blog Although Apple continues to dominate Australia’s tablet market, with Android (particularly Samsung) starting to breathe down its neck a little, Windows 8 tablet rollouts in corporations are still rare enough that they’re noteworthy. From the sidelines of Microsoft’s TechEd conference on the Gold Coast this week, Computerworld reports that oil and gas giant Santos has confirmed plans to deploy Windows 8 tablets throughout its business. The publication reports (we recommend you click here for the full article):
The Adelaide-based oil and gas company plans to bring 300 Windows 8 devices into the business this year, Santos team leader of desktops, Chris Cordillo, said at the Microsoft TechEd conference on the Gold Coast. Then, in a refresh next year of 1,000 devices, Santos will give employees the choice of a Windows 8 tablet or a Windows 7 laptop, he said.
The choice of Windows 8 tablet or Windows 7 laptop is an interesting one, because it implies that the tablets can operate as a replacement device for laptops in the enterprise. I’m not completely sure that I agree with that premise; most desk-bound workers would be better served by dedicated, full-powered laptops than the compromise Windows 8 form factor in tablets, in my opinion. However, it’s also true that it is indeed possible to use a Windows 8 tablet as your main desktop on a sustainable basis, as local Microsoft Office 365 MVP Loryan Strant showed during his recent experiment. It would be interesting to see what mix Santos’ employees go for.
Image credit: Microsoft