Apple’s iPad 2 and new Windows 8 tablet face off in 11-minute video

By Zach Epstein on Sep 15, 2011 at 3:35 PM

Microsoft’s OS of the future will make its way to a range of devices, but all eyes are on one market in particular: tablets. Microsoft is beyond focused on proving that it can compete in the tablet space, which is currently dominated by Apple’s iPad line. WinRumors sat down with an Apple iPad 2 running the latest iOS 5 beta and a Windows 8 tablet prototype on Thursday, and spent nearly 11 minutes comparing the two slates on camera. The video runs through a wide range of functions, giving users a good idea of how the two devices match up. Of course, the Windows 8 build on the tablet in the video is an early beta that is likely about a year away from release, but Microsoft chose to make the build available to the public so it’s obviously open season for showdowns. WinRumors’ full head-to-head video comparison follows below.

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Tags:: Apple, iPad, iPad 2, Microsoft, Samsung, Tablets, Video, Windows 8, Windows 8 Tablet

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VirginMerry

Control, Alt, Delete on a tablet? That’s amazing!

Can’t wait…………….

Anonymous

,.. I just got a $829.99 iPad2 for only $103.37 and my mom got a $1499.99 HTV for only $251.92, they are both coming tomorrow. I would be an idiot to ever pay full retail prîces at places like Walmart or Bestbuy. I sold a 37″ HTV to my boss for $600 that I only paid $78.24 for.
I use EgoWïn.com

Chris

No you didn’t.
Anonymous

liar
Anonymous

liar
Pat

Damn Jessy… You are a Tool, Man…
Mikey13345

stop spamming!!!
Brett3o3

reported

Anonymous

Don’t have time to watch the whole video. Can someone just tell me the minute mark during which the Windows 8 BSODs on itself. Thanks in advance.

http://profiles.google.com/arvydasg.93 Arvydas Grušeckas

You are really ugly

Anonymous

That’s more or less what I go for day in, day out.
Anonymous

Is it bad that I actually LOL’d at this? :)

http://www.searingarrow.com AlienSix

Sad troll is sad

Anonymous

Actually, I’m very happy now. It’s the 9 minute mark. Thanks everyone! It was as glorious as I expected. And also as expected as I expected.
Tim Wallace

There is absolutely no BSOD in this video.

I’m Kick-Ass!

It happens right after the iPad runs a Flash video.

Anonymous

Oooo you Windows fans might want to reconsider that route with the news that IE on ARM tablets won’t have Flash (or *any* plug-ins for that matter).

But if you want to pay $1,500 for an x86 tablet just for Flash, be my guest.
Drybones5

Only when IE is in Metro UI mode.
Anonymous

Flash will still be available via the traditional UI genius. Furthermore Windows 8 offers actual productivity, unlike the iPad, which is in comparison an expensive trendy fashion accessory.
Abc

Didn’t know that windows also has a fan following … :-)
http://facebook.com/drew.eastman Drew Eastman

Oh u mean when the flash video plays on the METRO interface ? :-)

albundles

I can tell you the minutes that the ipad looked stale and boring… 8.
Anonymous

The cool thing about apple products is that they’re not subject to the physical realm that computers occupy. They’re different.

Seriously, GFY fanboy. Apple products give the spinning pinwheel of death, and instead of not responding apps that try to fix themselves your open apps just disappear
Sam

That’s hilarious. Love it.

Anonymous

Nice Try comparing a unfinished product to some thing that has been on the market for over a year.

Dan

Sorry, but has has Windows EVER been a finished product??

Anonymous

NO YOURE SO RIGHT ALL THOSE UPDATES HOW TERRIBLE.

Wait, apple does that too….hmm

Anonymous

And whose fault is that ;)

B-sides Microsoft has been making tablets since 2001. Excuses = lame.

