I switched from a MacBook Pro to a Surface Pro 3 one month ago

[ojm]

Hi all,

I'm new here. Found the forum when Googling for some issues I was having.

Anyway, one month ago I was 'forced' to switch to a Surface Pro 3 from my Retina MacBook Pro. Can read about it all here - I switched from a MacBook Pro to a Surface Pro 3 – One Month In – om.id.au

From the blog post, my main issues relate to:
- "Quick Look" like on OSX.
- Screenshotting not as good as OSX.
- Issues taking from sleep.

Any tips of my gripes?

(hope sharing is ok!).

Thanks!

 

[ScottyS]

Hi all,

I'm new here. Found the forum when Googling for some issues I was having.

Anyway, one month ago I was 'forced' to switch to a Surface Pro 3 from my Retina MacBook Pro. Can read about it all here - I switched from a MacBook Pro to a Surface Pro 3 – One Month In – om.id.au

From the blog post, my main issues relate to:
- "Quick Look" like on OSX.
- Screenshotting not as good as OSX.
- Issues taking from sleep.
...

Nice article comparing Surface with Mac.
I didn't know about Quick Look. My wife uses a MB Air, gotta get her to try that.

As for screen captures, if you have a keyboard attached with a PrtScn button (taking the whole screen), Alt+PrtScn captures just with active window.

If you have the Type Cover attached Fn+spacebar captures the whole screen (don't know if Alt+Fn+spacebar will capture a window, my type cover's not working at the moment so I can't try it).

When using it as a tablet press the Windows logo on the touchscreen bezel and then press the volume down button on the left edge of Surface. The screen dims briefly when the screen is copied and saved as a file in the Screenshots folder (which is in your Pictures library) and it is on the clipboard to be pasted somewhere if you like.

Microsoft had a beta snipping tool that I used when trying the Win10 technical preview. You could download it from the beta version of the Windows store which was much nicer than the snipping tool that comes with Windows 10. But since the launch of Windows 10 I don't know if that's still available.

 

[Nicola]

Nice article comparing Surface with Mac.
I didn't know about Quick Look. My wife uses a MB Air, gotta get her to try that.

As for screen captures, if you have a keyboard attached with a PrtScn button (taking the whole screen), Alt+PrtScn captures just with active window.

If you have the Type Cover attached Fn+spacebar captures the whole screen (don't know if Alt+Fn+spacebar will capture a window, my type cover's not working at the moment so I can't try it).

When using it as a tablet press the Windows logo on the touchscreen bezel and then press the volume down button on the left edge of Surface. The screen dims briefly when the screen is copied and saved as a file in the Screenshots folder (which is in your Pictures library) and it is on the clipboard to be pasted somewhere if you like.

Microsoft had a beta snipping tool that I used when trying the Win10 technical preview. You could download it from the beta version of the Windows store which was much nicer than the snipping tool that comes with Windows 10. But since the launch of Windows 10 I don't know if that's still available.

I just tested: the ALT+Fn+Space actually captures the active window

 

[compnovo]

Just a heads up, the snipping tool has been in final release for a while and is available in Win10. I use it often.
Regarding sleep issues, have you installed all the firmware updates? Some SP3s had sleep issues but the firmware fixes solved them for me. Also, you didn't mention if your SP3 has been upgraded to Win10 yet but that may be the source. I did the free upgrade when it was released and was experiencing some problems so I did a reset, reinstalled my applications, and haven't had any issues since.

 

[ScottyS]

Just a heads up, the snipping tool has been in final release for a while and is available in Win10. I use it often.
Regarding sleep issues, have you installed all the firmware updates? Some SP3s had sleep issues but the firmware fixes solved them for me. Also, you didn't mention if your SP3 has been upgraded to Win10 yet but that may be the source. I did the free upgrade when it was released and was experiencing some problems so I did a reset, reinstalled my applications, and haven't had any issues since.

I wasn't talking about the snipping tool, but another similar app by MS called Snip.

 

[compnovo]

I wasn't talking about the snipping tool, but another similar app by MS called Snip.

Thanks for the clarification, I didn't read your post closely enough.

 

[ojm]

I've started using MS Snip. A lot better than the snipping tool!

 

[sharpuser]

SURFACE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

Capture Screen (Screen image to Clipboard for Paste elsewhere)
Fn + SPACEBAR

Capture Screen (Saved in Pictures folder)
Fn + WINDOWS KEY + SPACEBAR (in this order)

Capture Current Window Only
Fn + ALT+ SPACEBAR

Screen Brightness
Fn + DEL = Screen Brightness UP
Fn + BACKSPACE = Screen Brightness DOWN

Lock or Unlock Fn
Fn + Caps Lock

Home
Fn + Arrow Left

End
Fn + Arrow Right

PgUp
Fn + Arrow Up

PgDown
Fn + Arrow Down