The biggest problem here is the operating system. If they could fix that, this might be enticing.
If they put Linux on it I'd buy it, but with Windows 11, no thanks.
They did put linux on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Subsystem_for_Linux
Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
341–350 of 686 posts
Re: Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
#342The Surface line is, HW-wise, very good IMHO. Too bad the software is awful. Thankfully the Linux Surface community is pretty strong. Proprietary Microsoft drivers don't make it easy, but we're getting there... https://github.com/linux-surface/surface-pro-x I'll buy another one if there's some commitment from Microsoft to be more open source friendly, but since this will never happen, they can keep their HW.
>Too bad the software is awful. I swear, people just live in their echochambers these days. Win 11 pro + WSL2 is literally the best, do it all OS you can get these days. Most peoples experience is with Windows home, which ironically is about as intrusive as Mac OS. When you get Windows Pro, you can disable all the annoying AI/Advertising shit that comes with Windows, and at that point, you get a system that is cleane…
> you can disable all the annoying AI/Advertising shit
What Stockholm Syndrome is this? Why should you have to do this in the first place?
Re: Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
#343> Microsoft explicitly tuned Windows 11 to extract the absolute best performance from the new silicon architecture.
My lie detector is going off.
> The containment features sandbox local agents like Hermes and OpenClaw so they cannot interfere with your core operating system.
Wait, isn't that kind of the point of using local agents like OpenClaw? I thought people wanted the agents accessing all kinds of applications, files, etc.?
> Legacy application compatibility is equally crucial. Microsoft optimized the Prism emulation layer specifically for the new microarchitecture. Prism utilizes the raw power of the silicon and recent AVX and AVX2 instruction set extensions to run older x86 applications smoothly under emulation.
Okay, this is pretty nice. I'll give Microsoft credit for this one. It might save my company a lot of heartache one day in the near future.
All in all, this rig is going to be quite expensive. In a lot of ways, it probably is better than a MacBook Pro. However, as a diehard Apple fanboy, it is not enough for me to consider the jump.
Re: Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
#344If it doesn’t have the repairability of a framework. I’m out.
Re: Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
#345The Surface line is, HW-wise, very good IMHO. Too bad the software is awful. Thankfully the Linux Surface community is pretty strong. Proprietary Microsoft drivers don't make it easy, but we're getting there... https://github.com/linux-surface/surface-pro-x I'll buy another one if there's some commitment from Microsoft to be more open source friendly, but since this will never happen, they can keep their HW.
And you lost me at proprietary Microsoft drivers.
No way I am spending any money on this future brick.
Re: Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
#346My experience with Surfaces and, particularly, the Surface Book and its accompanying dock were such that I'd have to be paid to use one again. For example, the dock would get its own updates silently and brick itself randomly and the proprietary magnetic connector between the dock and the computer was prone to a poor connection. I remember many occasions trying to work and my screens just randomly blinking in and out…
I worked with some of the people responsible for the Surface Book, Surface docks, and specifically the Surface Book's dock. These were hardware people (EEs), not software people, and this was after their time at MS. Unfortunately I don't remember specifics (both because it's been a few years, and because I'd probably have to fuzz details anyway), but... : Docks are horrifying products. Thunderbolt docks are doubly ho…
> Docks are horrifying products. Thunderbolt docks are doubly horrifying.
I believe it. From all my years as a sysadmin, docks were by far the second largest source of headaches (after printers). Super high failure rate, all kinds of quirks, shoddy power delivery. And these weren't some cheap amazon basics dongles, I'm talking the $250+ docks from Dell, Lenovo, etc.
Re: Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
#347A former employer of mine, owned by a retired NFL player, purchased Surface devices for the sales staff in addition to their laptops. This was presumably because Microsoft and the NFL had a deal where everyone on the sidelines were using Surfaces and they thought it was a good idea. I say that because no one was asking for them, and when we received them I was inundated with tickets about poor performance: "my surfac…
Skip proprietary Microshit. Go straight to a framework laptop. Load up your favorite distro and never have to worry about poor repairability or non-upgradeable/soldered components
Re: Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
#348For many, the appeal of a Mac is that it isn't running Windows. I'm not seeing how this won't be a repeat of the OG ARM Surface, just with a higher spec'd GPU.
Very true, it’s a shame apple software and OS has gone to shit lately.
I have been leaning more into framework myself. My current devices are aging out but I am in a place where I am fully separated from apples walled in garden so switching is easy
Re: Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
#349The biggest problem here is the operating system. If they could fix that, this might be enticing.
They could fix that but that means losing market share. Microshit shareholders don’t like that
Re: Microsoft builds MacBook Pro rival with NVIDIA-powered Surface Laptop Ultra
#350Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes the MBP is very quiet when doing easy stuff but run games and heavy duty software and those fans are required to get work done.
They are. But the experience of using a MacBook Pro for pretty much any purpose other than gaming is that they’re entirely silent. To the point that it’s an exceptional circumstance when a build job is so intense and so long running that fans kick in. As such, when you’re marketing your competing product, maybe don’t lead with the fans.
fwiw, I have a snapdragon X laptop running with windows. It basically never runs the fans (at least at audible levels), and I sometimes sit with it on a blanket in bed