Microsoft Announces Surface Book i7, Desktop PC 'Surface Studio,' and Windows 10 Creators Update

[Tunster]

Yup, that gave Apple breathing room to change course and right the ship, which they did in spectacular form.
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Not for everyone (including me)

Jokes aside, it'll be interesting to see Microsoft go chase the Apple's hardware/software integration model much closer with themselves and leave other the manufacturers building PCs/Laptops behind. In a market where things seem to move quicker, Microsoft have to move quicker by making their own hardware and getting into a release cycle. It's a step in the right direction for certain.

No doubt the Surface Studio is a very good looking computer with impressive specs, but price? A lot of people will be thinking, do I want to pay that for a Windows computer? With corporates abandoning Win8/10 and MacBooks being adopted much more with SMCs, Microsoft has to target the designer who may of been left behind where Apple have pushed iOS much more.

The Windows OS will always be a cluster-**** to manage for a long time from my own personal opinion, even if Microsoft want to close the doors slowly to third-party PC makers for a more stable OS.

 

[shanson27]

The reborn iMac

 

[forerunnerg34]

Somebody add comments to actual Mac rumors!! Microsoft posts are winning!
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or Just Black without an iMac...

hahaha headline: Johnny removes the actual iMac from the color to make it water and dust resistant, only Apple could do it.

 

[brdeveloper]

15" is the sweet spot to me, but the rMBP 15" could be a bit more lightweight... something like 300g less would be fine.

 

[kyleh22]

Yep, and like the Studio, MS is putting a whole lot of innovation, I'm really impressed with what they're doing. Apple, we have emojis, with MS, you can live stream your games with a push of a button, content creation is something they seem to be going after as well

Awesome point! MS has really been impressing me lately. We just upgraded it Windows 10 at work and I have to admit, I really like it.

 

[mrdf]

Amazing how similar computers look nowadays to Apple products invented (and still sold) 5 years ago.

Like Apple never copied anyone?

What's your point?

 

[JDGwf]

Windows 2000 Professional was (and is) the best Windows yet. It's been all downhill from there.

Windows 10 is only slightly better than Windows 8, which is god-awful compared to Windows 7, which was a slight improvement over the disastrous Windows Vista, which replaced Windows XP which was pretty much just Windows 2000 with a goofier UI, better DirectX support, and the introduction of that awesome product activation feature.

I, respectfully, disagree. I remember Windows 2000. I remember the plethora of Reboots it took for any system change. I remember what a sluggy mess it was compared to my Linux desktop. Windows 10 runs on the same memory as my Ubuntu desktop today with more UI features.

Ubuntu seems a bit snappier in some cases (side by side on VM), but there's a lot of services running.

I've been a Mac Desktop User full time since 2010 (right when I was in belief that Apple was to actually cater to professionals), and since then I've felt I've been let down with the hardware upgrades. Don't get me wrong, I love MacOS and I *LOVE* my iPad Air 2, but I'm feeling left out with the latest round of upgrades.

I'll be watching the Apple event with bated breath.
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Matter of opinion. It feels cobbled together and is inconsistent to me. Windows improved every release up to windows 7 then it started to go down hill again.

I can't see going back. For a start I would miss finder thumbnails for all graphic file types I use, quick view without having to go through a menu and automator. Very nice hardware but just can't imagine downgrading to an inferior os experience.

I agree with your assertion. There are many things in Finder I love and will miss* (and do miss when I'm on a Linux desktop), however there are things in finder that drive me absolutely crazy when compared side by side other OS explorers/finders/file browsers.

*Assuming I do switch back

 

[SlCKB0Y]

And they were bailed out by.... Microsoft!

They weren't "bailed out" by Microsoft. The MS investment was mostly meant to be a symbolic offer of support saying that MS believed in the future of Apple.

