that most companies no longer will wait just for the MS version.

Re:Except that MS isn't competing with the ipad

[Kotoku]

Its funny to see you categorize the nexus 7 as low end, since every performance related spec exceeds that of the ipad. Marketing machine of Apple catches another?

surface? windows 8?

[Anonymous Coward]

WHO CARES?