News No Desktop for compact Windows 10 devices

I feel like after RT and the reception of W8, just saying desktop and legacy apps are deliberately disabled is going seriously hurt sales, even if hardly anyone would use them on the sort of devices they are talking about if it were included.

It also kinda feels like they don't learn.

 

Have you tried using the Windows desktop on a 7" device? I have..and I do...it's painful, man. It ain't gonna hurt sales at all...it's not like 7" tablet sales are a big part of the market, and those that do buy it really would be better off using the Modern UI.

Hell, I only bought mine in the first place for £100 because it came with a free Office 365 subscription and 1TB of OneDrive storage which I was going to fork out £70 for anyway. That it's now a surprisingly capable (if awkward) Steam machine on the go is just a bonus.

As for my Windows Phone..I wouldn't want Desktop on that either.

It makes no sense that people are bitching about this, to me anyway. Apple have their desktop OS and their mobile OS. There's zero compatibility between the two, different interfaces and different software available for both..but they're praised no end.

Microsoft try to bring together phones, tablets, desktops and xboxes...they share the same brand, will have a common code base, and will have broadly similar interfaces....and this is a bad thing? Microsoft could give out free xboxes and tablets with lifetime subscriptions to Visual Studio, Office, Sharepoint, SQL Server and xbox live and people would still complain that they don't like something about it.

 

But wasn't the idea all along that you could hook these mobile devices to a keyboard and mouse and larger monitor to use them as a full-fat PC? I recall how Microsoft explicitly showed off the Surface RT's ability to drive a 1080p monitor smoothly.

Similarly, we have Windows Phone and Windows. Their distinction in terms of functionality and purpose is clear. But then we have Windows 10 with desktop and legacy compatibility, and Windows 10 without desktop and legacy compatibility. But wait, there are also devices with the same size screen that still do have Windows 10 with desktop and legacy compatibility, for legacy reasons. So naïve customers are again faced with Windows tablets of which they are unclear what they can and cannot do.

"Hey, your 7" tablet can run legacy software. Mine can't do that, why?"
"It's because mine is an old 7" device, mate"
"Wait, are you saying my similarly specced newer device can't do what your older device can?!?"

Crazy. Microsoft just keep managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

The problem as Nexxo rightly pointed out is Microsoft are attempting to create a unified experience across all devices, that means being able to plug you mobile device into a bigger screen and get the same experience you have when working at your desk, or any other devise running Windows.

Removing the ability to run legacy Win32 applications and the desktop is going to do nothing to help create a unified experience across all devices, it's going to create an artificial split.

Few people are saying the desktop or legacy Win32 applications should be used on small devices, they are saying they may want to use them, like when they plug their phone or tablet into a big honking screen, or when they need to work on something with no equivalent Modern UI application.

 

That's what the Surface Pro is for.

A 7" sub-£100 tablet is for noodling on them there interwebs. Nothing else (unless you're you, me or Bit-tech, in which case we'll try anything on anything just to see if we can). That my HP Stream 7 DOES do it doesn't make it any good at it (hence the poor sales, despite the price) which will be why they're dropping it. Mine's already filling up with Windows Updates and apps from the Store (which can't be relocated with a junction).

 

I have only skimmed this thread. Tired after getting through only 20% of the new posts in the three weeks I have been away.

The way I see it is that tablets <8" aren't conducive for a desktop interface and a lot of them will not have the grunt to run desktop programs. By forcing a metro/touch interface it saves disappointing no brains Joe Public and forces them to realise their tablet is an 'app' device not a laptop.

 

I don't really disagree with most of this.
But for me the crux of the issue is removing the function when in certain (albeit rare) cases it would be useful. Remove it by default, put warning messages, make it awkward to add, but ultimately allowing people who are so minded to use their tablet for something it is capable of is better than not.

For me the idea of having a compact tablet I can take everywhere with a nice touch UI, but can still use certain legacy desktop app when I need them is quite appealing. Especially if I can plug it into a monitor when I want to.

Current low end atoms just about have the grunt to run W8.1 and a lot of desktop programmes, I don't see a problem in future especially with mid-range tablets.


Ultimately from Microsoft's POV I just think it's more unnecessary and avoidable bad press.
Potentially more damaging than a few people down the line being annoyed that desktop mode is difficult to use on their smartwatch