 

[tuxon86]

They weren't "bailed out" by Microsoft. The MS investment was mostly meant to be a symbolic offer of support saying that MS believed in the future of Apple.

https://www.wired.com/2009/08/dayintech_0806/

 

[SlCKB0Y]

I, respectfully, disagree. I remember Windows 2000. I remember the plethora of Reboots it took for any system change. I remember what a sluggy mess it was compared to my Linux desktop.

As someone who used Linux extensively back then, Linux was a mess back then.

Win2k was far and away the best end-user OS at the time. It was more stable and technologically superior to both win9x and Mac OS, and had a way better feature set and infinitely more applications than Linux. Linux hardware support at the time was also appalling.

I've been a massive fan of Linux since the mid 90's, and a fairly big detractor of Microsoft, but I think you need to take off the rose coloured glasses.
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https://www.wired.com/2009/08/dayintech_0806/

I don't care what a particular tech journalist wrote back in 1997 for their click-bait headline. We happen to have much better information about the nature of the deal now after 20 years than they did back then.

Apple had a couple of billion in cash at that time, at best the MS investment helped sure up the stock price, but "bail out" is not accurate.

 

[LordVic]

Windows 2000 Professional was (and is) the best Windows yet. It's been all downhill from there.

Windows 10 is only slightly better than Windows 8, which is god-awful compared to Windows 7, which was a slight improvement over the disastrous Windows Vista, which replaced Windows XP which was pretty much just Windows 2000 with a goofier UI, better DirectX support, and the introduction of that awesome product activation feature.

This is going to sound weird. but Windows 8.1 I think was their all time "BEST" Operating system. Now wait me out while I explain.

The GUI was a mess. We all know that. from a user's perspective they goofed big time. That Metro "start screen" really screwed over my workflow and comfort level. I had to adapt. And finding settings you need between seemingly two personalities of windows was a Pain.

But from the resourcing, driver support, stability, memory usage and disk management side of things. It was ****ing rock solid. I think I had hundreds of days of uptime without thinking about it on my gaming computer. never crashed, never BSOD. games never crashed and the thing was blazingly fast.

Windows 10 fixes a LOT of the UI and usability issues, but it feels less stable. I've had a few BSOD's. I've had a few driver issues. My Surface Pro 2 has had resourcing problems and certain hardware events trigger buggy services that run away. Multiple fresh reinstalls don't cure this, and this is on Microsoft's own hardware.

I think we're a good year away with WIn10 before we're at that level of stability again.

 

[tuxon86]

As someone who used Linux extensively back then, Linux was a mess back then.

Win2k was far and away the best end-user OS at the time. It was more stable and technologically superior to both win9x and Mac OS, and had a way better feature set and infinitely more applications than Linux. Linux hardware support at the time was also appalling.

I've been a massive fan of Linux since the mid 90's, and a fairly big detractor of Microsoft, but I think you need to take off the rose coloured glasses.
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I don't care what a particular tech journalist wrote back in 1997 for their click-bait headline. We happen to have much better information about the nature of the deal now after 20 years than they did back then.

Apple had a couple of billion in cash at that time, at best the MS investment helped sure up the stock price, but "bail out" is not accurate.

In other word you're a fanboy addicted to apple flavored kool-aid and as such denies any fact that goes against you fantasy... Gotcha.

 

[Yuthopia]

The Surface Studio is one gorgeous computer, its very apple like in its elegant lines and function. My iMac with the giant bezels and large chin feels so old and outdated.

Microsoft is swinging for the fences and its shows, where as I feel Apple is complacent - I hope at least I'm wrong and tomorrow's event will surprise me

Haha.. to me Surface studio looks very much like a Macmini sitting below a dell screen.

To me, it is a design that a small kid would draw up. I mean it is basically a simple box of screen on another box of cpu.

I guesss beauty is in the eyes of beholder after all.

 

[\-V-/]

Dr Robot?

Dr. Robotnik

 

[Yuthopia]

To bad that Apple came first with it .

Yes. 5 years before.

