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Microsoft Surface Review: a Tale of Two Tablets
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.
While I can't stand the look of Metro, the Hardware itself is simply beautiful.
Which really bogus me is why, for MS, a "functional" interface should be ugly? Purple background, no transparency/rounded_borders/shadows/effects. And other competitors, like iOS and Android 4, are very pretty, with a lot of eye candies, while not heavy.
From the review at The Verge:
"On the plus side, my general takeaway is that the Surface is a highly capable and highly enjoyable device to use most of the time, and is likely in need of some bug fixing and optimization. However, that seems like it should have been done prior to the release of the product to the public. "
This seems like an unrealistic expectation once you remember that it is, after all, Microsoft.
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain
Never mind discussing the underlying technology. Will someone please explain to me why the reviewer says that this interface will be "scary" for some?
Hey, the new phone system we have at work is a really new and confusing, but I've never heard anyone exclaim "Holy baby Jesus! This is scary!"
If you find someone with a Surface in their hand and they turn to you and say "Help me. I'm really scared." just place your hand gently on their shoulder and slowly take the Surface from their hands and then violently smash that shit on the sidewalk. Then look them straight in the eye and say "I love you. Now go read a goddam book."
They rant on two pages about the cover, and dedicate TWO paragraphs to the Surface software. Absolutely ridiculous.
Microsoft don't bother too much in losing this round with windows 8 in the tablets market, they know that is an uphill battle. They are betting in the windows 9. They have 90% of desktop market? If they make a huge mistake with the windows 8 on desktop, they will get 80% of desktop market? So on the next software cycle, they have a lot a people already using windows 8 GUI, because they don't have really any other choices, and will be a more easy sell the next tablet with Windows 9, because they will share the same interface with the "previous windows 8" GUI. Right now they dont have the APPs, dont have the developers, but with the windows 8, this will change, people will develop software for windows 8 interface, and will be ready to develop or port the software to new Windows 9.
Get Ice Cream or JB running on this POS and we have a deal.
I imagine that if you were attempting to balance this thing on your knees, e.g. in bed, or in an airport lounge that this keyboard and stand would be a huge pain in the ass. I doubt it would work so great in lecture halls on those thin tables between seats or airline clip trays either for that matter.
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.
What is such a pity about this is that it really doesn't matter how good this is, how bad the iPad is, how boring the Android is, or any combination of those 3 features and platforms. Apple will either continue to convince the world that the Emperor is fully dressed, Android will convince the world that cheap is good or MS will convince the world that, well, they shouldn't change horses mid-stream.
The three platforms all work just fine. I happen to think and hope that the Surface Pro will show the world that both bulky laptops and tablets in general are technology of the past, but for the majority of consumers the difference is moot. The real challenge here is ridding the world of java applets and flash videos and getting moved on to decent, compliant, reliable web standards... Then who cares what the medium is...?
What is such a pity about this is that it really doesn't matter how good this is, how bad the iPad is, how boring the Android is
There is nothing there that is true!
Whenever you hear the new Microsoft Surface mentioned, say, "Oh, is that the one that's Linux-based?"
Well, at least when you say that with Apple's stuff, there is at least a kernel of truth to it.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
The Ars Technica review mention this several times, if you plan to use Office in a commercial setting, you need an extra license key.
So it comes with Office, as long as you don't use it for real.
Cripple ware.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Microsoft must be delighted, the good old days where you could get sued for trying to bundle a browser with your OS (at least in Europe) are long gone. Now, you not only include a free browser, you can include a paid office suite with the price part of the price of the device with no option to opt out. You can rig the OS to make sure that your own applications have access to exclusive APIs and functionality that third party developers will not be able to access ensuring that your apps will always be the best. All apps have to be installed and downloaded from your own app store, and you take a huge cut every single time, even for in app purchases in the future. You can ban third party developers from offering apps offering the same functionality as your own apps. Your own app store is the only one people can get apps from, they can't install or use other app stores. And you can get away with all this because Apple does it already and gets away with it just fine, and they have a monopoly and not you.
The wonderful new era of computing.
It has a magnetic charger connection. It has a powerful magnet... BUT when it pulls the connector out of your fingers, it doesn't align properly and doesn't work. it has to be fiddled with. Like a worn out old fashioned round charger. It is ALMOST but NOT quite the apple charger experience. Almost but not quite.
