Windows 8 is a blown up tablet OS. When you get it right like Apple has done, you only make minor changes and tweaks rather than a total reworking of the OS which is what Microsoft attempted to do.
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Microsoft Launches Site to Lure MacBook Switchers to Surface Pro 3
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Windows 8 is a blown up tablet OS. When you get it right like Apple has done, you only make minor changes and tweaks rather than a total reworking of the OS which is what Microsoft attempted to do.
I played with a Pro 3 512GB at a local MS Store and found it to be better then I thought. The two biggest issues I have with it are a lack of a discrete gpu and price. I could probably look past the GPU part (wouldn't be able to run resolve, but the adobe apps supposedly work decently), but the price is just too much.
I'm not getting rid of the rMBP, nor my iPad so I can't justify $2k for one. Adobe gave a $479 discount for CC subscribers but the price is still too high. If they offered that discount for the 256gb model (bringing it under $1k) then I might have considered it.
Hopefully on the next revision the price comes down (a lot) and/or they figure out how to get discrete graphics in one. If either of those two conditions are met then I might actually pick one up.
I'm not getting rid of the rMBP, nor my iPad so I can't justify $2k for one. Adobe gave a $479 discount for CC subscribers but the price is still too high. If they offered that discount for the 256gb model (bringing it under $1k) then I might have considered it.
Hopefully on the next revision the price comes down (a lot) and/or they figure out how to get discrete graphics in one. If either of those two conditions are met then I might actually pick one up.
At the mall by my place, there's an Apple Store. About 4 or 5 stores down from the Apple Store, is the Microsoft Store. I usually only see about 5 or 6 people at Microsoft (not including the staff) at the most, even during holiday time.
Microsoft, if you can get OS X installed perfectly on this Surface Pro 3 then we'll talk.
They could as easily as Mac does with Windows on Boot Camp (itself an experience at least a few bits short of perfection as I'm just learning the hard way with my install of Win 7) - or at least they could on the Surface (as supporting all the conceivable drivers and hardwware found on the panoply of OEM machines would require them to create as many of those as they do for all of Windows)... ...or a given OEM could do the deed... ...but none will at this point because Apple goes after any Hackintosh put up for sale with guns blazing.
Remember that one company that tried to do exactly this about 7 years ago...? What was the name? Psystar?
Sued into Chapter something or other under Apple's invoking the DMCA...
Uhhh... ...as the new owner of a loaded MBA (i7, 512 GB SSD)... ...and a "re-switcher" ... ...I have to say "not quite." Or, to be fair, compared to taking on anything with the schizophrenic mess that is Win 8.x, you do have a point, relatively speaking.
That is, I love it and am happy with my purchase (tho' wish I'd had the scratch for a 15" MBP), but find enough - if different - reasons to occasionally gnash my teeth as I do in Win 7... ...so yeah, there are things I prefer (certainly the aesthetics and fluidity) but...
I find, e.g., Spotlight almost as useless as I did back in Tiger. Nor are "Notifications" rocking my world. Without CNN popping up something I don't care about I'd forget they're there.
More: the "Help system" is absurdly limited, quickly running one into a brick wall with nowhere to go, unless one knows how to utilize the support resources and communities on Apple.com. Where I now go directly if I have an issue. And which are really pretty excellent.
Whereas, while you have to be a geek with a tolerance for endless and confusing/contradictory topic branching and arcane gear-head suggestions, the Win Help system is huge in comparison, extensive and cross-linked to web resources to the max.
Finder is also still a disappointment 9 years after I began using the Tiger version. Make a slightly wrong gesture and things disappear never to be seen again (in the trash or via search or whatever). Want to save a file to a specific folder? Don't forget to put it in the sidebar first, etc., etc.
[And if I'm missing something here, since I'm a 30 year computer user with 10 years on Macs, and they're supposed to just work, I guess I don't "just work."]
Further - despite trying and reading articles and tutorials - I've never managed to find real uses that help me for Mail, contacts, calendar etc. GMail keeps all of that on my devices with zero additional effort or migration required, and no valuable SSD space used. Nor for iPhoto. Which is fine if some people like 'em. Just saying many of the Apple specific services (including those limited to Apple users like the proprietary iWork file formats and facetime) aren't positive differentiators for me, and I'll venture for many users.
As for the great OS wars, I bought a Mac this time more because of the hardware quality and US-based support than for the joys of OS X - whatever all the surface bells and whistles, as it is after all, just another personal computing OS built on a 30 year old foundation with various pluses and minuses. And neither really crash on me at this point. So.....
(I also bought my MBA because MS is clearly deep in the rough with Win 8.x - and may reconsider in the future if Win 10 puts them back on the fairway. But at this point will likely always be a Mac user as well.)
Now THIS is absolutely true. I really don't see where their costs could be.
Plus, while it demos very well sitting on a stand at Staples, there's the stupid hinge approach and mismatched, inferior typecover KB thrown into "the bargain." And it's still a too heavy tablet for all of that.
