Pre-Sale Questions / Surface pro

[machistmo]

Must admit, I find the SP a fantastic piece of kit, fulfilling all my requirements and more (and I say that having been a diehard Apple user for the past 10+ years). Sure, there could be better aspects but then again, any piece of hardware could be improved. But for me, it is easily up to the task of desktop/laptop/tablet replacement. I love it and quite frankly don't care that it has come down in price. The only downside has been having to migrate my media to Windows (not found a quick and easy Aperture to Lightroom library transfer method yet) but that's no biggy.

Yea thats a bummer to have all the stuff and not be able to transfer it. I would suspect that isnt by accident but rather by design. Why make it easy for someone to leave your ecosystem? Then they are stuck paying for more overpriced hardware.

 

[bladeguy5]

Why people come here that dont own the device anymore is puzzling to me..... if you returned it for a asus ultra book than power to you but this is the surface forums

 

[drolem]

Windows 8.1 is coming in October for surface pro. It brings back the start menu of the past so many are accustomed to using.

No, it does *NOT*.

Win 8.1 brings back the Start button, but clicking on it will not get you a traditional start menu. It will simply switch between desktop mode and the Metro UI. To get a start menu of the past, one need to install a program such as Classic Shell.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Teaching my mum to move over to using my Surface (when docked to an external monitor) and yesterday she said, "Where's the list thingy in the bottom left hand corner?" this is going to be a long journey

 

[oion]

Teaching my mum to move over to using my Surface (when docked to an external monitor) and yesterday she said, "Where's the list thingy in the bottom left hand corner?" this is going to be a long journey

I can see how this would be a great challenge for non-savvy users when even the OP, who probably thinks he's tech savvy, complained about the "big blocks on the desktop."

The Start Menu was converted to a Start Screen. The desktop is actually the same.

The best analogy for teaching purposes, especially on a touchscreen mobile device:

Windows Explorer > "List" view a whole bunch of files, and point out that this view is like the old Start Menu. Not so easy to select by finger, right?

Windows Explorer > "Large Icons" view the same bunch of files, and point out that this view is like the new Start Screen. Much easier to see on small screens and easier for touch.

Then the new Start Screen allows easy drag-n-drop visual organization into groups like "folders," and so on. Though I didn't realize you could zoom out to see a lot more groups, probably because I don't have a lot of apps installed anyway. I wish there was a "fit to screen" function for the start screen, though I hear 8.1 will allow smaller tile sizes.

 

[demandarin]

No, it does *NOT*.

Win 8.1 brings back the Start button, but clicking on it will not get you a traditional start menu. It will simply switch between desktop mode and the Metro UI. To get a start menu of the past, one need to install a program such as Classic Shell.

That's dumb then..lol we don't need a button for that. All we have to do is press the windows button on bezel or on keyboard for that.

 

[TeknoBlast]

That's dumb then..lol we don't need a button for that. All we have to do is press the windows button on bezel or on keyboard for that.

This was explained when 8.1 was mentioned before, so it's not news. There even was a video of show what the button looks like and showing that it took you back to the Start screen, not a menu.

 

[drolem]

That's dumb then..lol we don't need a button for that. All we have to do is press the windows button on bezel or on keyboard for that.

I fully agree with you. There are lots of dumb (or non-obvious) things about the 8 and 8.1 UI, but that's how it works.

Personally, I think a few simple UI changes could've resulted in a much better reception and UI experience for Win8, but MS in its infinite wisdom decided they can make a 180, and can get away with a phone UI on desktops. Didn't work too well.