Anonymous

Microsoft has been making Windows 8 tablets since 2001? Holy shit! Why weren’t we informed sooner? They were so ahead of their time that they actually decided to wait and release the product when the world was ready, but also lost the final code so they’re working from beta stuff.

Surreal, man. It’s Back to the Future.
Xavier Carryl

Not to fuel anymore of this, but Microsoft as been working on Windows 7(codename Blackcomb) for sometime before 2003.

albundles

IOS5 is beta also… the thing is that Windows 8 will power tablets the way they were meant, not just as an over sized zune, although, another company did pull that off…
Anonymous

Exactly! How is using the developers’ version considered to be an equivalent?
Anonymous

Ios5 is still in beta too.

Anonymous

I really hope the windows 8 tablets are nice, no Android tablet has drawn me in. I will never use an Apple product because of iTunes. < == True Story. BTW, I have a Thunderbolt, and own VZ and Apple stock, I'm inpartial.

cxczc

ur stupid!

Anonymous

So is your mother, and I just punched you in the face through the computer, pumpkin head bitch.

Anonymous

You won’t need iTunes with iOS 5 and iCloud.

Anonymous

And you won’t need IOS 5 and iCloud with a REAL computer/phone

Anonymous

You could just use file explorer and never use iTunes besides setup the device. With iOS 5 no need for iTunes. Next reason please?

Anonymous

How about how any dude who walks around with a Mac looks incredibly homosexual?
Anonymous

Really? Someone should of told all the companies releasing ultrabooks soon. E-Bigotry is awesome!
Brett Bazaar

Wow, homophobia..how 1998 of you…

Anonymous

Why not add the PlayBook into the mix for shits and giggles?

burleyshells

many giggles will be had

Anonymous

Forget the Amazon Kindle/tablet (what ever they’re calling it), this is the true competition for the iPad.

Anonymous

Its a whole different league. Ipad is for consuming, with win8 you can consume and produce

http://www.facebook.com/serio Austin Serio

Heres hoping for some open iBoot love with the final release (which includes ARM support)
Rudy

man that Windows tablet looks great! Always reluctant to change but this is a great upgrade over iOS if one is looking to the future. Looks like Tim Cook has his job cut out for him

Anonymous

It’s not a finished product with a release set for a year from now, by that time iOS 6, iPhone 6, iPad 3, iPod 6 gen., Apple TV and whatever else Apple has in store will be out. I think Tim will hold his own just fine.

Anonymous

It’s not like Windows 8 will stop evolving here. I even bet that Windows 8 will take a bigger jump from here, a dev preview to the final release to market, than Apple will evolve from iOS 5 to iOS 6.

mikeru22

no contest…iWin
Anonymous

Wow! Something from the future vs something that resembles windows 3.1 with all of those static do nothing icons. That’s the first impression. Will now commence to watching video. Update to follow…

Anonymous

Ok, video watched. Same impression. Especially given the fact that the comparison is between a fully baked iOS on version 5 and something entirely new and in Beta stage. Come Tim iOS needs a serious refreshing and your name is on it now. And oh yea, Steve, quit meddling. You go now…

PS It would have been interesting to see Icecream Sandwitch thrown in the mix, spaghetti western style. Damn, now I’m hungry. Loz…

Anonymous

iOS5. Is still beta. The GM has not even been released yet.
Anonymous

This isn’t even beta yet (its a dev preview, much different). Whereas iOS 5 beta 8 is pretty much what youre going to get. Win 8 has a plenty of growing room.

http://www.bloise.co.uk Frankie Bloise

I use an iphone but I prefer the win8 tablet to the ipad… the iPad is overpriced with 2 yrs old technology (slow res cam, no usb host cappabilities)…
I any Win8 tablet comes around the same price as the iPad, this will be the real competition.

For the fanboys and trolls: I use Windows 7 ultimate at home and I’ve never had an BSOD… you think this is so funny when in fact apple also suffer from screens of death and any iDevice (including my iphone once) suffered from the apple of death…

p.d
Still figuring out why my iphon shows 3.1GB used by “other” in iTunes… is not music, is not photos, is not books… then WTF is it? guess software problems are not only present in Windows, init?

