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Introducing Surface Laptop

blogs.windows.com

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Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#441

Post by Sir_Substance »

SiVal wrote: post #436
krzyk wrote: 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.

But your complaint is still valid in the larger sense that you don't want to allow Google to have any say in the matter. What we need is for Google's school/office apps and their storage to become open-source commodities that are self-hosted. "Self-hosted" can then involve any balance of self/outsource you or your organization would like.

That's what standards are for. If all your storage is based on a shared standard, anyone can implement a replacement for a given unit of data. Unfortunately, standards are not cool these days, because they make vendor lock in difficult to achieve.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#442

Post by AnonymousPlanet »

oneplane wrote: post #386
UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After your AD Profile is downloaded to the laptop which can take several minutes, and often the profile will remain on the machine after you return it to the cart. Plus software/settings might vary from machine to machine even from the same laptop cart. The thing about Chromebooks is that the state is always consistent and your settings follow you. That's much harder to attain with Windows laptops (not impossible min…

The whole Windows, AD, O365 etc. experience is a PITA. I know there are all sorts of technological legacy and legacy business reasons for that, but let's face it: in the current form, the Windows model can't compare to something integrated like a Chromebook. It's not about who is 'better' or technically more capable, it's about what works for users, and Windows isn't it. Most of the time it is just what 'happens to b…

I would love to see that day. Maybe do away with most of the over engineered concepts as well.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#443

Post by andrepd »

jodrellblank wrote: post #433
andrepd wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xiaomi Mi Air 13, i5 8/256 $690. Aluminum unibody, smaller and lighter than MBP 13. Stop buying overpriced crap and start supporting companies that charge fair prices and maybe MS and Apple will release products that aren't 2-3x as pricey as the competition.

Xiaomi Mi Air, plus VAT/duty, ships with Chinese only Windows license, unlicensed for English, without CE marking for Europe, and with minimal Western country warranty to speak of. By the time you add all that up, it's approximately the same pride as any other similar spec non-Apple/non-Microsoft/non-Dell Win home laptop.

Still it doesn't come close to the price of brand laptops, even non-Apple/non-Microsoft/non-Dell, but with the build quality to match or surpass those. I also don't care about Windows or whatever since I use Linux. It's the perfect machine for me, fits my use case like a charm. I'm sure there's plenty of people with similar needs that would also be satisfied with it.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#444

Post by wslh »

russellbeattie wrote: post #217

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…

Could I run Haskell in the Chromebook? I mean, the real Haskell compiled to the platform.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#445

Post by WorldMaker »

ManFromUranus wrote: post #301
WorldMaker wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have friends that very much love their Windows RT devices as quick, secure browser-first tablets (and were disappointed by a lack of an upgrade to Windows 10). Windows S has the benefit that you can upgrade to "real" Windows 10 Pro if you decide you are tired of the limited functionality.

Oh that's pretty interesting, I didn't know that. So I guess it kind of comes with real windows after all (in a roundabout way)

It's definitely interesting. Where everyone expected a new ARM SKU, Microsoft delivered a new x86 SKU, with an easy upgrade path. Through the lens of Windows 10 S as an "educational" SKU, it's particularly interesting in that idea that you could start the device locked down with S and eventually (plus $50 one time charge) "graduate" the device to "real" Windows 10 as the people themselves age into device ownership or out of locked down education environments or the devices get repurposed for different parts of a learning environment, etc.

(This seems to be a clear case where Microsoft is trying to separate itself from the iOS/Chromebook pack. For now you can't graduate and turn an iOS device into a macOS device. With a lot of work you might be able to graduate a Chromebook to Linux or Windows, but certainly not the ease of a $50 purchase from the Windows Store, or a free button click with an existing education site license for Windows 10 Pro.)

(Meanwhile, some of us are still hoping for that next ARM SKU, too.)

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#446

Post by rayiner »

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?

It should be illegal to advertise to kids.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#447

Post by Tanegashima »

dangrossman wrote: post #107
rsynnott wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Faster than a MacBook Pro What's their basis for that? I'd have thought at the very best it'd be about the same speed as a 13" (assuming you're not doing anything that uses much RAM; the 4GB would really cripple it there). I'll be interested to see what CPU it has, exactly, but I'd be surprised if it has the HD540/640 graphics. EDIT: Specs here: https://i.imgur.com/Kc1fQ52.png The expensive ones use an Iris 640, so…

Up to a 7th-generation Core i7 with Iris Plus Graphics 640. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-lapt...

The 7th gen Core i3/i5/i7 have exactly the same performance of the 6th gen.

Also the MBP Touch Bar has a TDP that is much higher than the Surface Laptop, only the low end MBP has the same TDP of all the SL.

So, no, the Microsoft product is MUCH SLOWER.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#448

Post by Tanegashima »

rsynnott wrote: post #103
dangrossman wrote: post #27

They're now demoing the Surface Laptop. Thinner than a MacBook Air. Faster than a MacBook Pro. Longer battery life than either. The downside? "Windows 10 S", which only runs apps from the Windows Store. The upside over Windows RT from the Windows 8 era? You can port Win32 apps to the Store today, don't think you could back then. Edit: You can upgrade Windows 10 S to ordinary Windows 10 Pro for $50. Laptops that run W…

> Faster than a MacBook Pro What's their basis for that? I'd have thought at the very best it'd be about the same speed as a 13" (assuming you're not doing anything that uses much RAM; the 4GB would really cripple it there). I'll be interested to see what CPU it has, exactly, but I'd be surprised if it has the HD540/640 graphics. EDIT: Specs here: https://i.imgur.com/Kc1fQ52.png The expensive ones use an Iris 640, so…

Simple: Microsoft lies every single time, the Apple haters "fall" for it, and the people that don't know anything about computers, do too.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#449

Post by abrowne »

sebtoast wrote: post #312
denzil_correa wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No Office (only OneNote), no Adobe Acrobat or CC... Office for Mac - https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/cat/Office-... Adobe Acrobat Reader for Mac - https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/install-reader-dc-mac-os.... What's CC?

Adobe Creative Cloud maybe?

Yes, I meant Creative Cloud.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#450

Post by BinaryIdiot »

lottin wrote: post #439
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Even if often times they don't know exactly what Google is, they generally notice if the search results page they're looking at isn't Google's. And in my experience they tend perceive this as something being wrong with their computer that needs to be fixed.

I guess we'll just have to disagree then. The only people I've met who actually notice Bing's and Google's search result pages looking different are techies. But I don't have any solid statistics or data just my anecdotal experience.
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