Win8 vs. Windows RT: What to know before you buy

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	TOP STORY Win8 vs. Windows RT: What to know before you buy
	By Woody Leonhard During recent travels around the western U.S., I asked many computer salespeople about Windows 8 — and was truly shocked at inaccurate information provided about the new OS. Few knew the key differences between versions, and almost all offered “advice” that was way off the mark.

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The full text of this column is posted at WindowsSecrets.com/top-story/win8-vs-windows-rt-what-to-know-before-you-buy/ (opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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You write, “Perhaps taking a copy of this article with you when you ask for a refund might help!” However, if you’ve read the article, you shouldn’t be making the mistake of buying the wrong version.

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Q4 Differences between Office RT and Office Desktop
For the most part the features in the Ribbon should be very much the same. Much (MUCH) more so than in Office Web Apps for example.

This blog from MS describes what has been removed from Office RT. The most significant one being Macro support. Most of the rest are not really significant
[h=3]2012 09 13- Building Office for Windows RT – What features are Removed?[/h]http://blogs.office.com/b/office-next/archive/2012/09/13/building-office-for-windows-rt.aspx
To minimize the power impact, Office on Windows RT stops blinking the cursor after a few seconds if the user stops interacting with the application. When the user is away, we just show a fixed, non-blinking cursor.
Office detects when the user is not actively using the system. When this occurs, Office releases these temporary caches.
For example, rather than including large number of templates and clipart on the drive, we opted to put frequently used templates on the drive while making the more extensive collection available via the start center in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and also online .
Windows RT provides APIs that allow applications including Office to understand the user’s current network state. We can identify if the cellular network is unrestricted or if usage is metered (the user is paying for their usage), if the user is approaching or over their limit, and whether or not they are roaming. When we detect that the cellular network is metered we throttle network traffic to reduce our impact.
Beyond the differences listed below, Office for Windows RT is fully-featured Office with complete document compatibility.

[*]Macros, add-ins, and features that rely on ActiveX controls or 3rd party code such as the PowerPoint Slide Library ActiveX control and Flash Video Playback
[*]legacy features such as playing older media formats in PowerPoint (upgrade to modern formats and they will play)
[*]legacy features such as editing equations written in Equation Editor 3.0, which was used in older versions of Office (viewing works fine)
[*]Certain email sending features, since Windows RT does not support Outlook or other desktop mail applications (opening a mail app, such as the mail app that comes with Windows RT devices, and inserting your Office content works fine)
[*]Creating a Data Model in Excel 2013 RT (PivotTables, QueryTables, Pivot Charts work fine)
[*]Recording narrations in PowerPoint 2013 RT
[*]OneNote Searching embedded audio/video files,
[*]OneNote recording audio/video notes,
[*]importing from an attached scanner with OneNote 2013 RT (inserting audio/video notes or scanned images from another program works fine)

[h=3]2012 09 13 – MS Details Office Home & Student 2013 RT[/h]http://www.winsupersite.com/blog/supersite-blog-39/windows8/microsoft-details-office-home-student-2013-rt-windows-rt-144249

Q5 – thanks for that info about HP printers. I hadn’t seen it before. Lucky me, my printer is mostly supported.

Q7 – Using Office RT in business. Yes you can, if you buy a license for it. This question has been discussed during the last week. This article summarized the info best

[h=3]2012 10 17- Microsoft Office for Windows RT: How to move to a commercial-use license[/h]http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-office-for-windows-rt-how-to-move-to-a-commercial-use-license-7000005893/

HTH
Rohn MS MVP

PS: While we won’t need this article to get a refund/exchange, I bet we all know people who will need to have a copy of it to present to equally confused sales clerks.

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Q8: Woody, the issue is not whether Outlook is included or not (we know not) but rather the quality of the Mail app supplied with The Surface RT.

I don’t know. I’m asking.

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I was lining up to get an RT / Surface device, but this article has really helped me to decide that it is definitely not for me, in the same way that a Windows Phone is not for me (and I say that as an ex-user of several older such phones). The reason is that RT will lock me in to a very small ecosystem and not even allow me to use my 2 existing printers. If I am going to be locked in, then I might as well be locked in to a large ecosystem such as Android, or IOS.

I think MS have shot themselves in the foot. Regardless of the qualities of the new Surface it will through up a massive amount confusion and bad feelings. If they were simply “giving it way” for $199 according to those rumours a few months ago then not too many people would complain, but as a pricey competitor to the iPad it needs to offer something completely different to the iPad, i.e. compatibility with Windows apps.

Yes, we know all the technical reasons they can’t do that, but MS has lost so much ground on tablets that their “unique selling point” is that they are compatible across the board. If they don’t offer compatibility, other than the fisher-price UI, then potential customers have no tie-in to MS and will look at Android and IOS.

Since most people are touching and playing with their smartphone a few times a day, then it become their KEY device and may drive all other purchasing decisions for bigger kit such as desktop computers etc. That’s why the Apple iPhone strategy is so smart. I don’t own any Apple product because they are over-priced, but I do recognise their smart thinking compared to Ballmer’s back-to-front thinking.

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I was lining up to get an RT / Surface device, but this article has really helped me to decide that it is definitely not for me, in the same way that a Windows Phone is not for me (and I say that as an ex-user of several older such phones). The reason is that RT will lock me in to a very small ecosystem and not even allow me to use my 2 existing printers. If I am going to be locked in, then I might as well be locked in to a large ecosystem such as Android, or IOS.

I think MS have shot themselves in the foot. Regardless of the qualities of the new Surface it will through up a massive amount confusion and bad feelings. If they were simply “giving it way” for $199 according to those rumours a few months ago then not too many people would complain, but as a pricey competitor to the iPad it needs to offer something completely different to the iPad, i.e. compatibility with Windows apps.