It comes with MS Office... except if you like to actually use it, then you need to buy a seperate license. The ONE thing MS can use as a sales argument is that their stuff comes with full MS support and then they don't deliver unless you pay through the nose on an already expensive device. MS has in the past given Office for free to entire governments to keep customers, yet on their own device, they charge you for a non-cripple ware version.
The touchpad on the the covers is there, possibly because you sometimes don't want to touch the screen but it is hopelessly primitive version, barely more then a trackpad.
Resolution is what top end devices came with, last yet. Full HD is what new devices come with now. And people know it.
Windows RT is compatible with nothing, not even most MS software. Don't think of running Windows Games on your Windows tablet. Another potential massive selling point, not realized.
You have to remember that the previous MS phones, Zunes and Kins weren't that bad either, they just were one step behind the competition and failed to make use of being part of MS to sell people who already use Windows. The simple fact is that Apple sold countless devices despite not being Windows. And MS didn't sell any because they ultimately also weren't Windows.
Only MS would launch a tablet with such a heavy focus on text input with a cripple ware office suite while trying to court the serious tablet user. Just give it away for free already. Geez. Live a little.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
And it isn't even Office, they say it will come with a preview. That when you get your Surface it will install a working version, and there will be an upgrade next January that will give you a full office experience, minus macros, VBA and other stuff they haven't specified yet.
It's very much a 'buy it and trust us'.
I dread to think what they'll actually end up shipping, they talk a lot about 'Bandwidth data warning' as if it's the Office 365 the online version of Office talking to the server all the time. Heaven forbid, but until they release it properly and its get reviewed who knows!
"legacy" x86 apps? What?
When you're referring to the entirety of the -current- Windows software ecosystem, except for a few corner cases that have been ported, "legacy" hardly seems the proper label.
One point it brings up, which I mentioned before on slashdot is how ridiculous the 16:9 ratio is and how tall it makes the surface, which is quite impractical as a tablet in both landscape and portraits mode.
What is widely interesting about this comment, is my Phone;Tablet;TV; Monitor are all 16:9 and regardless of whether I use them in portrait or landscape [or both]. Its a better ratio than my legacy 4:3 technology they replaced...my last Phone; Tablet; TV; Monitor. In fact modern media is designed for that aspect ratio. ...oh you have an iPad...sorry.
People fail to understand the point of the Surface products, wondering why Microsoft is doing things the way they are. There are two Surface computers with a similar form factor and name, however they are aimed at different markets and are meant to do very different things for Microsoft.
The RT model is the cheaper consumer based model and it is meant to establish Microsoft as a tablet player in consumers minds.
Microsoft is hedging their bets with ARM. A lot of people don't realize that Microsoft has historically almost always supported at least two different processor architectures. Right now they are wholly dependent on Intel, and Intel is no longer reliable as they once were to do things the Microsoft way. By establishing the RT model first and selling millions of them they hope to create a market for windows apps for the ARM architecture (which does much better for power consumption).
The cheaper (but not as cheap as expected) RT model is meant as a baseline that other vendors can beat to sell their own windows based tablets at a cheaper price. Microsoft viewed that other vendors weren't stepping up to the plate and exploiting the potential of Windows based tablets. Tablet based hardware with a Microsoft OS has been around for about a decade longer than the Ipad and most people are oblivious.
Microsoft wants a Windows tablet 'ecosystem' since mobile is seen as the way of the future. This is why the tablet interface is the default interface and you can't bypass it. Microsoft wants to force everyone to start thinking of Windows as being viable for mobile computing. They are sacrificing an entire enterprise upgrade just to make this point.
The more expensive x86 model is aimed at production work for the Enterprise. This model can run legacy software and join domains, both of which are required for selling tablets to the enterprise. For all intents and purposes this is the 'Professional' model.
MS tried for a decade to get people to buy their "Tablets" - and failed.
What they can't understand, which Apple and Google have, is that tablets are for (interactive) content consumption not content creation. There is a big difference. People don't want to sit and write word documents on these things. Now, you may use your tablet to tweak a word doc, but then, still, it is used to consume data.
This is true even in enterprise and why tablets are picking up there. Not everyone is creating content. Those on the go are consuming, not creating. If they are creating, it isn't building big powerpoints, it is inputting specific data related to their task.