 

[rowspaxe]

Wow. That's like the most outdated list of gripes I've ever seen. I've got one for you which is in the same vein:

"At least windows has right click!"

There is so much windows hate at Mr but then when you ask for specifics, the issues are bogus or aesthetic or minor. And by the way, macOs with that idiotic animated dock is ridiculous

 

[trifid]

Since when? Pretty much every occasion where they had superior hardware. We were being bombarded constantly with benchmarks for G3 and G4 vs. Intel. We were bombarded after the intel switch with benchmarks of Intel Macs vs. the G5 Macs.

In mobile they were frequently discussing the raw speed of their Axx chips and GFX compared to the competition.

The only time Apple doesn't talk about raw hardware speed is when their hardware doesn't have the best raw speed - then they go very quiet on the subject.

This has been going on since about 1998.

You are right I remember those photoshop tests with altivec back in early 2000s, Apple stopped that after the switch to Intel. Again, so for the last 10 years or so Apple kept quiet about raw power on macs when compared to the competition, hence my original point applies.

 

[Renzatic]

To me it looks like a ginormous tablet, and was waiting for Panos to disconnect it from the base and walk around with it

Im being completely serious.

That's what makes it a Surface! When I first saw it, I thought the thing look liked an incredibly large SP4 on a special stand. It makes you think you should be able to grab the screen, and walk off with it.

 

[Tech198]

New price for old hardware. That's Mac for you

If old hardware we refer to as "a year old" or two then ya... I wouldn't bet the fact Apple's own needs are far greater to work then other manufactures are as the reason why "things are not really"

Everyone's coming out with slim iMac style even Microsoft... Dell was among them as well, just the display only.

 

[dotnet]

Yes. 5 years before.

Five years? I'm counting 14. What happened five years ago?

 

[peakman]

My full switch back to Windows will be complete with the Surface Studio... I already gave up on Apple laptops. I love the 3:2 aspect ratio as well.

Love that ratio too!

 

[smulji]

I think you are right. However, I think there are four things to this introduction -

1. To keep the Surface line aspirational. This is good for the downmarket Surfaces by establishing it as a premiere brand. This will also happen if you start seeing these things in strategic locations (kiosks, etc.) where you can show them off.
2. This will sell regular Surface Pros and Surface Books if #1 starts to happen.
3. It sets the stage for introducing cheaper versions of this product which can compete with an iMac in a year or two down the road. Microsoft could probably release a 21" - 24" version of this product for that could meet the $1999 price point.
4. It is a bar to set for PC OEMs - particularly folks like HP.

Overall, it is a smart move Microsoft has made to go super high end. It shows that Windows as a platform doesn't need to be relegated to cheap plastic creaky unlovable machines.

We'll see if any of this happens - but I have friends who are now interested in Surface (and therefore Windows) who weren't before these kinds of introductions.

"To keep the Surface line aspirational."

The Surface line isn't so much about being aspirational as it is about making the best "trucks", and I don't mean that in a negative sense


"It sets the stage for introducing cheaper versions of this product which can compete with an iMac in a year or two down the road. "

I disagree. If you ever watch Panos' when he presents the Surface, he always says Surface is about doing "more": more than a tablet, more than a laptop, more than a desktop. If he does what you suggest, he's going away from the vision of what Surface represents. The device you're asking for is already being served by MS' OEM partners.

 

[DmASkater]

Cook is to blame for Apple stagnation under him. But now what will he do with superior competition?

 

[maflynn]

15" is the sweet spot to me, but the rMBP 15" could be a bit more lightweight... something like 300g less would be fine.

I've flipped flopped on that, I had smaller laptops graduated to the 15", then gone back and forth. Right now, I'm on a 13" laptop and I'm happy with it. I'm finding for portability sake, the 15 was just a bit too bulky but I did like the increased screen real estate.

 

[ActionableMango]

Everyone is saying it looks great, but all I see is a Microsoft Panini Press.