Yes, we know all the technical reasons they can’t do that, but MS has lost so much ground on tablets that their “unique selling point” is that they are compatible across the board. If they don’t offer compatibility, other than the fisher-price UI, then potential customers have no tie-in to MS and will look at Android and IOS.

Since most people are touching and playing with their smartphone a few times a day, then it become their KEY device and may drive all other purchasing decisions for bigger kit such as desktop computers etc. That’s why the Apple iPhone strategy is so smart. I don’t own any Apple product because they are over-priced, but I do recognise their smart thinking compared to Ballmer’s back-to-front thinking.

What small ecosystem? Do you know for sure that the printers are not supported?

Joe

--Joe

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Take a look at this review from Wired that was posted yesterday, http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/10/windows-8/all/.

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WOW…with so much confusion, it feels like Microsoft WANTS to fail…or alienate and aggravate consumers! I think the people at Redmond have really forgotten the golden rule of Keep It Simple Stupid!

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The mail app has been a basic app from the start. There have been many updates to Store Apps recently. The last I checked (just now) the email app does not support Pop3. I realize this is old, but many ISP’s still use it, including mine.

32217-NoPopMailApp

The Windows RT, IMO, is just too restricted for my likes. This OS is meant for lowered powered ARM devices. It is at a price point to compete with iPad, but will not be able to run Windows Apps such as Win 8 Pro can. That’s why many will be waiting for Surface Pro and like tablets to make the change.

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IE not running add-ons is a killer for RT. Not being able to run Outlook is also a deal killer.

What is MS thinking? Or are they?

RT = RIP

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I don’t often state this about your articles Woody, but frankly you lost me. Here’s a new posting as of today, 10/25/2012 on the Microsoft Community, http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_rt-windows_install/faq-windows-rt-and-windows-8/06bd1ac1-c7ba-40ce-8baa-3f4773944cd9?auth=1.

I think the explanations here are crystal clear. Obviously, you wrote your article prior to the Microsoft piece so it might have an impact on some of the statements you made in your article.

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Could you check the accuracy of the assertion that The Surface running Windows RT cannot run LastPass? It is my understanding that you ARE able to download it from the Windows Store (it does work on Win 8).

Kevin

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According to the LastPass development team, they’ve not determined whether it’s worth developing a version to port to the Windows Store. So for now, LP will only be available for Windows 8.

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How does this article change anything Woody wrote?

It is your reasoning that is obscure, not Woody’s.

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I don’t often state this about your articles Woody, but frankly you lost me. Here’s a new posting as of today, 10/25/2012 on the Microsoft Community, http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_rt-windows_install/faq-windows-rt-and-windows-8/06bd1ac1-c7ba-40ce-8baa-3f4773944cd9?auth=1.

I think the explanations here are crystal clear. Obviously, you wrote your article prior to the Microsoft piece so it might have an impact on some of the statements you made in your article.

How does this article change anything Woody wrote?

It is your reasoning that is obscure, not Woody’s.

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That’s an excellent question!

IMO, I simply feel that the FAQ provided a much clearer explanation of the Windows 8 variants, & more importantly, the differences between Win 8 & RT. That said, & with all due respect to Woody, his article was probably written several days ago to meet his deadline & as I noted originally, he may have not had the most recent information when his article ‘went to press’.

Please don’t misconstrue my comments as negative criticism of Woody; far from it. I just felt, again IMO only, that the MS FAQ was easier to interpret than the information in his article.

In addition, there were dozens of new reviews, assessments, etc. of Win 8 & RT that were published yesterday, Thursday, October 25, 2012.

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That’s an excellent question!

IMO, I simply feel that the FAQ provided a much clearer explanation of the Windows 8 variants, & more importantly, the differences between Win 8 & RT. That said, & with all due respect to Woody, his article was probably written several days ago to meet his deadline & as I noted originally, he may have not had the most recent information when his article ‘went to press’.

Please don’t misconstrue my comments as negative criticism of Woody; far from it. I just felt, again IMO only, that the MS FAQ was easier to interpret than the information in his article.

In addition, there were dozens of new reviews, assessments, etc. of Win 8 & RT that were published yesterday, Thursday, October 25, 2012.

How about, we rate your linked article as a good piece of additional information and clarification, and Woody’s article as a good start towards clarification and explanation?

No reason both articles couldn’t be used together, if people want to be crystal clear about the differences and limitations of Win 8 vs. RT and Slate Pro vs. RT Surface tablets.

For myself, I’m playing it safe. I’m keeping my Windows 7 laptop in dual-boot configuration with Windows 8 Pro System Builder. It’s on order and should arrive any week now :p (oops, any day) from Frys.com.

-- rc primak

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I think PC Mag had a decent review too.

The problem seems to be RT is stillborn into the world of ARM, and drivers, available applications, and compatibilities in general are unknown, even by MS.

I hope the MS coders are working 24/7 to populate this environment because the developers, as much as Steve loves them, will be too slow and will not write for a barren ecosystem.

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I think PC Mag had a decent review too.

The problem seems to be RT is stillborn into the world of ARM, and drivers, available applications, and compatibilities in general are unknown, even by MS.

I hope the MS coders are working 24/7 to populate this environment because the developers, as much as Steve loves them, will be too slow and will not write for a barren ecosystem.

Last count I read stated that there are 9000 apps in the Windows Store. This will grow, that’s for sure, but you are right that this is still in it’s early infancy. It does have Office, though, which you won’t find anywhere else, at least for now.

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An interesting review, IMO: http://hal2020.com/2012/10/28/understanding-the-microsoft-surface-a-sort-of-review/

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