Microsoft’s US$499 (and up) Surface with Windows RT “is an interesting new addition to a crowded market. Though Windows RT touts a desktop environment which looks and feels very similar to Windows 7, the OS doesn’t allow for legacy Windows applications to be run or installed, save for the Office suite and a desktop version of Internet Explorer 10,” Joshua Topolsky writes for The Verge. “Furthermore, new apps must be written for the tiled environment of Windows 8 — the new Windows Phone-influenced interface which seemingly defines Microsoft’s future.”
“The kickstand is indeed a unique addition to a tablet of this size, and it’s sturdy and works reasonably well. I do have some niggles with it — particularly the fact that its position can’t be adjusted in any way, meaning you have to like the angle the screen is at and live with it (it was usually too upright in most scenarios I tried it in, but not unusable by any means),” Topolsky writes. “The kickstand also has extremely sharp metal edges, which caused it to scratch a couple of wooden surfaces I found myself placing the Surface on. It’s also not very useful on your lap — unless you like to struggle. You could use the kickstand to put the Surface upright in portrait, though it’s not terribly stable, and I wouldn’t trust it to not fall over with the wrong kind of touch.”
MacDailyNews Take: That dumbass kickstand is yet another ill-considered, misguided, corporate committee-driven “differentiation” squirted out of Microsoft’s back door unbidden onto the public.
Topolsky writes, “The Surface looks and feels pretty good when you’re holding it… but it is huge. At 10.81 inches across (in landscape) and 0.37 inches thick, it’s not really that comfortable to hold in landscape for extended periods, and in portrait it’s laughably tall. Trying to hold the device upright to read a book in the Kindle app felt about as ridiculous as taking a picture with a tablet. Maybe more ridiculous, actually… At the size of the Surface screen, 1366 x 768 resolution leaves much to be desired… The Surface seems to desperately want to be docked and on a desk or table rather than in your hands or on your lap. After using it for an extended period of time, it’s hard to imagine bedtime reading or casual throw-it-in-a-bag use for this device.”
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft is staffed with stupid and/or lazy people. There’s no other explanation besides crippling narcissism – which is a very real possibility. Most people use iPads while lounging around. All Microsoft’s Surface “team” had to do was buy some real iPads and use them for a few weeks. Steve Jobs himself even demonstrated the iPad while reclining in a comfy leather chair, not sitting upright at a friggin’ desk. Microsoft was shown the way and, once again, they failed to properly follow Apple’s lead. By now, that’s just stupid and/or lazy.
Topolsky writes, Yes, for the Windows hardcore, this is also Windows. You have a full file explorer, control panels, media viewers, a command line (if you want it), access to USB devices, external storage, etc. This acts and feels like Windows — but a Windows with no apps. I believe Microsoft could have wrapped all of this functionality in a cleaner and more user-friendly interface, thus keeping the user from shifting between two extremes. Why the company chose to go the route it went is a mystery perhaps only Steve Ballmer himself could unravel.”
MacDailyNews Take: As soon as he figures out how to tie his shoelaces, we’re sure Ballmer T. Clown will get right on that one.
Topolsky writes, “The fact that the strongest and most useful (and notably, most responsive) applications are relegated to the old environment gives me pause. Add to that the fact that many of the new apps seem incomplete or buggy — and you’ve got a problem. Microsoft wants to compete with the iPad (and presumably any Android tablet that has any kind of foothold), but it’s not necessarily offering a better experience than other devices on the market… Let me put it this way: the Surface does not seem like a better tablet than the iPad or the Nexus 7.”
MacDailyNews Take: Not even better than the Nexus 7? Ouch.
Topolsky writes, “Is the interface so much easier to use or so much more powerful that it would tip the hand of an average buyer? Not in my opinion. Is the app selection better or more robust in some way? Not by a long shot, and there’s no clear sign it will be anytime soon. And I must ask — how is it possible that in launching a massively important device like this, Microsoft couldn’t muster up a single killer game title to pull in the Xbox fanbase? Halo: Surface Edition, anyone? The whole thing is honestly perplexing. If this device is not as good as (or better than) the best tablet, and not a complete alternative to a laptop — who is this for? What is it supposed to be?”
MacDailyNews Take: Perhaps it’s for morbidly obese losers who tattoo logos onto their fat-laden, thigh-like upper arms? Zune.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft suffers from delusions of grandeur. They think they matter and that people will buy their pretend iPad over other pretend iPads because it’s from Microsoft. Microsoft does not matter. Microsoft no longer has the power to sell superfluous products. The world already has iPad. The thinking world finally woke up and moved on from Microsoft’s soul-sapping dreck. That clueless Microsoft haven’t figured this out years ago (Zune, Kin, how many total face-plants do they need?) is illustrative of the depths of their delusions.
As with Zune, Kin, and Surface, Microsoft is unnecessary in today’s world. Their rapidly retiring/expiring IT Doofus firewall is the only thing keeping them around today.
Related articles:
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Dvorak: ‘Microsoft’s Surface tablet isn’t the Apple iPad, so it shouldn’t be priced like one’ – October 18, 2012
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Acer founder: Microsoft will quit making tablets soon – June 21, 2012
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Fox News: Copier Microsoft is doomed to fail with Surface tablet – June 19, 2012
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ZDNet Sr. Tech Editor Perlow: Microsoft’s Surface has catastrophe written all over it – June 19, 2012
Microsoft previews own ‘Surface’ tablet – June 18, 2012
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ZDNet’s Kingsley-Hughes: Microsoft’s Windows 8 is an awful, horrible, painful design disaster – June 8, 2012
Analyst meets with big computer maker, finds ‘general lack of enthusiasm’ for Windows 8 – June 8, 2012
Dvorak: Windows 8 an unmitigated disaster; unusable and annoying; it makes your teeth itch – June 3, 2012
The Guardian: Microsoft’s Windows 8 is confusing as hell; an appalling user experience – March 5, 2012
More good news for Apple: Microsoft previews Windows 8 (with video) – June 1, 2011
