According to an IDC analyst, Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet device is an “interesting product, but its just not there yet.” Tom Mainelli, IDC’s research director for tablets, continues to slam the Surface Pro by adding that it is “too heavy.”
“The battery life’s not there. It’s too heavy,” Mainelli slams the Surface Pro’s battery life by stating that its just “not there.” “While it performs like a notebook, Surface Pro is always going to be compared to other tablets, and tablets really need to run 8 to 10 hours. [Surface Pro’s] four hours is a nonstarter,” Mainelli adds.
Mainelli also argues that Microsoft needs to decide on Windows 8 or Windows RT as its operating system for tablets. “I think ultimately Microsoft needs to decide on one operating system for tablets. I don’t think they can successfully do Windows RT and Windows 8 and support Windows 8 phone. You end up pitting your own operating systems against each other,” he adds.
IDC was in the news recently with another piece attacking Windows 8, claiming that Windows 8 “sucks” because of its apps. In fact, IDC believes that the upcoming Windows 8.1 (Windows Blue) update will not fix the problem. This piece gathered a lot of reaction from the Windows community, even mentioning that IDC should stick to facts and not opinions.
According to new data from IDC, Microsoft has sold nearly 900,000 Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets during the first quarter of 2013. The Surface Pro has been available since February of 2013.
