iPad iOS 5 vs Windows 8 Slate [video]
Microsoft unveiled its Windows 8 developer preview earlier this week, but how does it compare to iOS? — Microsoft has done some impressive work with Windows 8 to make it truly slate friendly. Hardware specifications and specifics are still …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft gave developers their first public Windows 8 look at BUILD after a hands-on tablet preview framed the operating system around slate use. The comparison with iPad iOS 5 makes that tablet-oriented redesign legible as a direct platform challenge rather than a conventional Windows update.
Windows 8’s Metro version of Internet Explorer 10 also drops plug-ins including Adobe Flash in favor of HTML5, tying Microsoft’s slate strategy to a different web-software model.
First-order effects
- Microsoft must persuade developers that Windows 8 can deliver a slate experience competitive with iPad iOS 5 before it has disclosed the hardware specifics that will shape that experience.
- Web developers targeting Metro Internet Explorer 10 must rely on HTML5 rather than Adobe Flash or other browser plug-ins.
Second-order effects
- Adobe loses a tablet-browser distribution point in Metro IE 10, while HTML5-capable web tools and publishers become more important to Windows 8’s application experience.
- Microsoft’s Windows 8 tablet pitch shifts competition with Apple toward interface responsiveness, browser capabilities, and developer support rather than the desktop Windows legacy alone.
Third-order effects
- If other tablet platforms adopt similar browser limits, plug-in-based web delivery will give way to HTML5 as the common application layer across touch devices.
The trend: Tablet operating systems are converging on touch-first interfaces and standards-based web runtimes, making developer ecosystems central to platform competition.