The Register®

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/30/surface_feedback_program/

Microsoft braces for Surface RT feedback storm

Ballmer: 'People get it'... Windows 8. Apparently

By Gavin Clarke

Posted in Windows 8, 30th November 2012 10:04 GMT

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Kludgey, dull screen [1], audio problems [2], fraying cloth covers – whatever your beef with Microsoft’s Surface, now’s your chance to get if off your chest.

Microsoft has launched a Surface Owner Feedback Program for new owners of the Redmond fondleslab. You’ll be asked to take part in a survey on your experiences with Surface.

Happy/unhappy owners are being offered the incentive of a being entered into a draw for $200 of Surface accessories for entering their details here [3].

The web page doesn’t say it, but it refers to the ARM-based Surface RT edition of Microsoft’s hardware – Intel Surfaces don’t launch until early next year.

The feedback programme comes as chief executive Steve Ballmer reckoned the vote was already in on Windows 8 as a whole.

Ballmer reportedly told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting Wednesday: “Based on customer feedback, we know for sure people get it and like it.”

He went on to claim “We really are in a time of unprecedented opportunity.”

Considering the company’s coming late to market on tablets and smartphones, not all shareholders were buying into Ballmer’s legendary enthusiasm. You can read more here [4].

News of the feedback programme, reported [5] by Mary-Jo Foley, comes a month after Surface RT was released and against the backdrop of a slowly mounting pile of criticisms about the machine and its accessories.

Among those venturing a negative opinion so far have been Hewlett-Packard’s chief of personal systems Todd Bradley, who called Surface RT “slow and kludgey [6]”, expensive and something “the press has made a bigger deal out of... than the world has chosen to believe.” Reg regular Tim Anderson, here [7], noted Surface RT's "tolerable but rather slow" performance.

Ballmer is reported [8] to have called initial sales of Surface RT “modest”, a report Microsoft felt so strongly about it felt moved to respond by putting out a statement putting its own spin on what it claims was said.

However, an NPD survey [9] of PCs sales over the four-week period covering the Windows 8 release found sales of Windows 8 tablets – potentially meaning Surface and slabs from PC makers - have been “almost non-existent” - less than 1 per cent of all Windows 8 devices sold.

NPD also reported that sales of PCs had fallen in spite of the Windows 8 launch. A survey conducted over the four-week period from 21 October – before Microsoft’s Windows 8 launch event – until 17 November found Windows device sales fell by 21 per cent compared to the same period last year. Windows 8 is selling less than Windows 7, accounting for just 58 per cent of Windows computing device unit sales, versus 83 per cent Windows 7 in the four weeks after that launch.

The chief financial officer of Microsoft’s Windows group, Tami Reller, had earlier claimed [10] that Microsoft had sold 40 million Windows 8 licences since the October launch; she did not clarify the figure, though, and it’s not clear whether this number includes PCs sold to end users or simply licences to OEMs which are making Windows 8 PCs.®