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Not to me. Yosemite is a rock solid and very efficient OS. Windows 8.1 to me is a UI disaster. It seems confused and doesn't know what type of hardware it's supposed to be running on. And what's the deal with those stupid "charms" that you have to hover over a certain part of the screen in a special way while squinting your left eye and running your belly to access? Although Windows 10 looks to be promising. Just like Windows 7 was what Windows Vista should have been, Windows 10 will be what Windows 8 should have been.
And let's all get real, Metro tile interface is 100% useless on anything other than a tablet. Sure, people who need to buy PC's for work or just because that's all they could afford get used to Metro, but not in a good way. They really just learn to tolerate it. Windows 8 was too radical of a change just for the sake of change, Microsoft needs to take it down a notch, which they will soon be doing with Windows 10.
To be fair, it's Skype. Not like you're talking about some exotic software no one but nerds know about. Most people I know have Skype (including the people that are "all in" with Apple hardware.
I had a choice between a Mac mini and an SP3 for a self gift this year. Wife would only allow one. Apple wet the bed with the updated Mini so the SP3 was to be the one. Was. I'm thorough impressed with it. IT has a few at my job. I'm just going to wait to see what the SP4 brings. Maybe by then Apple can come up with something to get in my pocket. Recent history suggests probably not.
Unrelated: Lure. It's the 2nd time MR has used the word Lure in a post. Both times, the word sounded creepy. Please retire the use of that word MR.
To be fair, it's Skype. Not like you're talking about some exotic software no one but nerds know about. Most people I know have Skype (including the people that are "all in" with Apple hardware.
I had a choice between a Mac mini and an SP3 for a self gift this year. Wife would only allow one. Apple wet the bed with the updated Mini so the SP3 was to be the one. Was. I'm thorough impressed with it. IT has a few at my job. I'm just going to wait to see what the SP4 brings. Maybe by then Apple can come up with something to get in my pocket. Recent history suggests probably not.
Unrelated: Lure. It's the 2nd time MR has used the word Lure in a post. Both times, the word sounded creepy. Please retire the use of that word MR.
Oh I agree - Skype is pretty ubiquitous with video chat. But FaceTime is built in - requires no extra app download or logging in.
My personal issues stemmed from messaging over wifi from Android to iPhone. I tried to get my wife to use hangouts, but she'd never remember. I didn't even bother trying with my family/friends.
No thanks...but no thanks.
If and when I ever leave the Mac platform it'll be because I got fed up with their recent trend of designing for planned obsolescence and decided to learn Linux.
Good luck and all, but even I know you can't compare a glorified tablet to a laptop. And completely ignoring the fact that you're also running head-on against the other Windows-compatible PC makers out there (many of whom have been doing it for far longer and are quite good at it). Then again, M$ hasn't really made (m)any good decisions in the last, what, 15 years save for Xbox? Even in their bread and butter market (Windows) they've had 2 wins (XP and 7) to go against more losses (ME anybody? Vista?), as if they're content to let that evaporate, too.
If and when I ever leave the Mac platform it'll be because I got fed up with their recent trend of designing for planned obsolescence and decided to learn Linux.
Good luck and all, but even I know you can't compare a glorified tablet to a laptop. And completely ignoring the fact that you're also running head-on against the other Windows-compatible PC makers out there (many of whom have been doing it for far longer and are quite good at it). Then again, M$ hasn't really made (m)any good decisions in the last, what, 15 years save for Xbox? Even in their bread and butter market (Windows) they've had 2 wins (XP and 7) to go against more losses (ME anybody? Vista?), as if they're content to let that evaporate, too.
I don't see it as a laptop replacement simply because it's not lap usable. The kickstand does not work well in ones lap, especially with the flappy keyboard magnetically attached. I can lounge around with a actual laptop and the keyboard keeps the display in the upright position, not requiring a kickstand. I say this as I purchased one... I used it for a month and decided it wasn't for me. I also didn't care for the amount of pressure it required for a full size line when drawing, causing the LCD pixels behind to distort. It's cute, it still needs to grow more, also you have to buy the keyboard separate for $130, so it really prices itself out above what laptop competitors cost.
You can run OS X on the SP3, there are a number of guides available to install OS X on that tablet.
Cards
Look at that thing. Looks like 3 cards patiently holding one another up. I can't imagine a mac user saying, "I wish I could touch the screen of my Air, so I am buying a Surface.' Stupid. Either you want a Windoze machine or you don't.
Look at that thing. Looks like 3 cards patiently holding one another up. I can't imagine a mac user saying, "I wish I could touch the screen of my Air, so I am buying a Surface.' Stupid. Either you want a Windoze machine or you don't.
having played with on ether one feature I wish Apple would add to the iPad is a stylus. One that works like an Apple stylus would if they decided to integrate it into the OS. yes, there are stylus solution available out their but having tried at least 6 so far none really makes the grade for writing or drawing on the iPad.
