People even lined up for it
Microsoft might be happy that people actually queued up for its Surface tablet over the weekend. According to Rueters the global debut of the Windows 8 operating system was greeted with pockets of enthusiasm.
While it was not the rabid stupidity seen by Apple fanboys whenever that cargo cult issues one of its products, it was not that bad. One of the things that people actually wanted was a keyboard with their keyboardless netbook and that is what the Surface provides. The Times Square store was the first to sell the Surface and other Windows 8 devices late on Thursday and will be open through the holiday shopping season. On Friday morning it was crowded with a mix of tourists and local office workers.
Elsewhere in the United States, there was solid but not overwhelming interest for the Surface. Other than Windows fanboys, and there are a few of them, the Surface queue appeared to be made up of those who wanted their tablets better integrated with their PC.
The Surface in the shops now though is the one based around ARM chips, i.e. the RT version. Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at tech research firm Forrester told Reuters that consumers may be best served waiting for tablets running the full Windows 8 Pro and Intel chips, which are due out early next year. Windows 8 RT has a lack of apps and poorer video performance which is promised to arrive with the Intel gear.
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