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Microsoft Surface Review: a Tale of Two Tablets

Posted by Soulskill on from the it-was-the-age-of-wisdom-it-was-the-age-of-foolishness dept.

zacharye points out an early review of the Microsoft Surface tablet. Here are some relevant snippets: "When you get over the shocking realization that, yes, Windows is now different, you begin to realize that the new home screen makes a lot of sense. ... Despite the Surface’s quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset and 2GB of RAM, Windows RT is not always as smooth as I would like. Apps sometimes take a few extra beats to open, and in some cases opening an application on the Surface is much more like launching an app on an old Windows PC than on a modern tablet. ... The good news, though, is that Windows RT was built for multitasking. Commonly used apps can and should be left open, and switching between apps is as easy as swiping in from the left side with a finger or touching a mouse cursor to the top- or bottom-left corner of the display. Open apps come back to life instantly, and the animations that transition the user from one app to another are quick and smooth. ... While Windows 8 is the version of Microsoft’s new OS that has split personality disorder, the Windows RT-powered Surface truly is a tale of two tablets. On one hand, it is an engineering feat with a design that is novel and functional. It really is the perfect combination of a tablet and a notebook thanks to the Touch Cover and the Type Cover, and I felt right at home with the Surface the moment I turned it on. On the other hand, the software experience does not feel like home. It’s new, and for many it will be scary." Additional reviews are available elsewhere, take your pick: AnandTech, Wired, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, The Verge.

7 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Gotta admit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Agreed. But MS needs to reduce the price or throw in MS Office if they want to get any market share......

    Windows RT comes with MS office. It is already included.

  2. The Ars Technica review is a joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    They rant on two pages about the cover, and dedicate TWO paragraphs to the Surface software. Absolutely ridiculous.

    1. Re:The Ars Technica review is a joke by obarthelemy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Hardware reviews (hint: read the title) generally are about the... you know.... hardware ?

      --
      The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
  3. Re:Gotta admit by tuppe666 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Windows RT comes with MS office. It is already included.

    No it comes with a crippled Office experience. http://blogs.office.com/b/office-news/archive/2012/10/23/office-for-windows-rt.aspx "Student 2013 RT provides a complete Office experience and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote."

  4. Re:Gotta admit by obarthelemy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why do you say that ? The Surface has an SD slot, a USB port, you can drag and drop content ï½to it.... Apps are indeed locked down though.

    --
    The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
  5. Re:Not impressed by obarthelemy · · Score: 5, Informative

    What you want is the Surface Pro then, or any of the x86 Win8 tablets coming from Asus, Acer, HP, Dell... These are compatible with legacy Windows apps and most peripherals.

    Only the ARM-based Win8RT tablets are, for obvious reasons, incompatible with legacy x86 apps.

    --
    The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
  6. Re:Gotta admit by crazyjj · · Score: 3, Informative

    Also you cannot use it in a business

    They're going for the young consumer market, which has been not clamoring for a Windows tablet for years.

    --
    What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?