Microsoft has made consumer hardware before, but the Surface Pro and RT represent its most ambitious attempts yet. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the Surface Pro and RT, powered by the new Windows 8 operating system, haven't set the world on fire yet, and that's causing some to draw some very negative comparisons.
In some ways, it seems unfair. The Surface Pro is still extremely new, having only launched last month. But Windows 8 and the Surface RT both hit retail shelves in time for the 2012 holidays. They didn't do so well then, and now everyone from analysts to Microsoft partners are slamming Redmond's entire effort.
Samsung alone has criticized Windows 8 and the Surface multiple times, saying the new OS is no better than Windows Vista. Acer's president said Windows 8 isn't successful. And now, MKM analyst Israel Hernandez is out pushing the idea that Surface and Windows 8 are as bad as Microsoft's Zune media player, which was killed by Redmond five years after a failed attempt to compete with Apple's iPod.
Surface RT is "on track to join Zune and the Kin in the great consumer electronics discount rack in the sky," Hernandez said, according to the Motley Fool. The Surface Pro has a better chance, but considering the dismal sales of Surface RT, it doesn't seem like Hernandez has much hope for it.
Meanwhile, Hernandez said that Windows 8 is "dangerously close to being permanently rejected by consumers," and Microsoft partners are "currently in open revolt." Apparently, Windows 8 is such a bomb that OEMs are choosing to align themselves with Google's Chrome OS.
These claims are all extremely harsh, and while both the Surface and Windows 8 have their share of problems, it's hard to see Hernandez's claims as closest to the truth. Microsoft certainly has a lot of work to do to convince consumers to purchase Windows 8 devices, but it's unlikely that OEMs will stay in "open revolt" while Surface Pro and RT alone outsell all Chromebooks three times over.
Either way, it should be an interesting year as Microsoft retools Surface and Windows 8 going forward.
