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Introducing Surface Laptop

blogs.windows.com

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Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#411

Post by morganvachon »

donalhunt wrote: post #369
zepto wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

They aren't using it for advertising purposes right now, but they can still collect and store the data on children thanks to outdated privacy laws. Once the child comes of age all of that information is fair game according to their own policy (once the child becomes an adult, if they continue to use their account or link it to a new Google account, they are automatically under Google's normal privacy policy which we all know allows them to harvest everything you do within their services).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/12/28...

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#412

Post by 72deluxe »

currysausage wrote: post #394
cptskippy wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. First of of all that's not entirely true. Nothing is instant. It wakes up fast, but not instantly. Login is fast, but not instant. First time login is fastish but not fast or instant. Windows has had…

> Windows has had Roaming User Profiles since NT And Windows XP had a Tablet Edition long before Apple even dreamt about bringing something like the iPad to market.

Ah the joy of roaming profiles where a user has a giant file on his desktop, gets bored waiting for his laptop to sync on shutdown or his battery runs out, and then turns the machine off. What happens to the profile in this situation?

I say this because I have had numerous times this happened to a colleague that I had to fix - the desktop would break. Broken user profiles were a real pain.

Thankfully I don't do this anymore but the thought of roaming profiles and broken syncs brought back a harrowing memory.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#413

Post by Analemma_ »

BatFastard wrote: post #247
opportune wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Exactly, these are single purpose laptops for education. And I do believe that google docs has an offline mode now. So they can work offline for a limited period (at least). And how does this 1000 USD compete with 250 USD boxes?

Windows 10 S will run on other devices besides the Surface Laptop, most of which will cost closer to $250. The Surface is just the flagship device for it.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#414

Post by 72deluxe »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #342
Steko wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Windows and Mac computers will never be that easy to setup, use or maintain. While half true, I think Microsoft could ship that if they wanted to. Moreover, only listing the things Chromebooks are great at is also missing the point: there are areas where Chromebooks suck and that is where Microsoft can compete.

> there are areas where Chromebooks suck and that is where Microsoft can compete. Absolutely, but Windows 10 S cannot do any of them. Windows 10 Home/Pro can, but we are talking about the S version which is more comparable functionality wise to a Chromebook. Particularly a Chromebook that can run Android apps.

What does the S stand for in this instance? Scuppered? Slow? Substandard?

Hopefully Speedy, Superior or Sublime.

Reminds me of the RT version - Reduced Throughput

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#415

Post by s73ver »

PuffinBlue wrote: post #372
natch wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My child lost her firstname.lastname gmail/Google account for life for a one-time childish mistake. So, I guess you are mistaken.

And what was this one-time childish mistake that lead to losing the account?

Spammed AdSense with fraudulent clicks, and impersonated other apps in the Play Store.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#416

Post by s73ver »

oneplane wrote: post #368
krzyk wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's the same way we've done exams for the last 100 or so years.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#417

Post by 72deluxe »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #347
ChuckMcM wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking it would be interesting if you could get ChromeOS for these new laptops :-)

I suppose. But Google already tried the $1K Chromebook with the Pixel line, it didn't do too well against the $250-400 competition.

The Pixel line was impressive apart from the abysmal onboard storage. I would have considered one for a Linux laptop but the less-than-desktop-functionality OS (thereby reducing your expensive device to a glorified web browser) paired with the joke storage meant it was never going to get far?

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#418

Post by BinaryIdiot »

lottin wrote: post #350
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "no changing search to google" is going to make many people hate Windows S, I bet. I highly doubt it. The majority of customers won't care at all. Edge and Bing are both really, really good. Most customers that I've worked with when during technical support don't really notice and usually just keep the defaults. Chrome's touchscreen support is absolutely awful so Edge is usually the best go-to option for a touch sc…

A lot of people do care, especially if they're used to using Google.

After working with non-techies for many years in various support roles I am unconvinced. The majority I helped, where they had to show me or ask me something about their web browser, didn't even know what Google was beyond a search box and sometimes an email that a grandson setup for them.

I'm not sure if there are good statistics out there (especially one that proper controls) but I'd bet a good amount of money that most non-technical users either do not care or do not know what the differences are.

(Honestly there isn't much of a difference between Edge and Chrome, Bing and Google. At least from a non-techie user's point of view).

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#419

Post by 72deluxe »

wklauss wrote: post #406
taternuts wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably depends on the person and how much they sweat; I'd imagine I sweat more than the average person and I'd be nervous about staining this.

And, more important, how much they type. I'd say that for a machine aimed at teenagers this might not be a good idea. Time will tell.

As a teenager I had a sweaty spotty face and armpits and stank, had a chronic hairdo, poor social skills etc. but I do not remember my hands being sweaty.

Were yours?

Thankfully I am past all that now, apart form the chronic hairdo, the spotty face, poor personal hygiene, awful social skills....... etc. etc....

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#420

Post by Mtinie »

komali2 wrote: post #396
Mtinie wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a very real concern. As a parent I think about things like that all the time. My son has a personal Chromebook and both my son and daughter use Google school accounts. The alternative, in this case using a Microsoft Surface Laptop instead, should raise many of the same concerns. With the tight coupling of online services and single account sign-on options that Microsoft offers, similarly extensive advertising…

Why do you worry about this? Do you believe targeted ads are more harmful to your child than non-targeted?

No, I'm not worried about targeted ads, per say.

I'm more worried about the future misuse of all the accumulated data from their access and version control logs for cloud-based documents, internet browsing behavior, multi-player gaming sessions, personal emails, and all of the other forms of trackable interactions that my kids (and the rest of us) generate with on a daily basis.

It doesn't keep me up at nights -- but the paranoid part of me thinks it should.

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