Recently, I’ve been wanting to dig into building windows 8 apps. Since I didn’t really have any spare hardware to use, I decided to buy a new machine for it.
Ideally, the new machine would be able to run windows 8 (with the snap feature), have a touch screen and be reasonably fast. The only thing I could find that fit all of those requirements was the Samsung Series 7 slate.
Sure, it’s not the same as the one given out at the //Build conference, but it is pretty much the same. The features that are missing from it are:
- Gyro Sensor
- NFC Sensor
- GPS
- HSPA
Pretty much everything else is the same.
So, off I went to the Microsoft store…
I have to admit that I hate spending money, especially when it comes to computers. My usual MO is to put something in the cart and talk myself out of it before I get to the check out. This usually takes about 5 minutes. So, if I’m not paying for it within 5 minutes of grabbing an item off of the shelf, I usually put it back.
I pretty much had only one option for what I wanted, the Samsung Series 7 Slate, so I bought one. The Microsoft store had a pretty good deal going when I bought mine: $1299 for the slate, the dock and a $200 gift card.
I ended up using the gift card for the protection plan (aka “the kid protection plan”) and a single license of Office Home/Student came with it. Cool!
Now the deal is done but I’m feeling regretful. This is normal for me. Until I get comfortable with what I’ve bought, I have an uneasy feeling.
Once I’m back in the office, I fire up the tablet and play around with it. Almost immediately, I hated the experience. Windows 7 on a tablet just doesn’t cut it.
This is my first tablet. I don’t have an iPad or an Android tablet, so I’m coming to this new form factor as a newbie. The “extensions” (or whatever you want to call them) that were shoved into Windows 7 are clunky.
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes they are fantastic (the journal app, woot!). Mostly, though, they are teh lame.
That sinking feeling of wasting money planted itself firmly in my stomach 
Anyway, getting back to the point…I was wanting to write some Windows 8 apps…so I installed the customer preview.
That sinking feeling has completely vanished.
I love Windows 8. It runs super great on this machine. Sure, it has some things that you need to get used to, but once you do, it’s awesome.
I can’t stop playing around with this thing now.
Anyway, I guess the point of this post is that if you haven’t tried Windows 8 or are on the fence for buying a Windows tablet to try it out, I say go for it. I’m loving mine.