surface pro 2 over mac air

[fraser_ian]

I bought a MacBook air in August this year expecting to be 'wowed' with the whole Apple experience. I wasn't. Sure, some aspects were nice,. Its slick, quick, reliable etc, but clumsy in a way, folders were difficult to share/ access, and what could be done quickly on a windows pc seemed deliberately difficult with Mac. I complained about an annoying clicking from the under body of my Laptop - quickly told that it wasn't a laptop at all, this led to me experiencing the Apple customer service I didn't expect. Awful. I have sold my Air and been with this Surface now for 3 weeks, and yes there are some of those driver issues, quirky heart shopping moments when you think it's budgeted up, and I guess I don't fully trust it as much as the Mac - but I truly love it, I'm typing this out on the type cover which is actually a pleasure - and will go back to tablet mode in a minute - fantastic. Assuming the next SURFACE is improved even further I will definitely consider another, brilliant machine - I love it. Well done Microsoft!

 

[fraser_ian]

Lol. Ms corrected spelling!! Budgeted up should have read buggered up. Bugger!!!

 

[macmee]

I love my Surface Pro 2, although I will not use Windows as my primary OS. It is buggy, has poor drivers, poor support for retina, poor multi touch mouse support, no spaces, and I'm not a particular fan of Windows 8 for desktop. On a tablet full Windows absolutely smashes iOS and Android, but as the OS of my main computer I will never go near Windows, not even emulated.

To each his own I suppose. If Apple made a Mac in the form of a tablet I would of been all over it, but Microsoft beat them to it and the SP2 is pretty great, better JMO than an iPad. I don't know if I would trade my MacBook in for a Surface although I recognize why you might would want to, because these tablets are little beasts

 

[oion]

I love my Surface Pro 2, although I will not use Windows as my primary OS. It is buggy, has poor drivers, (1) poor support for retina, (2) poor multi touch mouse support, (3) no spaces, and (4) I'm not a particular fan of Windows 8 for desktop. On a tablet full Windows absolutely smashes iOS and Android, but as the OS of my main computer I will never go near Windows, not even emulated.

(1) Retina is an Apple brand tech, so why would Windows support it at all?
(2) I'm not sure what this is; never bothered with fancy multi-touch gestures myself, but that's very different from a mouse, isn't it?
(3) Curious what you mean by that.
(4) You're not alone. I think... basically no one likes Windows 8 on a desktop. I don't know what MS was thinking trying to replace desktop mode with a touch-based Start Screen.

Saying the SP2 is better than the iPad isn't helping the presentation of your opinion, by the way.

The software bug/driver issues on Windows really has to do with the sheer variety of x86-based technology available--different manufacturers for every hardware component, different configurations, so on. Apple doesn't do this because they're completely locked down and proprietary--OS and hardware together from a single source. This gives Apple a whole lot more control over everything, yet their products aren't without bugs/problems too. In the case of Surface, Microsoft had never manufactured a computer in Apple-style before, so I'm more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. You can't blame Windows entirely for the millions of third party software that can be installed on it and cause issues, nor for the hardware drivers that are actually coming from the device and component manufacturers not under Microsoft's control.

For all the problems Windows has, it still absolutely kills Mac OSes in the world market shares, just as Android beats iOS handily: That's something to think about. Why is that? Windows 8 market share now beats Mac OS X. I suspect flexibility, corporate scaling, and user control have higher priority despite all the problems. But like you say: To each his/her own.

 

[macmee]

(1) Retina is an Apple brand tech, so why would Windows support it at all?
(2) I'm not sure what this is; never bothered with fancy multi-touch gestures myself, but that's very different from a mouse, isn't it?
(3) Curious what you mean by that.
(4) You're not alone. I think... basically no one likes Windows 8 on a desktop. I don't know what MS was thinking trying to replace desktop mode with a touch-based Start Screen.

Saying the SP2 is better than the iPad isn't helping the presentation of your opinion, by the way.

The software bug/driver issues on Windows really has to do with the sheer variety of x86-based technology available--different manufacturers for every hardware component, different configurations, so on. Apple doesn't do this because they're completely locked down and proprietary--OS and hardware together from a single source. This gives Apple a whole lot more control over everything, yet their products aren't without bugs/problems too. In the case of Surface, Microsoft had never manufactured a computer in Apple-style before, so I'm more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. You can't blame Windows entirely for the millions of third party software that can be installed on it and cause issues, nor for the hardware drivers that are actually coming from the device and component manufacturers not under Microsoft's control.

