I can feel the excitement in the air: Microsoft Surface will be here soon!

I can feel the excitement in the air!

I have to say that I am very, very happy of the latest announcement from Microsoft.  Today, my eye caught an interesting header “Microsoft to PC and tablet makers: You’re not our future” and you might know what I am referring to with this.

I heard rumors of something big announcement last week during my trip to San Francisco and we were speculating what it could be even if the blogosphere was convinced that Microsoft might be working on its own tablet. Last night, when driving from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Dallas with my family, I listened to CNBC on my satellite radio and heard the news that Microsoft really will be coming out with two new tablets: Surface for Windows RT and Surface for 8 Pro and this will be a game changer for Microsoft. An article posting  “Microsoft. Kicks. Ass” in Venturebeat from John Koetsier summarizes beautifully the entire announcement and what it can bring to the market. I think you should read it to get the full picture of what he thinks.  You can also find more information about this from Microsoft’s own site.

Let me explain why and how I see this whole situation in respect to other hardware manufacturers and also software development community.

First of all, I truly believe that the market is moving more towards a complete hardware-software era where subpar PCs, tables and notebooks just won’t fly. Apple has demonstrated this many times and so has Microsoft with the highly successful Xbox gaming platform. Microsoft just can’t afford relying on its hardware partners to create hardware that would be completely in sync with the operating system. They just don’t have the skills and the means to do it. It does not mean that they will not continue doing it, but I am convinced that the competition just took a new altitude by Microsoft coming to market with its own. I can’t see any other alternative strategy that Microsoft could have taken when considering the strong move towards tablets.

I was so much looking forward to a Windows slate from Hewlett-Packard two years ago and go very disappointed when that never came and the project was killed. I am sure that was a big hit for Microsoft as well. I truly believe that Microsoft has given ample chances for any hardware manufacturers to build hardware that can compete with Apple iPad. So far, I have not seen one on the market. Google is taking the same route as Microsoft and Apple; they all will have their own hardware platform (with OS) so that really demonstrates that the software/hardware market has changed for good and developers and the ecosystems just has to cope with it.

Secondly, I also believe that the development community will have a tremendous opportunity to combine the upcoming Windows 8 app development with Windows Azure and provide value added solutions that are completely integrated and integrated in the cloud which not many other players can argue to be doing.  This is what is very different to other players: Microsoft has the enterprise and with these new tablets, IT can continue providing devices that are integrated with the backend infrastructure.

Finally, the new tablets from Microsoft are not just for data and media consumption, they are for doing real work. With the embedded keyboard, USB connectivity, HDMI etc. you can really have a strong device with you whether you are doing things for fun or working. That is the big difference!

What makes me also excited is that Microsoft has given us a reason to innovate and start looking at Windows apps that will benefit from the upcoming Windows RT device.  I have been in software development my entire career and love the fact that there is a reason for new excitement. I told my wife that I can see myself standing in a long line to get one of these devices. I hope that Microsoft will highlight and bring some of this information to the upcoming Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2012 in Toronto (July 8-12).