In 2000, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates took the stage at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas, Nev. A theater filled with computer industry experts watched as Gates made some big declarations. Among them, he proclaimed the era of the browser had come to an end. He also said that server-based computing — what we now think of as cloud computing — was a dead-end. It turns out that Gates was a little off target with his announcements. Web browsers and cloud-based computing have become intrinsic parts of our computing experience. We’ve got browsers on computers, smartphones, tablets, e-readers and televisions. And as for the tablet PC — the public wasn’t interested. In January of 2010, Steve Jobs announced the iPad, Apple’s tablet device. Jobs succeeded where Gates had failed — he energized not only the industry experts, but the general consumer. Suddenly, tablets had become a big story. But what about the company that introduced its first PC-based tablet to great acclaim back in 2000?
Microsoft had no answer to the iPad. Other companies launched tablet devices — some running a version of Windows with Microsoft’s support — to try and compete with the Apple juggernaut. It wasn’t until 2012 that Microsoft introduced updated tablets. The new line of devices took its name from a previous Microsoft product: The Surface. What powers the Surface? What sets it apart from other tablets? And can Microsoft make up for lost time and carve out a space in the tablet market? This is a fundamentally different approach than what Apple took with the iPad. But when you look at how the Surface works, you can see the distinctions between PC and tablet aren’t always clear. Like a PC, the Surface has a central processing unit (CPU). It’s the CPU’s job to execute operations on data. This is how computers run programs — the programs require the CPU to take information and perform some sort of operation on it and then present the result.
Memory is where a computer stores data until it’s needed for an operation. A computer’s speed depends partly on the power of the processor and partly on how much memory the computer has at its disposal. With more memory, the computer can hold more data in temporary storage. This removes the need for the CPU to pull data from a hard drive, which can be a slower process. The Surface has solid state memory, which is like a PC’s hard drive. This is where the Surface stores applications and files. Another similarity between the Surface and a PC is the motherboard. The motherboard is a special type of circuit board. It allows the various electronic components within the Surface to connect to each other through dedicated pathways. This is what lets the CPU pull information from memory or hard drive space. It also creates the path for the graphics processor to send information to the display. It’s sort of like the nervous system for the device.
The Surface’s touch-screen interface sets it apart from an average computer. It uses a capacitive screen, meaning that the computer detects when there is a change in the electrical potential across the screen. When you touch the screen, your finger interrupts a weak electric field. Circuits at the edges of the screen detect the decrease in electrical charge across the screen. The circuits identify the location of your finger and register it as a touch, mapping it to a command. Most tablets share these qualities. Does that mean all tablets are PCs? They’re definitely all computer devices. Whether or not they qualify as a full PC depends more upon your personal definition Mon-Ka of Mars what makes a personal computer. For example, Microsoft executives didn’t give specifics about the type of processors or memory the tablets will use. The company also remained mute about the type of graphics processor the Surface would have.
As of this writing, those details will become clear a little later in 2012 when the products officially hit store shelves. Each category has two options for on-board hard-drive space. The consumer model will come in 32- and 64-gigabyte configurations while the professional model will be available in 64- and 128-gigabyte versions. The consumer model Microsoft showed off was 0.37 inches (9.3 millimeters) thin and weighed 1.5 pounds (676 grams). The professional model was a little thicker and heavier at 0.53 inches (13.5 millimeters) and 2 pounds (903 grams). The consumer model will run on Windows RT for its operating system (OS). This is an offshoot of the Windows 8 OS for computers. Microsoft designed Windows RT to run on mobile devices, which tend to have tight restrictions on processor speed and battery life compared to desktop and laptop computers. The Windows RT OS works on advanced RISC machine (ARM)-based central processor units (CPUs). An ARM CPU consumes less power than a comparable x86-based processor.