Anonymous

The other most likely relates to contact info, calendar, saved SMS/MMS, Mail accounts, Bookmarks and stuff like that as that is what other is for mine. Every time you restore from a back up all that stuff comes back. Want the other gone? Restore and setup as new phone.
Zac Caslin

Get it fixed or replaced. Stop bitching about it.
Anonymous

Actually since the SOC is a custom Fab with a custom CPU, it is impossible for it to be older then when Apple released it. I recognize you ar another person that just shops on specs and can not even say why those specs would be useful.

Etc Etc…

I guess time heals all wounds with Microsoft and their products. I think waiting until this is actually production and comparing it to what is on the market from ALL vendors, not just Apple/Google should be interesting. If this is a year away, that’s kinda a lifetime in tech.
Anonymous

Any and everyone who uses this video to bash one side or the other is most likely a moron.
Adsf

this guy sounds so BORING!!!!
RG

Wonder what the blue screen of death will look like on this bad boy

Anonymous

There’s a pic out there. It’s an :( face and some message that said the computer had an error it couldny overcome. Search it.
Psychfly

blue

Bringit

Again, there is no tablet market. Only an iPad market.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ricardo-Dawkins/746307628 Ricardo Dawkins

Don’t worry. The PC market will swallow both in one whole bite.

Anonymous

It will be just like Tablet PC! Oh wait…
Zac Caslin

Just like their tablet did 10 years ago right. Smarten up.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Chau/618147054 Brian Chau

True, there is the iPad market. Then there is a PC (personal computer) market which in the Windows 8 world is a personal device that can come in all form factors, from little tablet all the way to the desktop tower.

Anonymous

It can come in all form factors, but as the iPad has proven, users want a distinction between their tablets and PCs. Remember Microsoft put a full desktop OS on a tablet before and it failed. They are now trying a hybrid (a full desktop OS and a tablet OS combined). That’s an interesting move that won’t fly if it’s not at least 10 times better than the iPad.
Anonymous

Something that failed 10 years ago won’t necessarily fail now. The Apple Newton (Apple’s version of a PDA) was a huge failure in the late 90s, but that didn’t stop them from making the iPad, which has clearly been a huge success. The technology and market wasn’t right for a tablet in the early 2000s. The iPad has shown that the market is ready for tablets, and Microsoft is trying to expand that experience to be an actual productivity device. And I don’t think “the iPad has proven [that] users want a distinction between their tablets and PCs.” There hasn’t been a true PC-like tablet yet (only the stylus-reliant version of Windows tablets in the early 2000s and the “not quite a PC” version of the iPad). If Windows 8 actually delivers on what it is promising and the iPad still wins, then you can say that “users want a distinction between their tablets and PCs.” I personally would love to have “one device that rules them all” so that I could use a tablet as both the media-consumption/gaming/on-the-go device of the iPad AND an actual PC/laptop substitute while I’m out and about (particularly while commuting on the bus and travelling). I would definitely pay a premium over the iPad’s already inflated price for that.
Anonymous

The world IS ready for an iPad, but I’m not sure if it’s accurate to say, “The world is ready for a tablet.” Apple got it right and time will tell if Microsoft’s approach will expand on the idea. I have my doubts. The iPad has defined the “tablet” experience which would be burdened down by the requirements of a full blown OS, like Windows 8 (WP8). The addition of a fan, REALLY? It just adds too much complication and inconsistency to the clean, uncluttered, easy-to-use iPad experience. Microsoft confirmed the ARM version of WP8 won’t run the desktop version’s apps. I’m sure other inconsistencies will crop up in the coming year. I like the new metro UI, but I just don’t think Microsoft can pull this off. If any company is to do this successfully, it would be Apple. But we’ll see of I’m right next year.

