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Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

arstechnica.com

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Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#241

Post by josefresco »

Mikeb85 wrote: post #155

Microsoft should never have released Windows RT. The one reason, and the one biggest reason that people use Windows is backwards compatibility... By breaking that, they essentially undermined their own monopoly power, and now everyone is developing to be platform-agnostic. And let's face it - no one has actually liked MS products in a decade, they've simply put up with them. Now that people aren't forced to use MS pr…

"And let's face it - no one has actually liked MS products in a decade, they've simply put up with them."

Windows 7 was widely praised, Xbox 360 is the winning console, Kinect was revolutionary and widely praised, and of course MS Office is still the premier office suite (I would argue that people "put up with" the alternatives).

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#242

Post by taude »

eliben wrote: post #29

Those prices are... delusional.

Why? for $900, it seems to offer more than a baseline MBAir (better processor, screen). But with some added touch, especially the pen input (something I'm curious to how well it works) in a tight tablet form factor.

I'm curious as to whether I'd be able to plug this into my large external monitor and do my day job with it.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#243

Post by nileshtrivedi »

LokiSnake wrote: post #156
dangrossman wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I hope this is compatible with my Surface Pro Everything's compatible with the SP. Only the original Surface is missing the extra contacts on bottom for some of the new hardware. Myself, I'll be picking up the Power Cover when that shows up (I'm expecting 2014), but not replacing the tablet. 8ish hours of battery life is plenty for me. I'll save the big money for a real laptop when the rest of the PC makers finally…

Any word on why it's taking manufacturers so long to get Haswell-based devices out?

Just yesterday, I was talking to my friend who works at Intel (on audio for Haswell tablets). He mentioned that Haswell isn't stable enough yet. I didn't get into the details though.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#244

Post by [deleted] »

overgryphon wrote: post #188
tammer wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>When is Apple going to have touch on Mac Books? I find using a Magic Trackpad with a desktop Mac to be a wonderful experience. After working in a Linux/Windows world for a while, I was surprised at how quickly I stopped relying on hotkeys in favor of gestures. I'd say any Apple computer running 10.7 or later is actually built for 'touch'. I always thought features like 'Launchpad' were useless for those able to type…

If you have a chance you should try out a touchscreen laptop some time. It is a much more compelling experience then gestures on a trackpad.

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#245

Post by jules »

mikevm wrote: post #60
gum_ina_package wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a college student studying engineering. I can say that replacing my laptop with my Surface Pro has been amazing. I'm virtually 100% paperless, with all my notes being taken with OneNote (seriously amazing!) and textbooks saved as PDFs. It's also awesome that the Pro has enough power for me to do real dev work on it. So make the switch! You won't be disappointed!

I'm a student also, but I've been using the iPad for this. I don't take any notes on the iPad itself because the courses I need to take notes on are mathematical, so I simply write on paper and then when I come back home I scan it and append the scans to an evergrowing PDF file that is synced to my iPad. I'm looking for a replacement for my iPad 2, but I can't settle on anything because all the non-iPad tablets have…

For mathematical writing I've been using Lyx which is a Latex WYSIWYG application. Once you know the shortcut keys it works rather well. Nowadays I often work directly in Lyx rather than on paper first and then type it into Lyx. It encourages you to work cleanly and correctly rather than quickly and sloppily, so in the end it saves me a lot of time. The big disadvantage is that it's hard to incorporate drawings.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#246

Post by yardie »

hmottestad wrote: post #158
Todd wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a false argument. These are separate points of discussion. You're arguing that they're right because they were first to market in a new space and have achieved significant momentum. Momentum is just that. They've been riding on it for a while. The last significant innovation was iPad, which was just an evolution of the one real innovation: iPhone. That's only going to carry them so far. Android is eating their…

Actually. Apple was really late to the market with the iPad. Microsoft had been doing tablets for 8 years before Apple came along ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Tablet_PC ). Apple was the first to bring down the price, make it holdable (in your hand), give it a battery that you don't need to worry about. Give it apps that were only designed for touch. Android is iterating as much as Apple is. They will pro…

I'll just leave this little nugget here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Newton

Before, they were called PDAs and they've existed since the late 80s. Apple wasn't late, they were simply waiting for the technology arrive to do it right.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#247

Post by pjmlp »

dragontamer wrote: post #150
untog wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you have already moved to Mac, why bother? Because there is no Surface Pro 2 equivalent that will run OSX. And by "run OSX" I mean "made by Apple" because there's no other way to run it. And I doubt very much that the Pro 2 can do Linux well - can any tablets? I'd be interested to know the state of Linux touch interfaces/drivers.

Surface Pro 1 ran Linux just fine. Its a full laptop. Why wouldn't Surface Pro2 run linux?

drivers?

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#248

Post by pjmlp »

saturdaysaint wrote: post #53

I like the Pro, but the non-Pro Surface doesn't strike me as any more competitive than last year's model. It's heavier than it's main competitor with lower resolution and orders of magnitude fewer apps. And it does nothing to address the wave of great mini tablets. Maybe I'm alone here, but I don't want to hold anything heavier than a pound for more than a few minutes. Also, with iOS 7 rolling out, MS is going to hav…

Given that iOS 7 is a copy of what MS and Google were already offering on their systems, why not?

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#249

Post by fumar »

tonydiv wrote: post #13

Better performance might help this sell, but the second I saw the "Surface Music Kit," I got excited. As a DJ, I need to carry around an expensive laptop to perform. The iPad does not have any impressive apps to DJ (at least not professionally), so I'd be VERY interested if they focused on the niche music market here. Surface 2 + Kinect/Leap + superb DJing app + Spotify-esque music supply = very happy musicians. Unfo…

You do not need an app, if you get Surface Pro 2. I have been running Ableton Live 9 on it. It runs without any problems, I usually hook it up to my APC 40 and microKorg.

Fruity Loops is now available in the app store for both devices. http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/fl-studio-groove...

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#250

Post by Mikeb85 »

josefresco wrote: post #241
Mikeb85 wrote: post #155

Microsoft should never have released Windows RT. The one reason, and the one biggest reason that people use Windows is backwards compatibility... By breaking that, they essentially undermined their own monopoly power, and now everyone is developing to be platform-agnostic. And let's face it - no one has actually liked MS products in a decade, they've simply put up with them. Now that people aren't forced to use MS pr…

"And let's face it - no one has actually liked MS products in a decade, they've simply put up with them." Windows 7 was widely praised, Xbox 360 is the winning console, Kinect was revolutionary and widely praised, and of course MS Office is still the premier office suite (I would argue that people "put up with" the alternatives).

And yet Apple is the platform making gains (with OSX), especially in people's homes - and has been for the better part of a decade. I don't know when you last walked through a University, but Macbooks make up the majority of laptops students are using. What people 'want' isn't a Windows PC (as their sales are showing - especially in higher price points).

You're right about the consoles (except the kinect, I don't know a single person who owns it) however, but the console crowd are a fickle bunch, and the way things are shaping up, the PS4 could be the winner this time round...

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