Mac to Surface? Are you still Happy?

[Lobo]

While I wouldn't trade in my Apple gadgets, the SP3 is here to stay.

Windows 8 is a weird mix of desktop and tablet OS, with most things having two different approaches for the same thing, leaving me pretty confused in the beginning.

Yes, it feels a bit half-baked (to me), but I have to admit that I wouldn't be able to come up with a better solution either. After all, desktop and tablet use can't really share a common layout due to the different nature of input devices.

Also, things do get easier once you really try to familiarize yourself with the concept.

Unfortunately, Apple really has to catch up and it won't be pretty. Same problems with the difference between desktop and tablet interface, yet it seems they haven't even started to figure something out.

 

[Moonsurface]

What Apple will probably do is what they seem to do with mobile devices like the iphone, leave it a couple of years for other manufacturers to introduce new technologies and ways of using the OS, see what works and then implement it on their own devices as "new". It will probably work very well as they'll have time to develop it to suit their hardware and other software and it'll be a further developed, shiny slick Apply version of what's already out there.

To be honest I don't think of my Surface as a laptop at all. Sure I can use it as if it is one, however I interact with it in "tablet like" ways, even when it's in horizontal mode with the keyboard attached, I still swipe on the screen with my fingers, prod at stuff on the desktop with finger... or if needs be pen (if interface is too small or non-touch enabled) I RARELY use the track pad and I don't feel the need for a mouse because of the way I use it, track pad and mouse just feels like a slow and archaic way to interact with the surface to me. Used that way it works really very well (with a few minor annoyances with non-optimised desktop apps) for me.

Apple will have the same issue with third party software... but maybe not as bad as MS have it as by the time they get to it, other software manufacturers will probably already have implemented touch friendly versions of apps, and then it'll be "Apples interface is so much slicker.. remember how dire desktop apps and the awkward split interface were on the surface ... bleugh"... And yes I'm sure it'll be slick.. it's got to be with an Apple device that's a given, but they wouldn't be bravely forging their way into a new world by then and the waters would be calmer for them. That's if they don't leave it too long and lose all their custom from serious business users or creatives who want and need touch /pen technology now and might get fed up with waiting.


In reply to a comment above about speed of writing vs typing. Yes I can type way faster than I can longhand write... but have you tried typing a diagram (as in a rough sketch rather than publication standard), or annotating a pdf article using text boxes and line art... definitely way slower. The pen has been a total relevation to me with the way I work, it may not be relevant to you and I didn't actually think it'd be that relevant to me to use One Note and inking, but I use it WAY more than I expected. I had an open mind and now I'm totally addicted to One Note and freehand writing notes I'd otherwise write with a pen, with the surface. I don't loose notes any more. I can get to them from anywhere and I've become a unexpectedly a whole lot more productive because of it.

 

[Lobo]

It's funny how to me, the Surface is mostly a laptop, but I love being able to just tear it apart to work on it easily while standing without a keyboard getting in my way. And that's the beauty of it, it fits so many usage scenarios, no matter how much you weigh in your personal desktop/tablet ratio.

As for Apple, they really perfected an existing solution with the birth of the iPhone, none of the competitors came close.

Regarding a touch investment for the desktop, they're too far behind. The entire GUI would have to be made to work with touch, since it's too tiny to operate with your fingers. And they already got tablets with a touch GUI with a good third party supply of keyboards. I highly doubt they'll make an effort towards an OS X touch device.

By the way, Apple has taken great care to drive away as many professionals as possible ever since they skyrocketed with their iPhone sale and decided to scratch "Computers" from their company name. Businesses need some kind of planning and Apple is just way too unreliable in that department.

Take their server, the Xserve. Axed, just like that. No follow-up device, the new "server" software is nothing more than an early alpha. Take their movie software Final Cut, used by many renowned pros in Hollywood. They bring out a new version that lacks like half the features of the predecessor and it takes over a year to get back to most of the former capabilities. Take the MacPro, a former powerhouse, not receiving updates for years on end. Then, poof. Gone. Apple to the rescue with a dustbin design nobody ever needed with no way to add or even change internal cards. Of course, it would only be available like a year down the road.

