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Why Is the Surface So Bad?

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Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#21

Post by sounds »

clauretano wrote: post #9
amorphid wrote: post #5

Surface isn't bad, it's early. I played with it over the weekend and liked it in general. It's also clear that it'd benefit from some bug fixes. It'll get better if MS doesn't drop it before they've been able to work out the kinks.

Definitely early. Not helping matters is the fact that all the Microsoft employees getting free ones don't receive them until December. They should have gotten them early even if it meant delaying the launch in my opinion, at least then there would be more software available.

Why so many of this rejoinder? "Early release! Don't be so harsh!"

Ok, here's a direct quote from the article – how come everyone's ignoring it?

So if it took Apple a couple tries to perfect the tablet, shouldn’t we cut Microsoft some slack, too?

No, we shouldn’t. The first iPad was released in 2010. It may not have been perfect, but it was unquestionably the best tablet of its era. The Surface is hitting the shelves in 2012, when, in addition to Apple’s tablets, you can now get Google’s Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 or one of Amazon’s super-cheap Kindle Fires. Because it was first to market, Apple’s first-generation device had some leeway to miss the mark, but its competitors have little room for error. Anyone who’s considering this tablet will be forced to stack it against the competition, and the Surface doesn’t wear these comparisons well.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#22

Post by glhaynes »

mtgx wrote: post #11
Shivetya wrote: post #2

I wonder if the performance would seem better if Microsoft employed a similar trick that iOS uses, that being putting up a screen shot of the app while it loads. I am not sure if Apple still employs this trick but I do remember it being used and how it affected perceived performance.

Windows Phone and the Metro UI in general uses a ton of animations to make it seem "smooth" and "fast", when in fact you're just watching animations for the same time period it would take to load. But underneath all that, the overall responsiveness of the OS seems to be slower than both iOS and the latest Android versions.

What's the virtual memory situation on Windows RT? Does it use a pagefile?

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#23

Post by slaven »

WrkInProgress wrote: post #7
firefoxman1 wrote: post #3

When I first got an HP Touchpad, the touchstone stand, and the keyboard I understood what the "post-PC" era really was. It was perfect: physical keyboard for productivity, yet a touchscreen with a tablet interface, and the mouse had finally seen its end. The Asus transformer was the next big step, I think. Again, keyboard and touchscreen, but this time a 19 hour battery. If it allowed dual booting it would be perfect…

Hence the keyboard and trackpad. There is a benefit of having both the desktop and "Metro".

I hear this a lot from people who haven't actually tried the keyboard and trackpad. Trackpad is so small that I truly found it unusable. It's fair to say that it's smaller than any laptop or even netbook trackpad out there. The non-mechanical keyboard was also unusable for me, but I think TypeCover keys would be much better.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#25

Post by therobot24 »

mtgx wrote: post #16
therobot24 wrote: post #6

not to show a direct favoritism toward Microsoft, but his review reeks with personal bias: "my first thought was, Boy, that’s heavy! When I looked up the specs, I discovered that the Surface is only about 20 grams heavier than the iPad 3, but somehow those grams make a difference." "I’ve used many keyboards for the iPad, and the touch cover seemed just as good as those—meaning I could type on it somewhat more quickly…

I don't think many people realized this but iPad 3 is actually heavier than iPad 2, and many might still remember how "light" the iPad 2 was compared to iPad 1. iPad 3 is somewhere in between the iPad 1 and 2 weights. But I think the ideal weight for a tablet is around 300 grams, which half of what most 10" tablets have today. This is probably the most important reason why the "main iPad" will eventually become iPad…

i'm curious if there's any reasoning to 300 grams. I don't have an iPad, but i've used one, and it seemed fine to me - i guess over a long period it could become uncomfortable.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#27

Post by clauretano »

sounds wrote: post #21
clauretano wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely early. Not helping matters is the fact that all the Microsoft employees getting free ones don't receive them until December. They should have gotten them early even if it meant delaying the launch in my opinion, at least then there would be more software available.

Why so many of this rejoinder? "Early release! Don't be so harsh!" Ok, here's a direct quote from the article – how come everyone's ignoring it? So if it took Apple a couple tries to perfect the tablet, shouldn’t we cut Microsoft some slack, too? No, we shouldn’t. The first iPad was released in 2010. It may not have been perfect, but it was unquestionably the best tablet of its era. The Surface is hitting the shelves…

People have every right to be harsh. Microsoft has tried for years to get tablets right, and they still haven't. I was just agreeing that the device is early; they should have waited a bit to release it. It has a lot going for it, but so did the HP TouchPad.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#28

Post by MortenK »

Microsoft should probably have made a clear divide between tablet and desktop OS. Windows RT tablets running only the interface formerly known as Metro, and simply an incremental upgrade to the much loved Windows 7 for desktops.

Mixing the interfaces gives a non-satisfactory and confusing experience on both desktop and tablet devices. An exception could be devices that are a bit more of a laptop/tablet hybrid than the Surface (i.e. the coming Surface Pro).

It seems MS might still be limited a bit by their big-corp shackles. The whole Windows RT / Windows 8 issue causes more confusion than anything else, and ultimately seems as a decision made by commitee, rather than the result of a single, focused individual or team.

But Microsoft is just at step 1. And with the size of their pockets, they will not give up the tablet race just because of a not-quite-as-hot-as-expected launch. They are in it for years to come, so it would be odd if we don't see a much better implementation over the coming 2-3 years.

Whether or not Apple or Google manages to innovate further in that time remains to be seen. But from the uninspiring, incremental upgrades coming out of Cupertino the last few product cycles, it could seem MS is being given the chance to catch up within the foreseeable future.

In any case, computing in the hybrid form of a tablet form factor with full OS and keyboard / trackpad is here to stay judging from the huge success of the Transformer series and the more limited but still substantial success of the Windows 7 slates. So we will surely see a lot of interesting products released from all camps over the next few years.

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#29

Post by timcederman »

programminggeek wrote: post #17

The Surface is "Bad" because you're comparing it with the iPad 4, the Kindle Fire HD, the Asus Transformer (3rd or 4th gen), etc. Microsoft missed the first 3 or so iterations of touch-only tablet computing. There are bug fixes and refinements to come I'm sure. Compare the Surface to original iPad when it first came out and maybe it's not so bad? Granted, the surface isn't competing with the original iPad, it's compe…

You're suggesting folks should grade on a curve?

Re: Why Is the Surface So Bad?

#30

Post by RyanMcGreal »

programminggeek wrote: post #17

The Surface is "Bad" because you're comparing it with the iPad 4, the Kindle Fire HD, the Asus Transformer (3rd or 4th gen), etc. Microsoft missed the first 3 or so iterations of touch-only tablet computing. There are bug fixes and refinements to come I'm sure. Compare the Surface to original iPad when it first came out and maybe it's not so bad? Granted, the surface isn't competing with the original iPad, it's compe…

FTFA:

> So if it took Apple a couple tries to perfect the tablet, shouldn’t we cut Microsoft some slack, too?

> No, we shouldn’t. The first iPad was released in 2010. It may not have been perfect, but it was unquestionably the best tablet of its era. The Surface is hitting the shelves in 2012, when, in addition to Apple’s tablets, you can now get Google’s Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 or one of Amazon’s super-cheap Kindle Fires. Because it was first to market, Apple’s first-generation device had some leeway to miss the mark, but its competitors have little room for error. Anyone who’s considering this tablet will be forced to stack it against the competition, and the Surface doesn’t wear these comparisons well.

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