windows rt

Microsoft Surface $499 model 'out of stock' online

The $499 Surface model appears to be a popular item on the Microsoft store's Web site.

As of this afternoon, Pacific Time, that model (without the Touch Cover) is listed as "out of stock." Previously, it had been listed as "back-ordered", along with the $599 and $699 models.

The other two models -- both come with the Touch Cover -- are no longer listed as back-ordered.

"The store periodically will run out of certain models," a Microsoft representative told CNET in response to an e-mail query.

Calls to Microsoft stores in Century City, … Read more

Acer pushes back release of Windows RT devices

Acer is pushing back the release of a Windows RT tablet, according to a report, as it monitors Microsoft's Surface efforts closely.

"Originally we had a very aggressive plan to come out very early next year but because of Surface...we are much more cautious," Acer President Jim Wong told Reuters today.

Wong said plans originally called for a Q1 launch but "now I don't think it will be earlier than Q2."

The world's fourth largest PC supplier has been sour on the Surface tablet ever since Microsoft first announced it back in … Read more

Windows RT missing your favorite apps? Try these

For all its speedy touch-screen goodness, one of the biggest drawbacks of Windows 8 RT is that it doesn't let you install third-party programs through its desktop screen. Unlike the standard version of Windows 8, RT restricts you to first-party programs (made by Microsoft) through its desktop, but gives you free rein to install whatever you want through the Windows Store. The problem is that at this point the Windows Store is just too thin to make up for the loss of several popular third-party programs. Fortunately, we did a little research and found a few alternative apps that … Read more

At the moment, Microsoft Surface is hot

CENTURY CITY, Calif.--As of this weekend, Microsoft has a hot product on its hands.

Reviews notwithstanding (some have been pretty negative), on Friday my local Microsoft store in Century City (in Los Angeles) was buzzing with curious customers keen on trying the Surface RT tablet, as lines snaked outside. Other stores drew crowds too.

(And all three Surface models are back-ordered three weeks on Microsoft's online store.)

I was surprised to see any line at all. After reading some reviews, you would have thought that the thing was DOA.

Fortunately, I had plenty of time to try out … Read more

Life in the Microsoft Surface line

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- I'm no stranger to Apple lines. Come prepared with a chair, and a laptop to keep busy, and settle in among the converted. But a Microsoft line? The last time I was in one was for a midnight release of Windows 98. I didn't know what to expect as I joined the line Friday among the Microsoft faithful to get one of the new Microsoft Surface tablets.

I'd called the previous day to the Microsoft Store in my local shopping center, South Coast Plaza, in the Southern California city of Costa Mesa. A … Read more

Microsoft's Surface and Windows 8: Winners and losers

"All in," Microsoft said today at an event in New York as it launched the latest offerings from the company: the new Windows 8 operating system, and its debut into the tablet market, the Microsoft Surface.

Today's event was a non-event, to be fair. It was more of a recap than anything else. Besides some shiny new numbers and a few demonstrations of the new hardware and software, we saw nothing new.

However, interestingly there wasn't much focus on the Surface during the event, despite it featuring as the software giant's debut into the … Read more

Friday Poll: Will you upgrade to Windows 8?

Microsoft officially launched Windows 8 today, and with it comes a choice for those who use its predecessors: do I stay, or do I go?

My Crave colleague Eric Mack touches on the subject in an opinion piece today titled "The Windows 8 question: To adopt early or not?" Eric owns a perfectly capable Windows 7 laptop and would rather wait for a Surface tablet with Windows 8 Pro to debut before considering new hardware.

Personally, I feel a slight temptation to upgrade to Windows 8. In his review of Microsoft's Surface, CNET Senior Editor Eric Franklin praises Metro -- the primary interface of Windows 8 -- saying it's "innovative, elegant, powerful, and versatile," the last set of words I would use to describe my cluttered Windows 7 desktop. Maybe a new layout would feel like a breath of fresh air. … Read more

HP prices Envy x2, its alternative to Microsoft Surface, iPad

Hewlett-Packard has priced its Envy x2 laptop-tablet hybrid at $849.99 -- a small tablet-laptop hybrid that runs the full version of Windows 8.

That price may be high for consumers, but HP is pushing it as a high-quality, high-end "hybrid PC" that effectively straddles both the laptop and tablet paradigms.

It comes with many of the ports found on a PC -- USB, HDMI, SD card slot -- a top-notch IPS display, a full-size keyboard with a large trackpad (what HP calls an Imagepad) for Windows 8 gestures, and a touch display that detaches to become a … Read more

Qualcomm CEO says Windows legacy apps have to go touch

Older Windows programs will have to be updated to incorporate touch capabilities, Qualcomm's chief executive said. And that's something that should help adoption of the newest version of the operating system.

Paul Jacobs, speaking today during a small press roundtable in New York before tomorrow's Windows 8 launch, said there will be "FUD" -- fear, uncertainty, and doubt -- around legacy applications when Windows RT first launches, but the capabilities offered by the new system will ultimately win over consumers.

He noted that older applications will have to be updated to take advantage of the … Read more

Digging deep into Microsoft's Surface

Wednesday's CNET Update covers the Surface:

Microsoft's Surface RT tablet hits stores Friday, but CNET has the full review here. Today's tech news roundup also goes over the differences in Windows RT and Windows 8.

If phablets are more your style, CNET also has the review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, now available at T-Mobile for $370 after a rebate and two-year contract. AT&T will sell it for less, at $300, when preorders begin Thursday.

Ready for shopping on Instagram? A new service called Chirpify gives users on Twitter and Instagram the ability to … Read more