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Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

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Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#271

Post by akulbe »

lmm wrote: post #207
akulbe wrote: post #143

I tried to like it. I have my Surface Book sitting here next to me. Windows 10 is much better than previous versions, and I like the direction MS seems to be moving. That said, I feel like in spite of how nice a machine the Surface Book is, QA is still sorely lacking on Windows 10. "Sleep of Death" (google it) and working in *nix 99.99% of the time is what killed it for me. Trying to make the workflow work, it's just…

> working in *nix 99.99% of the time is what killed it for me Have you tried their Linux on Windows thing? I find that works really well, better than using nix on mac in fact: you have real apt-get and it all just works.

Yes, and it's still not production-ready, in my opinion.

Ruby gems are still problematic, for example.

They're working on it, but it's not there yet.

Oh yeah... and to the part of your comment where you say it works even better than on a Mac? Not even close. The Mac works so much better than WSL, it's not even funny. Like I said... they're working on it but it's not there yet. :)

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#272

Post by [deleted] »

akulbe wrote: post #271
lmm wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> working in *nix 99.99% of the time is what killed it for me Have you tried their Linux on Windows thing? I find that works really well, better than using nix on mac in fact: you have real apt-get and it all just works.

Yes, and it's still not production-ready, in my opinion. Ruby gems are still problematic, for example. They're working on it, but it's not there yet. Oh yeah... and to the part of your comment where you say it works even better than on a Mac? Not even close . The Mac works so much better than WSL, it's not even funny. Like I said... they're working on it but it's not there yet. :)

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#273

Post by pasquinelli »

anjc wrote: post #220
johnernaut wrote: post #115

I'm one of the people that switched from a MacBook Pro to the new Surface Book. The ENTIRE experience was dreadful for me. The day I went into the Microsoft store to purchase it (Black Friday), their credit card system was down, so I had to wait around for nearly 2 hours until they finally figured things out. That wouldn't typically upset me, but my brother-in-law went through something similar just 2 weeks prior. As…

Lol >The ENTIRE experience was dreadful for me. Entire list of complaints: found the trackpad to be lacking. It just FELT a bit buggy.

I've got a laptop that I hate using precisely because of it's awful trackpad. Anymore I use it only for watching old episodes of adventure time and playing sega genesis games.

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#275

Post by wyclif »

squeed wrote: post #179
matt_wulfeck wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's the reason why. Track pads are just another part of Apple's obsession with UX. They invest millions (literally) into track pad placement, feel, and ability knowing that users care about it and they'll make it up with volume. It's hard to justify UX spend.

Indeed. They purchased FingerWorks[1], a maker of obscure touchpad-based keyboards, in order to get their touchpad experts. Most other companies would just integrate Synaptic's reference design and call it a day. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FingerWorks

Yes, these comments are exactly right. The other companies resigned to it being Good Enough for them, and don't care about making the trackpad excellent.

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#276

Post by johnward »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #163
marrone12 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that Apple has patented a lot of what makes their touchpads so great, which makes it difficult for competitors to make an equivalent.

I don't think that's the reason why. Track pads are just another part of Apple's obsession with UX. They invest millions (literally) into track pad placement, feel, and ability knowing that users care about it and they'll make it up with volume. It's hard to justify UX spend.

I'm not positive but I would guess that the hardware is pretty similar. The same manufacturer, synaptics, made the touchpad in my MBP and Thinkpad. Yet the Apple touchpad is far superior. Aside from the fact that my lenovo has a textured tract pad, I think the Apple software is just that much better.

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#277

Post by hsitz »

nogridbag wrote: post #261
bhauer wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Though I have no idea what motivates other people, and opinions vary, so I can't say the decision to go back to Apple is wrong. I am surprised that for all of the online ordering we do in today's society, so many people use bricks-and-mortar stores for their high-tech purchases. I had my Surface Book shipped to my doorstep like most anything else I purchase in my life. I find it unpleasant to go into Apple st…

When I purchased my Surface Book, I was told it's best to purchase it in the Microsoft physical store so I could return it with no questions asked if I encountered any problems. Whereas if I purchase it online, from a website like Amazon, I would have to deal with Amazon's customer service. Edit: The only problem I have with my SB trackpad is that I normally use two finger swipe to scroll down with my hand slightly a…

The Microsoft Store itself has online ordering, so why not order online from there. The return policy specifically allows returning an online purchase at a retail store ( see near bottom of https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/DisplayHelp... ).

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#278

Post by [deleted] »

fredley wrote: post #120
johnernaut wrote: post #115

I'm one of the people that switched from a MacBook Pro to the new Surface Book. The ENTIRE experience was dreadful for me. The day I went into the Microsoft store to purchase it (Black Friday), their credit card system was down, so I had to wait around for nearly 2 hours until they finally figured things out. That wouldn't typically upset me, but my brother-in-law went through something similar just 2 weeks prior. As…

Trackpads are one of the main things that other companies just can't get right, even on premium devices. Given how long ago Apple 'solved' trackpads, I'm amazed that the rest of the industry hasn't caught up.

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#279

Post by uncletaco »

I bought a Surface Book recently and it has been a mixed bag.

On one hand there's Windows' horrid display scaling issues. Hooking the Surface Book into an external HD monitor means dealing with blurry fonts and inconsistant scaling on some apps. Not entirely Microsoft's fault but its still a concern.

On the other, I really like marking up documents and drawing sketches on the screen. The machine is fairly solid and a joy to type on and use on a day-to-day basis.

Like others have said, the trackpad has taken some getting used to. It feels less "solid" than my 2011 MBP's, and it's definitely more limited than the MBP's. It doesn't handle palm rejection as well as I'd like, and the swipe to go back gesture is inconsistent across applications.

There are other issues too. Flux fucks with things; when I use it things get sluggish as the screen begins to warm. I've recently gone ahead and uninstalled it. Sometimes when I press the Windows key to bring up the Start search the search bar doesn't register the keyboard. Detaching and reattaching sometimes confuses the machine and it doesn't know whether to drop into tablet mode or return to desktop mode.

Despite that, if someone reads this in the future, I will say I overall enjoy the machine. I really like what Microsoft is trying to do in terms of bridging the gap between devices like tablets and traditional PCs. My girlfriend and I both like doodling on it, it plays older games good enough with its dGPU, and it's battery life is superb. So I'd recommend it as a great prosumer device.

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#280

Post by tarentel »

jbigelow76 wrote: post #151
EasyTiger_ wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just installed Windows 10. My start menu by default was full of stuff I will never ever use. After deleting/uninstalling apps (where it would allow me) the OS decides to install Candy Crush and other games I never asked for. Unacceptable.

Microsoft deserves every bit of ridicule lobbed its way for adding advertising to it's start menu in Win10. That being said they aren't the only offender, my iPhone has a folder of apps called Apple Trash filled with Apple's collection of worthless default apps that can't be removed from iOS.

Like what? This used to be true but I believe most of it was remedied with iOS 10.
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