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Wired's Review of the Microsoft Surface

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Re: Wired's Review of the Microsoft Surface

#11

Post by brc »

joejohnson wrote: post #7
Steko wrote: post #2

Well all the speculation can be put to rest, the keyboard cover works and fantastically.

It sounds like it just works. And after "[struggling] mightily with typos and finger placement for the first 24 hours". Who's going to put up with that?

To be fair, I still struggle with my ipad keyboard after months of use. It frustrates the life out of me, because the keys shift depending on context.

Re: Wired's Review of the Microsoft Surface

#12

Post by cubicle67 »

tvon wrote: post #4

> Yes, you can use it as your only computer. I would never have made that claim about an iPad or Android tablet. But if you only need to live in Microsoft Office and the web and e-mail, and use your computer for media consumption, you’ll do great with this. So an "only computer" requires Microsoft Office, everything else is negotiable.

yes, "only computer" is incredibly dependent on what your needs are, and there's a very diverse range of those. My inlaws have been using an iPad as their only computer for about 4 months now and doing fabulously (they love it), but for myself I need a unix terminal and good text editor

It's why the old "which is best" argument is completely useles without a qualifier "for ..."

Re: Wired's Review of the Microsoft Surface

#14

Post by freehunter »

steverb wrote: post #10
tvon wrote: post #4

> Yes, you can use it as your only computer. I would never have made that claim about an iPad or Android tablet. But if you only need to live in Microsoft Office and the web and e-mail, and use your computer for media consumption, you’ll do great with this. So an "only computer" requires Microsoft Office, everything else is negotiable.

For 90% of the working world, I'd say that is a true statement. I personally need compilers and geeky utilities, but my boss could probably get by with a browser and a copy of MS Office just fine. My bosses boss definitely could.

I work deep in IT (information security) and spend 90% of my working time in the browser looking at our security monitors. Another 5% in Word preparing memos or taking notes. The rest is split between the command prompt (nslookup, ping, basic stuff), Excel, OneNote (time/project tracking), SSH, and that's about it. Everything else I do at work is personal stuff done on personal time at the office.

I'm not a boss of anything or manager of anything. Programmers will always need computers targeted to whatever they are programming to, but I would guess that most other IT workers would be fine with a browser and Office (except stupid legacy apps that your office makes you use that were written in Java, talking to VB6 which really only interfaces with a database. You know what I'm talking about).

Re: Wired's Review of the Microsoft Surface

#15

Post by hnriot »

Wow, looks awesome and for business, the ability to use Microsoft office is the "killer app", as much as I dislike ppt and word and wheel they are the staples of most companies so the lack if office on iPad is hurting it for business users and this will be just what they are looking for. I am glad to see a new player (although msft are well experienced at touch computers) and excited to get my hands on one. They hit the pain points of the iPad out of the park, can't type for toffee, and lack of msft office for work stuff. Google docs is great for trivial things but not for getting real work done in a team where everyone else has Office.

Re: Wired's Review of the Microsoft Surface

#16

Post by firefoxman1 »

joejohnson wrote: post #7
Steko wrote: post #2

Well all the speculation can be put to rest, the keyboard cover works and fantastically.

It sounds like it just works. And after "[struggling] mightily with typos and finger placement for the first 24 hours". Who's going to put up with that?

I'm wondering why you would want that touch keyboard in the first place. If their laptop-style keyboard is just as thin and it gives you tactile feedback, what's the reason for touch-only style?

Re: Wired's Review of the Microsoft Surface

#17

Post by purplelobster »

I don't get the whole "not enough apps in the app store" critique. What are they expecting? The tablet is not even out yet and they expect a million apps or what? Obviously this is a problem with a new operating system... It's a valid critique in a way but there is nothing Microsoft can do short of hiring ten thousand developers to just make apps for it before launch.

Re: Wired's Review of the Microsoft Surface

#18

Post by bitsoda »

joejohnson wrote: post #5

The review starts out comparing the Surface to the iPad, saying both are better and worse than the other in different ways. But then the review goes on the trash almost everything unique to the Surface. It sounds like a rather splendid failure. I doubt we will be talking much about this product in 2-3 years.

*2-3 months. It's been stated a dozen times around here and elsewhere on the web, but with the Surface, Microsoft has realized the old Native American adage: "chase two rabbits, catch neither". The Surface misses the mark as a "no compromises" device. The tablet experience is stunted by the awkwardly long screen in portrait mode, anemic app ecosystem, and size/heft. The laptop experience fumbles with that kickstand that really only works on a hard, flat surface. The deceptive Windows desktop will be hostile to unwitting users of the Surface with Microsoft Windows RT edition -- since they will assume the desktop environment is backwards compatible with their existing apps.

On the bright side, it looks like a good first effort in terms of hardware and build quality. I'd really like to see Microsoft "go all in" and shed the Desktop environment altogether in its next iteration of the OS.

Re: Wired's Review of the Microsoft Surface

#20

Post by joenathan »

ashleyblackmore wrote: post #19

That's almost an Ubuntu logo on the f6 key. :P http://www.wired.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/tabl...

That is the sharing icon and it matches the meaning of Ubuntu:

ubuntu (uncountable)

(South Africa) A South African ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other

humaneness, solidarity

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