Anonymous

That’s why this not-even-beta OS optimized for tablets was downloaded more than half a million times in one night…

In one year you’ll be nomming on those words.

http://twitter.com/Woodstock98ftw Todd Schmidt

Aww, iSh*t users are getting jealous and insecure by the moment..
Steve Jobs: iQuit

Anonymous

Jealous of what?

Anonymous

Android tablets are the ones in danger here, not iPads. Surprised they left out the one major benefit of the W8 tablet — that desktop icon that takes you into ‘regular’ Windows.

Anonymous

Have you even used it yet? It actually makes a lot of sense. Some of us want a tablet to be a REAL computer, not just a YouTube screen

Anonymous

Yes I have, you might want to re-read through things prior to replying. Always use your eyes when reading, they’re such a valuable tool ;) Thanks though for stopping by :)

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ricardo-Dawkins/746307628 Ricardo Dawkins

Open iTunes on the Windows 8 device and enslave the toy because this PC is its master.

Better yet….download a Flash based Youtube video and transcode it using a media encoder so they toy can enjoy some fun. :-D
umaluver

That’s amazing! I’ve got the same combination on my luggage!

Anonymous

I just watched that three days ago before going to work, love Mel Brooks.

http://twitter.com/djbressler David Bressler

Login PIN is the same? Nope. Takes two extra clicks just to login.
http://www.TheGuruReview.net TGR

Say what you want, I think Window 8 ona tablet will be a killer. First a 4 number password is not secure per todays standard and I am glad MS give you an option to change and use the standard login feature. Second, you gotta give MS credit for putting Windows 8 out for the public to review. Apple would never do that. It also give MS plenty of free publicity. However, this is nothing new for MS as they always do this. Nice that they compared that to IOS 5 and to me it did well even in beta. Be advised Apple will admit it but MS is the one who they know is a true competitor.

That said, I own an iPad 2 and being objective.

Anonymous

“gotta give MS credit for putting Windows 8 out for the public to review. Apple would never do that. It also give MS plenty of free publicity.”
Very true. Microsoft was the source of the word “vaporware” back in 1982. Some things never change.

Anonymous

One has been available for purchase and one will be available………….at some point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6HpRLyzMY Walter Sobchak

Why did you have to come back?
Things were so peaceful, and everyone was getting along great without you.
Go away!
Anonymous

I did not Windows 8 was available for purchase. I assume you meant Windows 8 because I know for sure that iOS 5 devices will only be available … at some point.

http://JonaSyon.com Jona Sy

After seeing Windows 8 on a tablet, I am no longer interested in an Android or IOS tablet.
Ryan

Good video, nice little comparison but honestly I didn’t really see tons of differences between the two OS. The guy even kept saying “very similar” when comparing different features. Yeah lock screen is diff, tiles/icons somewhat diff, and the internet browsing but it’s not enough to make me switch to a Windows tablet. If I have to drop $500 on a tablet and the features are close, I’m going with the iPad simply because their App store is lightyears ahead of Windows in both quality and quantity.

Maybe it’s just me but when I’m spending that kind of money I want to get the most use of it which the Apple App store provides. But perhaps in a few years Windows will catch up in that aspect.

Os

you do realize Windows will have this thing called “Office” in its corner?

Zac Caslin

Really?
Anonymous

I read it on the internet, it must be true.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Sylvester-SLy-Agyen/1183030561 Sylvester SLy Agyen

You do realize that windows 8 is an actual desktop operating system, which means a full blown computer, while as IOS is a mobile phone OS right? And you do realize an actual computer has/offers more functionality than a mobile OS right? So tell me which one has to play catch up. I mean i never liked Windows but windows 8 offers everything windows 7 does and more. Comparing a mobile OS to an OS that will run on a desktop. Wait and compare when the final version of Win 8 is out and compare it to whatever version of IOS out then.

Apple’s iPad 2 and new Windows 8 tablet face off in 11-minute video

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