http://www.microsoft.com/surface/



[Edited on May 30, 2007 at 10:00 AM. Reason : .]

5/30/2007 9:59:59 AM

i want it
-It's Minority Report and Star Trek!

[Edited on May 30, 2007 at 10:14 AM. Reason : .]

5/30/2007 10:07:03 AM

i'd hit it

5/30/2007 10:13:33 AM

I just don't see a table as the next big input device. Some of the restaurant stuff was cool, I guess it's kinda neat for a shared workspace (of 4 people or less), but it just screams gimmick to me. And of course since its Microsoft, it doesn't even scream original gimmick.

5/30/2007 10:14:45 AM

Very very few things are original when it comes to computing. Neither apple nor microsoft had too many original ideas. I mean even apple copied the ipod idea from Creative. The originality is not usually what makes a computer company, but the real world application and efficiency. Who knows this might be the next big thing, i can see it as an interface with the potential to increase photo/video editing time quite a bit because it offers a tablet/pen type interface but larger, and you can use all your fingers. Many unix video editing workstations use programs such as fire/smoke and tablet/pens and they're far more efficient than mouse/keyboard. This would be just another advancement in that area.

[Edited on May 30, 2007 at 10:20 AM. Reason : .]

5/30/2007 10:18:11 AM

^

5/30/2007 10:30:29 AM

It's definitely not "new". But like so many things, Microsoft is going to be the ones who took it from a research setting to commercial viability.

This thing would be an amazing asset in MANY industries, not even considering the entertainment applications.

5/30/2007 10:48:59 AM

i want it

5/30/2007 10:51:09 AM

Yeah really, many industries already use touch screen technology on a small scale, this would just standardize it.

5/30/2007 10:51:50 AM

well microsoft is probably gonna be cramming these things down people's throats until they completely dominate/saturate the market.

if we're lucky, they'll come with AOL and Realplayer pre-installed

5/30/2007 12:51:02 PM

I wouldn't say microsoft is "cramming stuff down peoples throats". I'd say microsoft is everywhere because overall it works and is very compatible with all types of hardware, and it's used everywhere not because it's forced upon people, but because it actually works. Sorry people I also do my share of microsoft bashing, but it's everywhere for a reason, and personlly i've been running vista ultimate 64 bit for the last 2 months and it's the most amazing os i've ever used, and the fastest.

5/30/2007 12:58:26 PM

I WISH MICROSOFT WOULD STOP MAKING ME USE THEIR NEW AND INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS

5/30/2007 1:16:26 PM

SO

FREAKIN

SWEET

5/30/2007 1:16:38 PM

^

and the what-est?


you did not just call vista the fastest OS......

5/30/2007 1:17:54 PM

i wasn't very impressed...

5/30/2007 1:20:23 PM

I never called vista the fastest OS, but in my experience it is some of the time (mainly while running 64 bit applications). I'm running 64 bit vista ultimate, and i've ran everything from dos to windows 3.11, to the last 5 years of mac oss, and various distros of linux. Also vista 64 bit is apprently the most secure version of windows to date. I'm currently finding the link, and i'll post it when i find it.
http://blogs.technet.com/steriley/archive/2006/08/11/Security-in-Windows-Vista-64_2D00_bit.aspx
There's two articles on that link going through vista's security.



[Edited on May 30, 2007 at 1:37 PM. Reason : .]

5/30/2007 1:27:36 PM

Quote :

"I guess it's kinda neat for a shared workspace (of 4 people or less), but it just screams gimmick to me."

Great. The first thing that came to mind when you said that was businesses implementing some form of this such that they can cram 4 workers around the same table and in the same cubicle/office.

5/30/2007 1:42:53 PM

some chinese guy did this with warcraft 3

5/30/2007 1:44:13 PM

as of yet, i don't see any practical use of this by the normal user. sure it 'cool' and 'fun', but meh... don't get me wrong i like it and all, but i use don't see this in someone's home, at least for now.

5/30/2007 1:48:32 PM

^They said the same thing about personal computers.
I don't know about the whole "table" idea, but i'm sure they could implement this to be a vertical display. Imagine going up to your tv, and moving through folders with your fingers, then picking out a photo or video to display.

5/30/2007 1:57:07 PM

wave of the future maaaaaaayn

5/30/2007 1:58:23 PM

why stand right in front of the tv when i can do the same thing from my la-z-boy with a mouse?

5/31/2007 3:53:15 PM

note to everybody: THIS IS NOT MEANT TO REPLACE YOUR EXISTING COMPUTER OR TV AND/OR EXISTING INPUT DEVICES LIKE THE KEYBOARD AND MOUSE

it will be used for specialized functions, wherever it makes sense. but obviously you're not going to be typing papers on it or using it as a TV.

5/31/2007 4:12:29 PM

^^^^^^ I couldn't agree more.

^^^^^Apples and oranges man, and that isn't entirely true.

I don't know about you, but I have never, not once, wanted to get off my couch and go up to my tv to do anything. I want to use the damn remote to change the channel, or the volume and that's about it.