For all the problems Windows has, it still absolutely kills Mac OSes in the world market shares, just as Android beats iOS handily: That's something to think about. Why is that? Windows 8 market share now beats Mac OS X. I suspect flexibility, corporate scaling, and user control have higher priority despite all the problems. But like you say: To each his/her own.

1) I don't mean the specific Apple monitors, I'm talking about how even built in applications in Windows do have good support for the high resolution of the surface. Many Microsoft applications built right into W8 are blurry on the thing.
2) There's native gestures for all sorts of things. Two finger swipe to switch spaces, three finger swipe up and down for app launcher and mission control, swiping left and right to go back and forward in apps like Chrome/Safari, multi-touch scrolling, pinch to zoom built into everything, they're really all quite nice. This is one area especially where Windows is really dragging behind. Using a laptop with OS X is so easy with all the great gesture support, but I can't bring myself to use a Windows laptop because of how god awful using the trackpad is without easy navigation through means of intuitive gestures.
3) Spaces ([video=youtube;O93AIUGnq3w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O93AIUGnq3w[/video]), are like having multiple desktops that you can have different windows on. For example you can have one space with all your apps and windows arranged in one way, then when you go to do another task you can switch spaces and set up your workflow as you like again, and later on you can go back to your previous space. It's become an essential for me for multitasking, since I've been using it now for a long time on OS X and Ubuntu.
4) Yeah, for tablets it's great but for desktops not so much!

As an OSX/Windows/iPhone(4/4s)/iPad(1&3)/TouchPad/Nexus7(12&13)/SurfacePro2 user my preferences are OS X > Windows > iOS = Android and yeah like you said it's a strange opinion to prefer OS X over Windows but Windows over iOS, although it's Apple's fault for failing hard with the new iPad Air and iOS 6 and 7.

You're right about how Windows has to be more fragmented in order to support a larger variety of hardware, although this isn't the case with the Surface, Microsoft has total control over that, so I'll want to see improvements with my Surface as time goes on. Windows runs fine on the Surface, but I've had several video driver/wifi driver problems, and battery life could be better.

Windows doesn't trump OS X in sales due to software superiority, but because of Microsoft's business model to get it running on as many devices as possible. In terms of business this is the right strategy but in terms of software quality this is the reason why Windows (IMO) is much worse than OS X-- it has had to compromise on features to adapt to the flexibility of hardware it must run on

 

[godson594]

I put my 13" Macbook air on Craigslist after I got the SurfacePro 2...

The only thing I miss from the Macbook IS the trackpad, it really is the best around.

 

[macmee]

I put my 13" Macbook air on Craigslist after I got the SurfacePro 2...

The only thing I miss from the Macbook IS the trackpad, it really is the best around.

Having said what I said above, with the power cover and if I didn't need Xcode I might, might consider doing the same just because I feel as if I have too many damned devices around me!

 

[fraser_ian]

Agreed. The track pad is missed.

 

[polbit]

I need to join the Mac trackpad lovefest - big fan! Combined with the consistent multiple gestures it makes it really hard to go back to a typical Windows PC.

Having said that, I think that touch is the future of Windows and especially on a device the size of SP it makes a touchpad less necessary.

 

[godson594]

Having said what I said above, with the power cover and if I didn't need Xcode I might, might consider doing the same just because I feel as if I have too many damned devices around me!

xcode is only reason i have a macmini layin around

 

[gman713]

I had a MacBook Air 2013 and changed it out for the Surface Pro 2. So far I am very happy. One thing I always wondered was what would happen to the popularity of the Mac if Microsoft never allowed Apple to use its OS to dual boot. I know I certainly would have never switched to the MacBook if I knew that I couldn't put Windows on it.

 

[godson594]

I had a MacBook Air 2013 and changed it out for the Surface Pro 2. So far I am very happy. One thing I always wondered was what would happen to the popularity of the Mac if Microsoft never allowed Apple to use its OS to dual boot. I know I certainly would have never switched to the MacBook if I knew that I couldn't put Windows on it.

Yea - that weighed in very heavy because for one the hardware on Macbooks really is sexier than anything else that has been out and the fact you can dual boot almost made it like having 2 computers. I don't favor one company over the other, I buy what suits my needs and don't look back. If Apple has made a Pro iPad with a real OS and a Digitizer I would have purchased it.

I love the SP2 - I don't like the trackpad on the type cover2 and honestly rarely use it unfortunately.