Introduction
Over the past few weeks I've several friends and clients ask me to weigh in on the new Microsoft Surface tablet. While the current version is not the promised "full" version coming in Spring 2013, it does run a new version of Windows 8 known as Windows RT. I have played with the current Surface running Windows 8 RT. I've also played with Windows 8 inside a VirtualBox on my laptop. So let me share with you my thoughts and what I know.
Hardware
First, the Surface tablet from a purely hardware perspective is a really nice piece of equipment. The case feels really solid and the VaporMg manufacturing process makes the unit itself feel very light. The lines are crisp and clean and it is a very attractive tablet. Also, they learned from Apple and all the standard attachments (power, keyboard, etc.) are magnetically attached. So if you accidentally pull the unit beyond the reach of it's power cable the cable just 'pops' off ... no harm done. The video, however, is not that impressive at 1280 x 720. Most newer Androids or iPads have better video displays, candidly.
There are 2 keyboards available. One is flat while the other is an ultra low profile traditional keyboard. The unit I played with had the flat keyboard. It's cool at first, but the 'coolness' quickly wears off when you figure out it's not well suited (for me anyway) to do any kind of touch typing. And it offers NO tactile feedback. Personally I would go with the traditional keyboard if I were to go at all (read on).
Windows 8
As far as Windows 8 RT goes, it was a little 'eerie cool' to fire up a tablet and have it connect to your WiFi network and be able to instantly browse all the file shares on your local network and open many of the files (i.e., Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF, etc.). That coolness quickly wears off when you actually try to use the Surface tablet. In my humble opinion the Microsoft Surface could be the ultimate hybrid between a tablet and a laptop or ultrabook ... were it not for Windows 8. That initial screen on the front looks great with all those moving tiles that update their info in real time ... until you actually want to get behind that and get real work done. This is where Windows 8 falls flat on it's keister, IMHO.
Windows 8 has eliminated the Start menu. After multiple Windows iterations and years and years of 'press the Start button', all that user interface (UI) commonality is instantly swept away. Finding installed applications is a nightmare (please note the Surface RT came with a pre-release 'beta' copy of Microsoft Office 2013 Student). Since there is no Start menu you're left to poke and plod through the vastly different UI hoping you'll stumble upon what you're looking for.
And God help you in remembering how you got to where you just were once you do find what you were looking for (or put EVERY application on the desktop). Most all the familiar Windows reference points we've used for so long (Start Menu, Run box, Command window, etc.) are all gone from plain site. Some may still be there. But that ones that are have been hidden behind new UI layers. What I found after a week of working with the Surface was the new UI, for me at least, was almost unworkable. I spent so much time working the UI to get to where I wanted to be it was vastly quicker to go back to a Windows 7 machine and perform the same tasks.
Microsoft Store
And the Microsoft Store is a joke! I think I counted about 11,000 apps total versus 650,000 Android or 950,000 iTunes apps. Of course Microsoft promises there will be more apps by the time the full Surface ships in Spring 2013, but who knows. The fine print on the Office 2013 Beta says MS reserves the right to remove it later. The reason people buy a tablet or smartphone is for the apps and Microsoft has seriouslydropped the ball here. There was not even a Gmail app! Gmail!?! The most popular free email service on the web!?! No app! What does that tell you about the app store and the selection of apps it contains?
General Feedback
And apparently I'm not alone. I've already had clients who bought new machines with Windows 8 pre-installed call and beg me to downgrade them back to Windows 7, which I've done (Thank God Microsoft is still selling Windows 7 copies). In short, I think Microsoft has really shot themselves in the foot with Windows 8. On a small cell phone or tablet screen that "tiled" front screen with real time updates may be useful. It's not to my liking personally, but I can see where it may be liked by some. But on a large screen desktop or laptop it doesn't cut it. Further, if you don't have a touch screen much of the viability and usability of Windows 8 goes right out the window (excuse the pun).
Final Thoughts
In my humble opinion Microsoft has created a new operating system nobody asked for, with a new user interface nobody demanded, that can't run some legacy apps Windows 7 still can, created largely for an environment (smartphones & tablets) where they (Microsoft) are number 4 in a 3 horse race. If that "tiled" look is really what you're going for there are already Android launcher apps that can give you that same look and feel on your Android smartphone or tablet. Overall I just see a LOT of downside risk and very little upside potential. I think Microsoft may well alienate more of their user base and drive them over to Apple ... or at the very least drive up sales of Windows 7.
Time will tell. Welcome to the future ...
