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Introducing Surface Laptop

blogs.windows.com

361–370 of 613 posts

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the only downside. Machine looks great but that fabric material in the keyboard looks like it will be easily stained with sweat (a common problem with surface pro keyboards). No USB-C seems like a big missed opportunity as well.

Yeah, if this laptop were cheaper I could forgive that. But it is 2017, this laptop starts at $1k and quickly rises but only has USB3 and mini display port. Change the mDP to Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C and i'd be sold. Or drop the proprietary charger and stick another USB-C port on that side and use it for charging.

The proprietary charger is magnetic and makes me less concerned about someone tripping over it. Plugging it in and unplugging it is also much easier imo. This is one of the few occasions where I hope they stick with their proprietary charger, similar to Apple with magsafe.

Edit: ninja

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#362
post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This look fairly expensive for the config isn't it?

I agree, i was expecting this to be priced around the same price as the chromebooks or netbooks (~$200 USD) and i was sticker shocked at $999

$999 would be fine if it had Windows 10 Pro onboard. Then you're talking about a full Macbook Air competitor.

But once you notice Windows 10 S, then the price is unusual. I bet the hardware team is disappointed by that decision for this machine. It doesn't make sense.

And free updates until 2018 doesn't help tbh.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#363
post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know that there are special accounts, I assumed they are reusing their own. If it is like a corporate accounts in other places then yes, no need to worry about blocking the account.

They don't use their personal accounts. Accounts are managed for students in much the same way as the would be for a business hosted with Google Apps - https://edu.google.com/

Unless they buy a Chromebook at home.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how easily win32 apps can be ported to the store, might be worth the trouble.

Note that Google Chrome was previously available with a "Metro app version" during Win 8 but they retired it.

Mozilla was working on a Metro version of Firefox, too, but canned it due to lack of interest: https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2014/03/14/metro/

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#365
post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How aggravating. This is why I left Windows. No marginal cost to them, the functionality is inside but turned off . I really have a hard time with that idea. It seems...well...just plain mean.

The cost is all the users who find the "magical guide to speed up your computer" online that involves registry hacks and such, and end up breaking it instead (and blaming Windows for it). It seems like the intent is to end up in a similar place to iOS, with the entire system "curated" end to end. Which is not a bad place to be for many (most?) users. The problem with iOS model is that there's no way to escape it for…

Even their main windows OS has/had virtualization disabled IIRC without getting their business pro or whatever edition (it's been more than a few years). It was simply a matter of trying to get you to pay more for cool stuff.

Well, I didn't.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#366

Call me when it runs Ubuntu.

Last call for passenger RikNieu! x86/x64 Inyel CPUs can run Ubuntu.

Also, after you upgrade it to Windows Pro free until end of 2017, $50 afterwards) you can run Ubuntu in a VM, or natively using the miracle that is WSL.

So 3 ways this can run Ubuntu, each with it's own cost/benefit balance.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#367
post #354

Do any of you have children at a school using Google Chromebooks and Google Drive? Calling Windows S a Chromebook competitor completely misses the point. Chromebooks are instant on, and your profile/data is 100% cloud based. You can grab any Chromebook from the rack in the back of the classroom, open it up, log in and immediately get to work on your report or whatever. I got an original Chromebook from Google I/O yea…

Is Google drive still free for only three years? Are you past three years yet, and, if so, what is the monthly cost per user / per Chromebook?

Google Drive is only free for three years? That's news to me. I'm quite certain I've been a user for 4+ years (since its release).

I don't own a Chromebook though. Maybe that would change things.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#368
post #287

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You take digital exams on computers without internet access? Where and how?

At schools in Poland. You can't have internet access so you won't look up answers on the internet. You have just computer in from of you. It's pretty standard way of doing any kind of grading. Example would be for programming class or for office suite. You don't need internet to work in IDE or in Office.

How does that make for a reliable exam? In the real world you use the internet all the time. The exam should be about your skills, and using information sources like the internet should be one of them. It's not like you can 'download' a perfect answer to a programming exam online, and if you can, then you deserve a medal because you'll be able to build applications faster than everyone else.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#369
post #274

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I think you're missing the point. Children don't need to worry about breaking AdSense rules and getting their accounts blocked, especially if they have accounts dedicated for school. Children also will have internet at school.

But we should worry about google building advertising profiles on children, as they have been doing.

I do not believe this statement to be true.

The privacy notice provided by Google for their G Suite for Education is available here: https://gsuite.google.com/terms/education_privacy.html

It clearly states "Google does not serve ads in the Core Services or use personal information collected in the Core Services for advertising purposes."

Is the evidence that indicates this is not true? Is this in relation to non-core services that school administrators may opt into?

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why don't they just ship it with W10 Pro already installed? Are you sure they don't? In the past, many Windows edition upgrades (e.g., Home to Pro) were just a matter of enabling features that were already installed.

This is me being pedantic; when you upgrade from Home to Pro it does actually install several missing features. You'll see the this[0], takes about 30 minutes on an SSD. [0] https://www.technorms.com/assets/20151012_133129.jpg

Thanks. Not pedantic at all - it's useful to know.
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