You should give them more realistic names. Like Steve and Steven.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Hah, and in the very next Slashdot article, MSFT getting fined up to $7B by Europe!
http://slashdot.org/story/12/10/24/135243/ec-sends-statement-of-objections-to-microsoft-for-violating-anti-trust-agreement
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
In one important way, it really is. Back in the 1990s when Microsoft was such a problem, it was very hard to get away from them. You could be a not-self-defeating moron, working to try to keep bad things from happening to you, and still end up "needing" Windows.
But you just listed a bunch of damn good reasons for why no user should ever buy one of these, and the best part about it all, is that no user ever needs to. Just walk away. And when you walk away, all the problems vanish, for real.
Try that in 1998.
This is fallout from the previous settlement, Windows RT is not going to come with a browser choice screen in Europe and all non IE browsers will be crippled.
The current anti trust bogeyman seems to be Google which is ridiculous. How hard is it to switch your search engine vs switching your OS and all your data services? How hard is it for a player who makes a new search engine to convince people to try it out, compared to getting someone to try a different OS or office suite?
Google advertise their own services on Google search. That may be an issue, but I fail to see how it is more of an issue than others forcing you to buy and pay for unrelated services and software as a bundle deal like Windows RT + Microsoft Office. Windows RT doesn't tell you 'Hey Microsoft also has an office suite that you could try out, here's where you can get it'. You are forced to buy it.
They're not prisoners, they're free to jump out a window any time they wish.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Well, at least when you say that with Apple's stuff, there is at least a kernel of truth to it.
Kernel. You did that on purpose.
I can mend the break of day, heal a broken heart, and provide temporary relief to nymphomaniacs.
I'm not sure why this keeps coming up in reviews/previews that Metro is new, so its scary and once people get over that its not too bad. I've played around several RCs and the RTM version and Metro isn't scary because its new, its scary because its is a tablet UI copy/pasted onto a keyboard and mouse driven platform. Windows 8 is half baked and Metro is not properly integrated into a Windows environment. Its not scary, its a PITA to use.
You can insert a USB drive or SD card with videos/picture/music loaded on it, go into the appropriate app, and open them right from there. No need to go into desktop mode. Not sure why this reviewer is making it more complicated than it needs to be. You can alternatively open the drive in explorer and open whatever you like right there.
This one really surprised me -- Office RT won't permit any macros or plugins. There are some other limitations (like not being able to email directly from the apps), but this seems like the show-stopper. No InfoPath forms, no plugins, no macros?
This is the kind of "feature" that will start emerging as real business users get their hands on it and start to try to use it.
Less generally punitive, but no doubt important to some, will be that Project and Visio aren't available.
Fire up those RDP servers, they're not goin' anywhere after all!
"Ahh! I see you're in that indeterminate Schrodinger state where - oh, uh
given that the license folks make National Socialist Troops look like MayBerry troops yes.
There are stories where Original Certificates Of Authenticity were not considered "valid" proof of being legit
they tend to want to see actual receipts with serial numbers for each and every program loaded on each and every computer you have.
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
I have an Android phone and an Android tablet, both of which I like a lot, but with the tablet's 10" screen I do now find myself wanting a more power user desktop environment to use on it. I could make a list of features that I would like to see but I'd just end up describing a typical Linux distro with a decent desktop environment with some modifications tailored towards touch.
So what is the status of projects working towards this goal? I know KDE is working on Plasma Active and Canonical is obviously working towards making Unity as touch friendly as possible, so how far off are we from seeing tablet devices running a GNU/Linux distro with one of these desktop environments? Most GUI apps will require some work to be made touch friendly but that's never going to happen until a stable OS is readily available for them to run on.
Give me a proper taskbar, support for running KDE / QT / GTK / X applications, scripting and all the CLI stuff we take for granted on Linux along with a decent collection of apt-get style software repositories and I think I'd fall back in love with my tablet.
And before anyone replies with 'get a laptop!', I'm quite happy with my laptop thank you, but I also like the tablet form factor for many reasons and I'd just like to see some options for more 'traditional' computing brought to these devices.
