| Windows 8.1 is in the throes of an identity crisis. The operating system meant to usher in the future of computing found itself mired in the present, installed on laptops and desktops where its hyper-connected, touch-friendly interface didn’t fit quite so well. Microsoft has steadily added back features it once removed, tweaking the operating system to satisfy the users not yet living in the Post-PC era we all figured would be here by now. |
| To one thing Microsoft has held firm, though: Windows 8 is an operating system for every device, every need, every person. It made the Surface to prove its point, and other hardware manufacturers have followed suit nearly every Windows partner sells a device that takes the place of at least two others. Take the new Lenovo ThinkPad 8, a $399 slate that competes simultaneously with tablets (high-res screen, lots of media-friendly features) and laptops (a full version of Windows 8.1, lots of productivity-centric software). It’s the hardware expression of the Windows 8 ethos: everything to everyone. | | Lenovo has made good Windows 8 devices more consistently than any other manufacturer, primarily with a lineup of laptops that offer extra-versatile hardware. This time it’s swung the other way, building an agile brain into a fairly standard tablet body. One of those options is the future, Microsoft says. But I’m starting to wonder. |
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