Windows 8 – the true Transformer?

Microsoft may have just gotten the best partner in the business to show off the Windows 8 operating system. As we recall from my previous article, Microsoft is looking to gamble with the greatest change in the Windows operating system since Windows 95 – the Windows 8. Microsoft’s ambition with Windows 8 is to create a unified look and feel for its different devices. They aim to unify the PC, the tablet, the phone, and the gaming console. This dream may very well come into fruition when the Taiwanese tech giant, ASUS, showed off the ASUS transformer Book.

ASUS has played this card before, with the dawn of Android OS’ own Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). It should be noted that when Google was making the announcement regarding ICS, they said that the goal of the team is to unify the phone and tablet experience, by using one OS. While Google said tablet and phone, ASUS had the idea to use this popular OS to merge tablet and PC to create the ASUS transformer.

It was the merging of the tablet experience and the PC experience by adding a fully functional keyboard to the tablet and creating an overall design that looks like a 10 inch notebook. While this may have been a very successful product, which has eventually led to the release of its successor, the ASUS Transformer Prime, it was very lacking in the sense that the ICS was not ready for the PC experience. There was not much you can do that will make you consider it anything more than a low end netbook.

In contrast, the new Windows 8 operating system was meant to be the binding software not only for the phone and tablet, but also for the PC. This makes it the perfect OS to utilize in creating the best tablet-PC hybrid product.

The ASUS transformer book was designed to be a laptop at first sight. It is powered by an Intel i3, i5 or i7 processor. At the same time, it was powered by NVIDIA’s GeForce graphics, and sports an SSD or HDD storage. It came with a high 4GB of DDR3 memory and a Full HD IPS display. The best part is that these displays, that come in 11.6-, 13- and 14-inch versions, can be removed and function as fully functional tablets using the tablet friendly Windows 8 operating system. If anything, if this product works and is duly accepted by the public, it could very well serve as an anchor in the future proliferation of Windows 8 devices.

While I myself am rather unsure if I like the new Windows 8 platform, no one can deny the allure of having full featured tablet and a full featured PC all in one product. This is assuming of course that the actual operating system from Microsoft will be capable of running without a hitch on this device. We also hope for the best that ASUS does not butcher the release like they did with the Transformer Prime. If they screw up the release with a faulty OS or unit from the start, it may just make people even more afraid of the leap to the new face of the Windows operating system.

When the announcement and release of the public previews of the Microsoft Windows 8 came along, people became very skeptical of its possible success. Now we see a glimmer of the future that Microsoft was eagerly talking about. Can you see that future? Will the ASUS transformer book be enough to tide you over?