Just sell the thing then. Seriously. There's some good beer money locked up in that tablet that's "not quite right" for you. All tablets are "not quite right" so just use the damn laptop :)
From the Ars Technica review,
Is this true on all the surfaces that the "magsafe" port doesn't engage properly, or perhaps just Ars' one isn't that great? After all, it seems that a power port where it can appear fully attached but still not connected would be a somewhat annoying problem.
It can't be Apple patented a method to use magnets and end up with a reliable power connection every time without jiggling the cable. (You'd think there would be huge reports for people having to wiggle their MagSafe/Magsafe2 power cables to get their Macs to charge already).
Don't get me wrong, I like the Android tablet and use it for a couple of hours a day on average. But it just seems to me that Linux distros have been very slow to get on the tablet scene. Until I can get Ubuntu / Fedora / SuSE on my tablet, I'll certainly settle for Android.
"Of note, Microsoft uses the word "perfect" quite often when discussing its new tablet and it's more than just marketing. During my trip to Redmond it was obvious from the start that Microsoft is incredibly proud of the Surface, and of the team that built it. "Great people make amazing products," Sinofsky told reporters during a presentation. 'Amazing products don't make great people.""
Wave your magic wand, tech boy - and make the statements of an MS VP "more than just marketing".
My diarrhea just kicked in.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Whenever you hear the new Microsoft Surface mentioned, say, "Oh, is that the one that's Linux-based?"
Well, at least when you say that with Apple's stuff, there is at least a kernel of truth to it.
Yeah, no. Linux is a kernel. OS X and iOS both have a XNU hybrid kernel which is a cross between the Mach microkernel and BSD. I does not have any Linux kernel code in it.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
You can insert a USB drive or SD card with videos/picture/music loaded on it, go into the appropriate app, and open them right from there. No need to go into desktop mode. Not sure why this reviewer is making it more complicated than it needs to be. You can alternatively open the drive in explorer and open whatever you like right there.
I think that's a reference to Explorer only running in Desktop mode. Also, he was using a preview version, so this particular issue may be dealt with.
He effected a bored affect.
Microsoft just can't understand what it's like to be on the opposite side of the marketshare. iOS already is the "Windows of Tablets". People put up with the limitations of iOS because the app selection is outstanding. Android is for the most part open, the hardware costs around half as much (as an iPad) and the selection of apps is decent (but not perfect). Yet, Android still isn't really a serious threat to Apple's tablet business.
The thing is, there's really not many things about the iPad that would send a potential buyer running towards a competitor. If you wanted something less locked down, you'd go Android. If you wanted to spend less, you'd get the iPad Mini, or go Android. If you absolutely hate Apple/iOS, but still have >$500 burning a hole in your pocket, well, maybe you could be a Microsoft surface customer.
Microsoft surface will fit in exactly the same place that Blackberry tablet did: the fire sale bin. Unless you're an absolute Microsoft fanboy or for some reason love their Metro interface, there's simply no reason to buy a tablet that costs as much as an iPad, is just as locked down and has a tiny fraction of the apps. Microsoft might've had a winner on their hands if they could jump in the DeLorean and beat the iPad to market with surface, but today they're like the kid who turns in a pretty decent paper but it's a week late.
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
LOL, reliable web standards. Maybe in 2015 or something like that. Meanwhile I have the impression we're replacing java and flash applets with windows RT, google store and apple store applets.
Would that be Word Perfect?
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
This is Microsoft, from the land of WAIT FOR SP1.
Something as simple as loading a video requires a jumbled process of USB importing, dipping in and out of the stripped-down desktop mode, opening a Video app, importing, going back into the Video app, and then playing. What.
You just launch the Video app, right click (or swipe from the bottom on a touch screen) to bring up the toolbar, and there's the "Open" button on it which will give you a file picker that can navigate directly to any device. There's no need to import anything - you don't even need to copy it from the USB stick, you can just play it directly from there.
Explorer only runs in Desktop mode if you want to copy files, yes. But Metro apps have their own (Metro) file picker for "Open file" command, and Video app has such a command prominently displayed on its swipe-up toolbar.
Read the reviews more carefully, it is all just one step below "this is great" so it ends up as one long list of "meh" and that is NOT something you can do when you are dead last and people remember all your previous failures in the mobile market.
MS could have amazed, they didn't. Apple can afford a S update that doesn't really add much, they are the top dog. When you are at the bottom, you got to try harder.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.