Why I Like the Microsoft Surface

Repost from Slide and Tap.

www.microsoft.com

In my previous post, I said that tablets are the bridge between mobile phones and laptops. It’s the perfect mix between mobile phone’s mobility and a laptop’s processing power. The latest tablet from Microsoft, the Surface, just made my point even clearer; You can see it from the photo above. And I have to say that I like this new Mircosoft Surface! If you want to go in to the tech specs of Surface, you can read it all here.

There are two models of Surface, one will be running Windows RT on an ARM chipset and the other will be a Windows 8 pro and Ivy bridge combo and both are Wi-Fi only if I’m not mistaken. What I’m eyeing for is the latter because what I want to experience is a full desktop work place. You see, I’ve been working in a Windows environment even before I started my professional career. There is no escaping Microsoft Windows because it has been widely adapted by corporations worldwide. Even though I own a Macbook Pro and loving the Mac OS environment, I still can’t shake the feeling that I will still need a Windows platform (maybe a gaming rig, well, for gaming purposes). It’s not really the gadget per se that is attractive to me, but it’s also the OS. The upcoming Windows 8 OS has dual interface, one in touch-screen form (like the one you see above) and the other in a normal desktop mode (with the toolbars and stuff). At first I wondered how the heck would that work but then it Microsoft demoed how it will. It’s something that is very familiar to me and something I know works (well, when I say works I meant relatively to my experience on working on a desktop environment, not the BSD or the system locks.)

What I don’t like with tablets is their apps, I doesn’t appeal to me how an app can make me productive. If you want good software that can deliver, you get desktop applications, but as of this writing I’m sure there are tons of apps out there that would slap me in the face for saying it and I’ve seen videos about such apps. Do note that I’m just a novice in the tablet environment, yapping my mouth from outside the gate. My co-bloggers here has more knowledge on apps for tablet use. Also, you can’t blame me for pointing that out because most apps I see on my friends’ tablets are games, Twitter and a browser. Maybe we’re just slow to adapt the use of a tablet to our daily lives. That is why when I saw the demo that the Surface can give me the familiar desktop environment and is able to run Adobe’s Lightroom, my eyes sparkled because I saw something I’m looking for. And to top it off, it still works as a tablet with a true tablet touch interface that is of Windows 8′s flexibility. Isn’t that a great deal?

And then there’s the keyboard. Yes, that simple addition of a keyboard makes sense. Because it’s just easier to type on a keyboard than on a screen. You have got to admit that I’m right here. Having a separate keyboard from your screen gives you more screen space because since it’s already a 7″ screen, it will get smaller when the keyboard is on. And if you type on the screen, you tend to look down to look at the screen as you type horizontally on your lap, or on a table. Try typing with the screen up and your head straight and it’s your wrist that will suffer with this setup. See my point? But even though I made a good argument with this, I will still call this based on preference because I’m sure there are lots of people who are perfectly fine with typing on a tablet (and are now hurting their necks). And besides, we have add-ons to tablets with bluetooth keyboards and stands that does make them bulky. Thing is, Microsoft included those “options” in the stock package because I think they know people need those (or maybe they just want o make their tablet worth while instead of becoming just another tablet in the market).

But it’s not all good news for me. Microsoft hasn’t announced the price yet of this device (I was waiting for the “shipping now” phrase from the keynote but no one said it) and it is rumored that the Surface with Windows 8 pro would cost the same as Apple’s Macbook Air, most likely the 11-inch models. Now what we have there is a true laptop and even though it’s bigger in width, it’s still has a thin profile and very much a portable computer with a whole lot of RAM and screen space. So… I’m back to Apple then. From Apple’s iPad to Microsoft’s Surface and now Apple’s Macbook Air. huh? But let’s see how those two will do in a comparison test, when Microsoft decides to release their Surface on the 4th quarter this year. Another thing to worry about are the availability of apps in the environment under Microsoft. Today, the best mobile environment in my opinion is that of Apple’s iOS and closely followed by Google’s Android (basically, they are the only two environments competing anyway). Microsoft has to catch up with those two giants of the mobile OS if it wants to make the Surface a hit to the consumers.

Apart from those possible drawbacks and possible options against the Surface, I still like to get my hands on one. It can do what a desktop computer can and it is smaller and more compact than those “net books”. That’s how I see Mircosoft’s Surface.

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If you haven’t seen the ad for the Microsoft Surface, then click below. And below that, is Microsoft’s Surface keynote.