Patently Apple covered Microsoft Introducing Surface Studio to Challenge iMac last October. The report pointed to Patently Mobile's original patent report that covered Microsoft's future desktop 8 months before it actually launched. Below are a few key patent figures that we presented in the February 2016 report. Yesterday the U.S. Patent Office granted Microsoft a design patent for their hot new desktop design.

Unlike "patent applications," design patents published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office don't reveal pertinent information about a particular design. We can look at the design and appreciate it for what it projects, but that's about it. For those who want to know more about the specs of this desktop could do so by checking out the iFixit review.  

Design Patent: Microsoft Surface Studio Desktop

Last year when Microsoft introduced their new Surface Studio desktop, the media fell over themselves to praise Microsoft's design prowess, with the MIT Review actually stating that Microsoft is looking like the new Apple."

A year later and Microsoft has killed off Kinect, their fitness band and even the Windows Phone that they were trying to get some traction on. Their Surface tablet which has been on the market for years has failed to get on the top five tablet vendors list and their hyped hybrid 2-in-1's with Qualcomm inside failed to materialize.

If the Surface team lead by Panos Panay was actually serious about their Surface Studio desktop, they'd introduce a version of it without a touch screen to bring the price down to earth so consumers could at least consider it as a desktop. It is a really nice design. Every time I go to the Mall I check out both the Apple and Microsoft stores. Microsoft's Surface Studio stands out of the pack as a great looking modern desktop, but the price tag is just over the top.

As to the MIT article stating that Microsoft is looking like the new Apple, well, they stuck their necks out and they now look awfully stupid pumping Microsoft up that is self-imploding on the hardware front.

The Surface Studio gave Apple's iMac no competition whatsoever just like their tablets and notebook, the Surface Book. Microsoft tries to go head-to-head with Apple on pricing their hardware high, but unlike Apple fans, Microsoft fans, for the most part, just laugh at the prices and buy anything but Microsoft.

Microsoft should get competitive or get out of the hardware market. Their dream of mounting a comeback and killing Apple at their own game in hardware is a complete and utter failure. You almost hope that Google will show mercy and buy them out just to put them out of their misery.

At the end of the day, Microsoft's Surface Studio won a design patent yesterday, and that's about all they've won since launching their slick desktop.