Yes, there are two versions: The 'stripped down' Win-RT-only version running on an ARM Processor, and the "Professional" version running full windows 8 on an Intel platform. Last time I checked the full version of Windows 8 will run VFP, although I haven't done any really exhaustive tests..
I've been watching the whole Windows-8/slate PC story for a while. I find it quite intriguing, and can see where I might have a use for such a devices from time to time. But not yet interesting enough for me to run right out and buy one, at least not right now. They are still for the most part vapor-hardware, and the few slates that are on the market right now aren't ready for prime time yet (like the Samsung slate available at the Microsoft store, nice but it only 4 touch points rather than the 10 that Win8 supports). With Win-RT/Metro Microsoft has the chance to do what they have wanted to do for years: drop some of the backwards compatibility "stuff" that has accumulated in Windows since version 3.0. Maybe not a completely clean slate (no pun intended), but still a chance to 'clean things up' if you will. Getting it to run on a different hardware platform (ARM) is a plus for them, too. It is not quite the level of control of the hardware and software that Apple enjoys, but closer than what they have now. Whether that is good or bad, time will tell. .. and what about the OEM's? Dell, Asus, HP, ... etc. They'll be paying M$ for WinRT/Win8 and passing that cost along to the consumer as they have done for years, where M$ isn't going to charge itself. They'll have to sell enough units to make up for the license sales they won't be selling to the OEM's. Will be interesting to see if they do or not, Microsoft has a history of losing money on hardware (think xBox). I'd be a little concerned if I had a lot of Dell stock... But first they have to get these units to market, and show that this new paradigm will work. Unlike most 'users', folks like us need a computer that does more than share pictures on facebook and surf the web. The vague "when windows 8 ships " certainly isn't what I want to hear, but I get that they don't want to ship these units with Windows 7 and deal with updates to 8 a month later. But why the 3-month delay in shipping the units most people will really want? And of course we're still waiting for a price - giving M$ time to gauge the market response and see what they can get away with charging.... Lou -----Original Message----- From: profoxtech-boun...@leafe.com [mailto:profoxtech-boun...@leafe.com] On Behalf Of Ted Roche Subject: Re: [NF] Now what are you going to do? Well, as far as VFP goes, I'd like to learn if VFP will run on the high-end "full-Windows-8-Professional" tablets. I have my doubts because all of the tablets appear to be ARM-based processors and the VFP runtime, I have been told, is compiled C++ code with a bit of x86 assembler mixed in. So, I think it, and everything else that runs on Win8-x86, would need to be recompiled to run on the new platform. I doubt MS will port VFP. I'll be interested in what they will do with DotNet. [UPDATE: I've been told this isn't true, and the high-end platforms will be Intel CPUs. Maybe good news for VFP, but for the Surface brand, hunh? Windows NT was available for Intell, PowerPC and an NEC CPU, iirc. How'd that work out? This is dumb.] It seems to me that targeting my offerings on HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript platform is a better bet than writing apps on any proprietary platform, Apple, Android or Microsoft. A tablet is a low-power device not suitable for intense database work (an argument we used with PalmPilots, too) but that trades the complexity of connecting to a backend (and caching, and offline updates, etc.) in client-server fashion for the power savings. Web stacks are fairly mature technologies (although the varied levels of standard support is, and probably always will be, maddening) and allow you to build reasonably complex apps that will run on iOS, Win8RT, Android, or even plain old legacy form factors like laptops and desktops running Windows, OSX or Linux. I'd like to learn more about the hardware involved. It seems neither fish nor fowl. Littler than a laptop (even a Mac Air or an Ultrabook), funny keyboard, nice screen. I'm an atypical user - there are likely a dozen 'puters in the office from micros to laptops to tablets to desktops and servers - but with clear task delineations. This reminds me a bit of the Subaru Baja - too small a bed to be a practical pickup, too small a cab to be a station wagon, no trunk for the groceries; really an oddball. In being all things to all people, is it a mediocre experience for all? Since MS has dropped this as vapor-hard-ware ('shipping Q3'?), no price, no specs it seems we'll have lots of time to speculate, read reviews of early pre-production models, and likely see something different from the demo by the time it ships, perhaps in time for Xmas. At least it'll keep the trade press busy for the summer... "Okay, let me get this straight. Did Microsoft just kill the Windows tablet OEM market?" http://www.zdnet.com/blog/diy-it/okay-let-me-get-this-straight-did-microsoft-just-kill-the-windows-tablet-oem-market/614 Surface: Microsoft, What the Hell is Wrong With You? http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/surface-microsoft-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you/20599 _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/0bac2c1927422843b2c121c8b41684af47f02...@dfw1mbx24.mex07a.mlsrvr.com ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
