What would you change about the Surface?

[Twisticles]

So after a couple of weeks, I can see the dirty underbelly of the Surface. It remains my daily driver and my Android and iPad are mothballed.

But given a choice these are my top three things I would like to see on the Surface:

1) 3G/LTE - I guess those commutes would be easier, although I workaround with Internet Sharing/Mifi
2) RT Version of Outlook - the mail app is kind of basic.
3) To play MKV files/more codecs in general


what would you do differently if you were a Surface designer?

 

[archapacman]

1) RT version of Outlook. I vote for a petition. I would pay an additional 10-20$ for this feature/desktop app.
2) More standing options as a TABLET. The current stand is good as a NETBOOK/LAPTOP. My idea? Add something to the touch/type cover so that when you fold it back, you can angle the tablet 30-50 degrees. Perfect tablet angle
3) Kortana. Microsoft's answer to Siri.

 

[MSurfaceWA]

i'm about 10 days in and I am starting to see some distinct pros and cons. Things I would change -

1) Allow this version to download desktop apps (even if officially unsupported, give us the option to see what works)
2) MKV files and more codecs - agreed
3) better screen resolution
4) better multitasking of apps (especially with 2 gigs of RAM available)

The rest are nitpicky things like -

- being able to see the battery percentage without going to the desktop
- allow the rest of a music album to play automatically when you start with a song in the middle of the album
- favorites in IE should be easier to get to, right now it requires a swipe, tap, swipe -its one of the things I access most (and I don't want to make them tiles on the start screen)
- customize the size of the split screen feature
- wireless file sharing between PC's - with the surface you can access your PC's files and transfer them, but your PC can't access your surface files for transfer (why force us to use Skydrive in this situation)

Overall I think the Surface is good, and its the best option if you need to get work (ie: Office documents) done, but there is always room for improvement.

WAMS

 

[grahamtwatson]

What's kortana? I tried a bing search and couldn't find anything...

 

[galeman]

Defenetly Outlook RT version.

 

[DarthMengon]

Hardware

1. Kickstand in at least two angles (the current one is great on table, but not so good sitting on a Couch)
2. a Little bit lesser weight


Software - These are more Windows RT related wishes:
1. Outlook RT or a better Version of the Standard mail app (e.g. with rules and more)
2. Playing MKV Videos
3. More General Speed in opening the apps

 

[Araungzeb]

1. Overhaul the Xbox music app. Before Windows 8 I heard tons of ignorant and unfounded comparisons to Microsoft Bob, but this is the one area in which the comparisons are somewhat accurate. From opening the app it takes at the very LEAST five clicks to get a song to play, and you can't even control what point the song is at without at lest ANOTHER two clicks (going into full-screen mode. Honestly I couldn't have possibly imagined a music management application worse than Windows Media Center, but Microsoft have really out-done themselves this time. It even takes as long to load as Media Center! The search feature is a complete mess and makes it difficult to differentiate between streaming (ad-based) music and music on your hard drive/micro SD. Microsoft did a great job of making a simple, clean, elegant interface in the OS and the native applications, but this is the one major exception. And yeah, it doesn't let you play an album from the middle of the album without taking the time to create a playlist. Unbelievable, this is 2012! Anyway, I digress...

2. Improve the processor. Tegra 3 does an okay job and hasn't caused any major problems for me yet, but all I can imagine is how much faster and smoother things would run with a more modern CPU (snapdragon, Tegra 4? ect). Not a deal-breaker, but I'll eat my hat if they don't improve this for the Surface2.

3. Slightly better accuracy on the Touch Cover. It works pretty much 95% of the time for me, but that's still one mistake every 20 or so letters. Spellcheck set on auto usually makes this less of a problem, but I know Microsoft can and will do better.

Other than that, things have been fantastic!

 

[archapacman]

What's kortana? I tried a bing search and couldn't find anything...

*Cortana. The AI in Halo 1-4 lol

 

[Thunder7]

1) Allow this version to download desktop apps (even if officially unsupported, give us the option to see what works)

Although this would be great (but also what the Pro will be for), the architecture of the RT with an ARM processor just won't allow this to happen, they just plain won't run on it. We'd need to have a x86/64 emulator for this to occur. Maybe someone will develop one, but I'd be surprised to see MS approve it to go into the Win8 Store.

 

[jnjroach]

Windows 8 is for Win32 Legacy based Applications, Windows RT is for Modern Applications primarily, yes I know Office 2013 RT is a desktop app (completely compiled to run on ARM) but I think this is the last version that we will see as a desktop app, you can already see the direction with the OneNote and Lync Modern Apps. All of the legacy applications kill battery life and screw up the underlying OS. The Modern Apps are sandboxed and run typically better with less adverse impact on the OS and Battery.

I would like Outlook 2013 RT but I also know that Outlook is a resource and power hog and fundamentally would need to be re-written for a RT device. Hopefully the Mail App will become more capable over time or we see a viable Exchange Client in the Store.

 

[rbeste]

Have those that are wishing for a better email app considered running OWA? Obviously not everyone has that available to them and available outside their VPN, but for those that do, OWA runs great on the Surface and gives you a near to Outlook desktop experience (especially when compared to the current poor mail app).

 

[pbankey]

So, a couple of things I would change, although I do love me some Surface.

1. A kickstand that clicks for the current angle as well as a shallower angle. It would be cool if you could engage the kickstand and have it either sitting up, or turn it on it's back for slightly raised angle.

2. High-res screen. Even in the RT version (This should be competing with the iPad)

3. MicroSD expansion that can be used to install apps onto in addition to saving music/library content natively

4. Get rid of the desktop and make ever desktop-accessible feature available through the metro menus/interface. It bothers me sometimes.