Not to mention this thing is a 30" display in a custom enclosure. So you are looking at a MINIMUM pricetag of $2,000 if they make ten million of the damn things. That is WAY outside of the consumer home market.

But this thing will be amazing in industry, in entertainment venues and in damn near every commercial application I can think of.

[Edited on May 31, 2007 at 4:14 PM. Reason : ^^^]

5/31/2007 4:14:21 PM

they said on the today show when bill gates was demo-ing it, that it would run $5000-10000 dep on size.

5/31/2007 4:48:20 PM

this reminds me a little of that insane electronic music table. Reactable or something similar?

5/31/2007 4:56:45 PM

^^ Right now they are targeting hotels, casinos and other corporate customers. It would take a long time to get this into the home.

5/31/2007 5:28:32 PM

IMG I'M GONNA BUILD ONEF ROM LINUX

5/31/2007 8:55:23 PM

i really like vista at the moment

seems stable enough for me, uptime = 7wks 1d

5/31/2007 9:17:06 PM

Yeah Vista Ultimate 64bit is nice. Been running that for a couple months now, and windows media center works nicely with my HDTV tuner.

6/1/2007 12:21:28 AM

Could be something fun to play with. The military could use stuff like this, as well as the intelligence community. It'd make design easier as well. Don't know if it's worth the pricetag.

6/1/2007 7:45:42 AM

This has to be the product of coders burning the midnight oil and someone coming up with the idea when they were playing on a tabletop arcade Galaga, Frogger, or something similar.

another article:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html

Either way, this means that MSFT is taking notes from AAPL and starting to think about computing outside of the box (heh couldn't resist the pun).

6/1/2007 7:54:52 AM

Quote :

"I wouldn't say microsoft is "cramming stuff down peoples throats". I'd say microsoft is everywhere because overall it works and is very compatible with all types of hardware, and it's used everywhere not because it's forced upon people, but because it actually works. Sorry people I also do my share of microsoft bashing, but it's everywhere for a reason, and personlly i've been running vista ultimate 64 bit for the last 2 months and it's the most amazing os i've ever used, and the fastest."

hey, remove Mr. Gates balls from your mouth before you speak again





that said this does look really really interesting....

6/1/2007 10:33:07 AM

Quote :

"hey, remove Mr. Gates balls from your mouth before you speak again"

I don't fully understand the comment? Just because I acknowledge the fact that Microsoft works in many applications doesn't mean you have a right to make a comment like that. It seems the common thing to do is poke fun at Microsoft and anyone who openly supports them. I don't see the logic in this. Yes there are issues with all operating systems and software companies, but that's no reason to have an overall negative opinion of a company.

6/1/2007 1:56:57 PM

if they weren't the reason their crap works better on their system then i would say this is just

but i do find it quite odd that microsoft os's are sooooo bloated with crap and for my logitech wireless desktop to work i have to have another program running because M$ doesn't support shit for anyone else.

6/1/2007 2:09:00 PM

costs money, can't support everything on their own

6/1/2007 2:17:12 PM

Well actually Microsoft Windows is currently the most compatible operating system with all types of hardware. Notice how you can build almost any type of computer and run windows on it. Apple on the other hand is on the opposite end of the spectrum because you have to buy an apple computer to run an Apple os. This is partly because they don't use bios, and various other reasons, but people take Windows for granted. It really does work with all types of hardware, and after installing vista, i didn't have to install a single driver for my mouse, keyboard, webcam, or printer. Everything was either preloaded with Vista or included in an update. If you want to talk about driver trouble start playing around with various distros of linux.

Quote :

"microsoft os's are sooooo bloated with crap "

And i also wouldn't say this, because although many computers come preloaded with lots of crap, it usually isn't Microsoft that is doing that. Dell for example loads way too much crap on thier comptuers now a days, and it's almost easier to start with a clean install of XP.
-For example windows xp will usually run with 20 processes or less, i think the minimum for a stable system is 17 if i remember correctly. But the problem is unexperienced people download so much, and install so much that thier computers run as many as 60-80 processes that bog down the computer. It just takes a little maintainence and any version of Windows will run very very smoothly.

6/1/2007 2:18:03 PM

stable system with a internet/network connection with 17 processes?

6/1/2007 3:13:04 PM

thats like the desk in "The ISland"

6/1/2007 3:22:33 PM

when someone uses the number of processes as an point of debate in OS stability... just nod and smile, you might as well be arguing quantum physics with paris hilton.

6/1/2007 3:24:27 PM

Yes it's possible to run XP using under 20 processes with a network connection. Anti-virus usually adds 4-6 depending on from who. Normally i try to keep under 30, but it's hard if you have lots of hardware components. But with most stuff, you can go into msconfig and deactivate the auto-start up, or go into admin/services, and disable services there. Many programs like quicktime, itunes, logitech, hp, and ati tuners will add various auto-update processes which run all the time, which are usually pointless, as long as you remember to update software on your own.
^
Why is that? The main cause of system slow down and instability is from useless processes, and/or spyware that adds itself to the registry plus startup, and eventually slows down the computer. That's one of the new features in Vista, is it's harder to add something to the registry and startup because the os makes a bigger deal out of installing programs that add processes, so in turn helps the user to manage that.

