size="2">The
Microsoft Surface will be released in 2 flavors, one running
Windows
RT (which can only run Metro apps) while the other will be
running
Windows 8 Pro (which will be capable of running both Metro
apps and
traditional windows programs). Here are some of the apps which
will
be available for the Surface:
size="2">Microsoft Office 2013
face="Verdana, sans-serif">: Both the
lightweight RT version and the Windows 8 Pro version will
come pre-loaded with Office, and they will have same
functionalities as the desktop version. This is great news
for professionals who would want Microsoft productivity
tools on the go.
size="2">Photos app: This app will allow users to
merge all their photos from various sources, such as Flickr
and Facebook, to create an integrated view to go through all
of their photos. The metro-style looks very good for this
purpose.
size="2">SkyDrive : This is Microsoft's very own
personal cloud storage app that lets the user store up to 7
GB of data for free, with additional paid storage available.
size="2">Mail app: This app will allow users to
integrate their multiple email accounts into one portal, and
once again the app makes full use of the brilliant HD screen
to display all the information possible in your email.
size="2">Internet Explorer 10
face="Verdana, sans-serif">: Although skeptics
might expect this to act sluggish, especially versus
browsers like Chrome, it actually looks extremely slick and
smooth. You can view a demo of IE10 on Windows 8 at this
href="http://bit.ly/M41bKO">link.
size="2">The
applications that Microsoft provides with the Surface
definitely look
good and function well also. However, they face a difficult
task in
luring developers from iOS/Android to Windows 8. The Windows 8
store
only has apps in the hundreds; while Apple's app store has
225,000
specialized for the iPad. While Surface has the advantage of
being
able to run traditional windows apps as well, they face an
imperative
task of attracting developers to expand the app ecosystem in
the
Windows 8 market.