None of these are bound to make any serious professional happy. There's just too high a chance Apple leaves them dead cold right smack in the middle of some important project.

The way I see it, Apple took note of their revenue when they started to really cater to consumers with iPhones, iPads and the whole iTunes/AppStore universe and deliberately decided to kick the very customers to the curb that kept them alive back in the 80's. Consumers will not demand planning, they buy new stuff way before it's necessary and they just plainly buy more digital goods than a company buying Final Cut once and using it for years. In the end, it's all about the $$$, as usual.

 

[Moonsurface]

As for Apple, they really perfected an existing solution with the birth of the iPhone, none of the competitors came close.

OK I'll give you that the iPhone did redefine what a phone should be - however it's more the technology in the phones of late that give me the impressions I write about above.
But who knows Apple are supposed to have this game changing device coming aren't they, or was that the watch?? Which was also done before by Samsung and others.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

No one company covers all the bases, just a fact of life.

If I look at a MacBook I see refinement definitely missing from Microsoft devices. Microsoft are a bit rough around the edges in everything they do and yet they do see the big picture well, witness their cloud services.

 

[Lobo]

@Moonsurface You're right, they generally take some available function and perfect it in one way or another. Like the touch screens, heck, I had those on my PDAs for ages on my Palm/Windows Mobile devices, but none would come close to the iPhone's.

Or MacBooks, they take readily available computer parts, perfect the input devices and drop a very intuitive OS on it that's perfectly stable, because it's only got to run on like half a dozen platforms with very minute differences.

I bet the watch will be similar, yes, everybody and their mom have been releasing them in one shape or another, but without much of an overall, integrated concept. And that'll probably set it apart in the end.

 

[Moonsurface]

^^ agree and it works, but it's closed and as such I've never been tempted with Apple devices like iphones etc.

However I've never said I wouldn't have a macbook or mac desktop, just right now I'm preferring the tech that Microsoft is offering, and so far it's absolutely revolutionised the way I work... which is very impressive!

 

[Lobo]

Yes, it's closed, which is something of a two-edged sword. It really sucks when you're a tinkerer guy who likes to mod the hell out of it. On the other side, imagine the regular user. If I took my parents, they wouldn't know what they're missing out on, they just want to use it. Whatever's not on there, simply won't exist to them and hence, not be missed.

While us "techies" fill gazillions of forums up and down the net, it's easy to forget we're a minority. Most folks are oblivious to all the stuff that concerns us.

And that's where Apple really kicks in, you don't need to fumble around much, everything's turn-key and good to go, all Apps, Mails, Messages and digital goods connected. You come home from your day trip and the pics are already on the Mac. Care to watch the video with the family on your TV set real quick? One button and your Apple TV will have it running. All connected with a snap, and that's all most people need.

I think that's the key to Apple's overall concept, the more devices you get, the more you get locked down in that cage. And it's a golden cage, as long as you're happy within your confines, everything's great and really worth it.

 

[dbc]

Totally agree.. I am such a tinkerer, but i switched to mac a long time ago. I couldn't resist the surface pro 3 and its pen. However, the lack of refinement drives me mental on a daily basis. But I love onenote and writing on the screen for my classes.

small details like... if you press the OSK to type something into the address bar on firefox, it jumps out of focus once it pops up and you have to retouch the box to type it in.... Such a small thing, but they collect over time. you just don't see those kind of things on OSX. Screen scaling and how it affects onenote searching, the fact if you split screen with onenote metro the pen cursor turns into whatever cursor you had on desktop (a finger, grabhand, double arrow.. etc).

It makes perfect sense what someone else said, apple only runs on a select few devices and its a bit dummed down. BUT it just works - nearly every time.