[Edited on June 1, 2007 at 3:30 PM. Reason : .]

6/1/2007 3:27:15 PM

Computer @ Home: 44 processes

6/1/2007 3:31:44 PM

Quote :

"it's the most amazing os i've ever used, and the fastest"

6/1/2007 3:33:58 PM

^
I apologize for my enthuthiasm toward Vista. It's just my personal experience towards it. Out of 3.xx windows, 95, 98, 2000, and xp i've had the least amount of trouble with it which is partly due to my new hardware, plus 64 bit, plus 10k HD's, and a c2d 6600 at 3.6. So it's possible i'm giving to much credit to the OS. But it's just worked flawlessly with anything i throw at out, including my HDTV tuner which works far better in VISTA than with XP media center edition. The only issue i've had was with Command and Conquer 3, and that's more of a Nvidia driver issue. I'm also enjoying playing Halo 2 with a wireless 360 controller online (vista only). Along with various other DX10 games like Shadowrun (pc users vs 360 players finally).

[Edited on June 1, 2007 at 3:49 PM. Reason : .]

6/1/2007 3:48:18 PM

^^^^

The number of processes alone is meaningless. How much and how often said processes allocate CPU cycles is far more relevant. And that's still a very superficial explanation, not even getting into different process scheduling and threading schemes. I would suggest you do a little more research before spouting off about shit you know nothing about.

6/1/2007 3:50:53 PM

I apologize again, i'm not trying to "spout off about something i don't know about." I am fully aware how processes work, and i was simply mentioning that a big cause of computer slow down is unneeded processes along with registry/startup entries that contribute to overall load/start-up time. Just because a process is idle and isn't using a cycle doesn't mean it doesn't harm the computer. Along with the individual threads it also has to do with the content in the registry, the actual memory allocation, and various process control blocks (PCB) and how the processes are defined. Thankfully interprocess communication (i think it's called) helps processes to better communitate to efficiently use the cpu without creating a deadlock or crash. And yes you can get into threads of execution and how various threads can contribute to the same code or process by being either a single threaded or muli threaded process but i was simplying trying to state that one cause of system slow-down is not managing your processes.
^
oh and instead of making a comment like

Quote :

"I would suggest you do a little more research before spouting off about shit you know nothing about"

Wouldn't it be more helpful if you explained the situation or were a little nicer about it? I'm not trying to put anyone down here.

-And again yes if someone has 70 processes running that's taking up all the memory, with only a gig of physical memory, then that can cause a problem. The process doesn't have to be using a cpu cycle to allocate memory. Also you can look at process state diagrams to see how processes wait, get blocked, or run inbetween execution and termination, and there's a big chuck where it's sitting in the memory.


[Edited on June 1, 2007 at 4:15 PM. Reason : .]

6/1/2007 4:01:51 PM

Quote :

"when someone uses the number of processes as an point of debate in OS stability... just nod and smile, you might as well be arguing quantum physics with paris hilton."

Another classic from Bobby.

^You can't just "explain the situation" without getting into the fundamentals of programming, software engineering, filesystems, and everything else that computer science kids spent four years having rammed down their throats.

All you fucks saying "OMG Microsoft suck$, windows is soo bloated and terrible" are the same bitches who are fucking hippy liberal fuckers who think everything is a pie in the sky wonderful world. Windows is still pretty fucking good, it's sure as shit the second best desktop OS out there, and the BEST one that will run on consumer's choice of hardware.

6/1/2007 6:11:27 PM

hell, i like Vista. Cant complain. 64bit I can complain all day long except with Maya and Photoshop.

6/1/2007 6:15:40 PM

This is the same technology released by the inventors of the multi-touch technology in 2006:
http://gprime.net/video.php/multitouch

Business wire report:
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/12530/1103/

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5VUUXVdQLw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9j_tYP-kzc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFhxV3rvW0k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id43juZ3_o0

original technology videos:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YRfWhUnYyY8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nnumOOu6JKc


This technology can be implemented using a DLP projector and projected onto a wall or a table surface. The home aspect of it could be using it as an interactive tv on more than one wall in your house (Fahrenheit 451 kind of deal). Of course it'll be years before it becomes mainstream, but they said it could be as little as three years before a consumer model would be available with a more modest price tag of around 1-5k.

While the tech piece looks trivial, we would have to wait and see what other applications this technology could be integrated with. I know it would have a big success in a business application to augment video conferencing and business meetings. This would definitely be a neat technology for presentations to express ideas and visions with others and with the ability for others to express their feedback as well. Direct manipulation of the data is what it is.

6/1/2007 6:50:22 PM

dont' forget how awesome online poker would be and solitaire!

6/1/2007 7:18:03 PM