But wait, what about the possible subscription fees for future OS updates of Win10?
http://www.computerworld.com/articl...indows-revenue-it-may-mean-subscriptions.html
http://www.computerworld.com/articl...indows-revenue-it-may-mean-subscriptions.html
I had a chance to play around with my brolo's Surface, and I couldn't figure out what the problem was, but you nailed it. It's not optimized for a touch interface. It felt like a step backwards in tech. I thought the hardware was pretty nice though. It's amazing that we still don't have a great solution for a device that can be a laptop/tablet/desktop despite all the attempts that have been made.
There are two concepts to grasp in this discussion
The first one is simple - it's a Windows device, not an OSX or iOS device. It's possible (but not simple) to run an OSX VM on it, but if you want a Mac, this ain't it. However, if you want Windows, or you don't care, then this is the device for you.
The second concept is not so simple to understand for those who have been living inside the Apple sphere and think there are only three possible types of device: laptop, tablet, phone, and that only phones and tablets respond to touch and run a mobile OS, and only laptops run a full desktop OS. For those who can't think outside that box and for whom Windows 8 and devices like the Surface Pro and the Yoga are complete mysteries, I usually explain it this way:
Imagine if Apple announced a new MacBook Air. Upon arrival, you open it to find the expected screen, keyboard and trackpad. Furthermore, when you boot it up, you see the familiar OSX interface with the menu bar and dock. However, upon looking closer, you notice a new icon on the dock. You click it, and the OSX desktop disappears to be replaced by the standard iPad homescreen. Some exploration leads you to discover that not only is the new MacBook Air's screen touch sensitive, but it can be removed from the keyboard and used as an oridinary iPad tablet. Finally, you learn that not only can you switch between the two interfaces whether the screen is attached or not, but the keyboard/trackpad works in both the iOS as well as OSX modes equally well, and you can Command+Tab between Photoshop running on OSX and the Facebook app on iOS easily. Also, the supplied stylus works better than any stylus has ever worked on any previous iOS device ever.
I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure Apple fans would jump on that, if/when it's released. Until then (and for the rest of us), there's the Surface Pro. It's both a fully fledged laptop that runs Windows, but it can also function as a tablet because Microsoft leapfrogged the whole tablet/desktop OS divide and integrated a touch experience into the Windows operating system, so you have both experiences when you want them. The people on this thread who think that the Surface Pro doesn't have an x86 processor and therefore can't be compared to a MacBook are probably thinking of Surface RT devices, which run on ARM like the iPad does.
The first one is simple - it's a Windows device, not an OSX or iOS device. It's possible (but not simple) to run an OSX VM on it, but if you want a Mac, this ain't it. However, if you want Windows, or you don't care, then this is the device for you.
The second concept is not so simple to understand for those who have been living inside the Apple sphere and think there are only three possible types of device: laptop, tablet, phone, and that only phones and tablets respond to touch and run a mobile OS, and only laptops run a full desktop OS. For those who can't think outside that box and for whom Windows 8 and devices like the Surface Pro and the Yoga are complete mysteries, I usually explain it this way:
Imagine if Apple announced a new MacBook Air. Upon arrival, you open it to find the expected screen, keyboard and trackpad. Furthermore, when you boot it up, you see the familiar OSX interface with the menu bar and dock. However, upon looking closer, you notice a new icon on the dock. You click it, and the OSX desktop disappears to be replaced by the standard iPad homescreen. Some exploration leads you to discover that not only is the new MacBook Air's screen touch sensitive, but it can be removed from the keyboard and used as an oridinary iPad tablet. Finally, you learn that not only can you switch between the two interfaces whether the screen is attached or not, but the keyboard/trackpad works in both the iOS as well as OSX modes equally well, and you can Command+Tab between Photoshop running on OSX and the Facebook app on iOS easily. Also, the supplied stylus works better than any stylus has ever worked on any previous iOS device ever.
I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure Apple fans would jump on that, if/when it's released. Until then (and for the rest of us), there's the Surface Pro. It's both a fully fledged laptop that runs Windows, but it can also function as a tablet because Microsoft leapfrogged the whole tablet/desktop OS divide and integrated a touch experience into the Windows operating system, so you have both experiences when you want them. The people on this thread who think that the Surface Pro doesn't have an x86 processor and therefore can't be compared to a MacBook are probably thinking of Surface RT devices, which run on ARM like the iPad does.
Many have stated the truth, laptops can't (at this time) be replaced by tablets. In many many cases, laptops are more efficient at navigating using either a touchpad or mouse. The Surface Pro 3's are actually nice tablets, but can be cumbersome with their touch capabilities (i.e. switching from touchscreen to keyboard) on certain apps. Navigating a web page with a touch pad, to me, seems just as efficient as with a touch screen. Also there is no need for a kickstand (God they go on and on about that little thing) on a laptop, and adding extra RAM is not possible on a SP3. My one big gripe with SP3 is Windows 8, it can be quite confusing for someone new to the OS. Now Windows 7, that was a solid OS.
I would give it away to someone I know if Microsoft gave it to me for free.
My iPad and Macbook Air meet my needs perfectly
My iPad and Macbook Air meet my needs perfectly