I had a retina pro 15' and I went to the surface pro 3. I absolutely miss my mac and how little i had to tinker to get basic stuff to work. On my surface pro 3, every update seems to fix one issue but create another. i'm constantly installing and uninstalling things and i'm just tired of trying to make it work the way i want to make it work. I'm sick of onenote needing me to shut down my computer so i can open it again. Or the fact drawboard is the buggiest PDF editor ever and its still the best one around.

Until they make a mac with the surface pro 3 form factor and pen input. I'll be sticking around though. I just wish microsoft could pull it together a bit.

 

[stevenrossvanduyn]

i like the comments people complaining about windows 8 or 8.1. For me who has used 95, 97, 2000, vista, xp and windows 7 I don't see the justification of people complaining. The metro is useful if you want it or you have the desktop. Even my father ( 77 years old) who basically never used a computer can use windows 8.1. But then some people don't like change.
As for the Mac compared to a surface 3 well there is no comparison as surface 3 beats it hands down as your got touch, pen, computer/pad form and a OS that is used around the world for daily business.

 

[dbc]

I love my surface pro 3. I love what it can do which is exactly why i bought it. but saying it beats OSX hands down is a stretch.

I put alot of my chips in microsoft by buying the SP3. And like others said, OSX and tablet/pen form factor isn't going to be around anytime soon and thats perfectly fine with me. but if apple came out with a tablet like the SP3 in size and it could run a beefed up version of notability and still run preview. I'd be hard pressed to not switch just because of the bugginess i've been experiencing with my SP3.

That is above all is what I wish to see from microsoft. I love the windows 8.1 UI gestures, and Metro rocks as far as i'm concerned except for issues pertaining to the app freezing when you swap, but i get that.

I am well aware though that microsoft and windows obviously runs circles around OSX in its domain, but as a everyday end user, I think the simplicity is where its at. They should have a "dumb it down switch" for those of us to don't want to tinker. I can't be the only one, nearly ever lecture i've gone to in the last few years has had only students with macbooks and a select one or two with PCs. but apple also targeted students more, which i think was a good move because now, to me, macs are the norm and PCs seem more akin to what IBM represented back in the day.

I've been frustrated with windows, but I know that people swear by it for a reason. I'm just not entirely sure if I can see past the little nuances that make using the OS seem disjointed to me. Ive had my SP3 for 3 months now, i'm hoping it'll start getting less frustrating soon. I love what it can do, i just wish it could do it without so many hiccups.

 

[Lobo]

@dbc you summed it up very nicely. I wouldn't trade my Retina MBP for the world either.

Having experienced Windows since 3.x, I was used to tinkering. Used to fix stuff every once in a while, defrag, clean up and the occasional re-install. I actually shook my head at the pure thought of using a Mac, a machine that would only run a very limited selection of applications for a gargantuan price. Hell, you couldn't even play games on it, WTF?!

After the switch to Intel and a waning interest in games I thought what the heck, time to find out about the fuzz and build a hackintosh. I was quite surprised, since that thing was running more stable than any of my former PCs, although it was some hack job, not even running on the dedicated hardware.

Also, I got antsy sitting in front of it. Something was amiss. I didn't have to fumble around with things. Might sound funny, but after years of looking up proper AV solutions, registry hacks et.al. it felt weird to just work with it. That's when I got into the Apple universe for real, bought my first Mac mini and never looked back. Using mostly Adobe software, my demands were easily met. The few things it wouldn't run worked via Parallels.

Then came the time I needed to run a boatload of specialized Windows software and Parallels just didn't cut it anymore. Also, the lack of something akin to the Surface drove me mad. In my line of work, I often need to change positions, work standing up, take notes, etc. and that's where the Surface concept really shines.

Under different prerequisites, I'd still go Apple all the way, but Microsoft is really on to something with the Surface and the occasional hiccups aside, the SP3 gets me through the day rather nicely.