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[SerTapTap]

Better in what ways? Specs are comparable.

Ergonomics are insanely better. Aspect ratio is superior for tablet mode while not harming horizontal mode, it's crazy light and thin, pen is near-instant, best digital pen I've ever used, the typecover is vastly better, and the magnetic strip lets it actually sit rigid instead of sitting as a lip flap, and the kickstand is adjustable. It makes a much better laptop replacement if it's going to be used anywhere but on a flat desk. Also 1440p

 

[Unicorn]

Ergonomics are insanely better. Aspect ratio is superior for tablet mode while not harming horizontal mode, it's crazy light and thin, pen is near-instant, best digital pen I've ever used, the typecover is vastly better, and the magnetic strip lets it actually sit rigid instead of sitting as a lip flap, and the kickstand is adjustable. It makes a much better laptop replacement if it's going to be used anywhere but on a flat desk. Also 1440p

Thanks. Of those differences, the only worrying one is the type cover. I'm nervous the SP2 will be too small.

The savings I'm getting and the fact those other differences don't bother me, plus the free power type cover are why I'm leaning towards SP2

 

[TKR92]

Thanks. Of those differences, the only worrying one is the type cover. I'm nervous the SP2 will be too small.

The savings I'm getting and the fact those other differences don't bother me, plus the free power type cover are why I'm leaning towards SP2

You really need to try both of them and then decide.

Personally, SP3 is way better than SP2 in terms of usability. But if you don't really care about that, the SP2 package is not that bad.

 

[SerTapTap]

Thanks. Of those differences, the only worrying one is the type cover. I'm nervous the SP2 will be too small.

The savings I'm getting and the fact those other differences don't bother me, plus the free power type cover are why I'm leaning towards SP2

If you have any way to try one out, I'd really recommend playing with the SP3. Unless you're literally never going to use it in tablet form or in your lap/on an unstable surface I think the ergonomic improvements will really impress you. It goes way beyond "good enough", to the point I can't stand to use a laptop or tablet anymore.

Latest typecover is great too, almost as good as my Lenovo x200 tablet's keyboard despite being WAY thinner. A billion times better than those shit chiclet keys laptops all have these days. How did that crap catch on.

Also, the MS store has a 30 day return/replace policy in case you don't love it. That's a big part of why I took the plunge, personally. Not sure if other stores can match it/sell it any cheaper, but there was no price reason to buy it anywhere but the MS store at launch.

 

[Unicorn]

You really need to try both of them and then decide.

Personally, SP3 is way better than SP2 in terms of usability. But if you don't really care about that, the SP2 package is not that bad.

If you have any way to try one out, I'd really recommend playing with the SP3. Unless you're literally never going to use it in tablet form or in your lap/on an unstable surface I think the ergonomic improvements will really impress you. It goes way beyond "good enough", to the point I can't stand to use a laptop or tablet anymore.

Latest typecover is great too, almost as good as my Lenovo x200 tablet's keyboard despite being WAY thinner. A billion times better than those shit chiclet keys laptops all have these days. How did that crap catch on.

Also, the MS store has a 30 day return/replace policy in case you don't love it. That's a big part of why I took the plunge, personally. Not sure if other stores can match it/sell it any cheaper, but there was no price reason to buy it anywhere but the MS store at launch.

Thanks for the input and info! Yeah, there was no way to try before buying (it's a birthday gift). I agree that the gradient flap of the SP3 is something that should have been mandatory since SP2 - like it is at such parity to a laptop screen positioning. I really hope I won't have issues with the SP2's 2 flap settings, but I'll honestly be using it mostly on a table, flat on the floor while lying on my stomach, or occasionally in bed. The bed scenario has me worried the most, but I think I'll be able to compensate with pillows and blankets to get a desired angle. The tablet aspect really isn't of interest to me, outside an occasional novelty use (which I'll need to look into to see the wacky things I can do). It's mostly the portability (why I had a netbook prior) and the off-chance I can get some casual gaming in. It's for school and mostly essay writing and excel worksheets for work (Why doesn't the Pro include Office?!).

That return policy is useful information. maybe I'll see how I like the SP2 then check out an SP3 and gauge my options. Just the cost difference of 1100 with keyboard to 1300 with no keboard (1450+ with) is a big step up for something that is providing a slimmer profile and larger screen.

 

[LukasTaves]

Better in what ways? Specs are comparable.

Form factor, mostly.

The SP2 is too small to be a decent laptop, and too heavy to be a tablet. SP3 solves both and then some because the new kickstand is awesome and allows many more scenarios. Also, the keyboard. Sounds gimmicky, but snapping the cover on the tablet, makes typing a whole of a lot better.

Edit: Or basically, what Sir Tap Tap said.

 

[SerTapTap]

If anyone is brave enough to put the win 10 preview (tomorrow? Is that right?) On their sp3 I'd love to hear all about it. Will put it on a spare dive on the desktop for sure but more antsy about the single boot sp3 and it's firmware and such

 

[Septimus Prime]

Thanks for the input and info! Yeah, there was no way to try before buying (it's a birthday gift). I agree that the gradient flap of the SP3 is something that should have been mandatory since SP2 - like it is at such parity to a laptop screen positioning. I really hope I won't have issues with the SP2's 2 flap settings, but I'll honestly be using it mostly on a table, flat on the floor while lying on my stomach, or occasionally in bed. The bed scenario has me worried the most, but I think I'll be able to compensate with pillows and blankets to get a desired angle. The tablet aspect really isn't of interest to me, outside an occasional novelty use (which I'll need to look into to see the wacky things I can do). It's mostly the portability (why I had a netbook prior) and the off-chance I can get some casual gaming in. It's for school and mostly essay writing and excel worksheets for work (Why doesn't the Pro include Office?!).

That return policy is useful information. maybe I'll see how I like the SP2 then check out an SP3 and gauge my options. Just the cost difference of 1100 with keyboard to 1300 with no keboard (1450+ with) is a big step up for something that is providing a slimmer profile and larger screen.

Honestly, I think you should go with the SP3. Before I had it, I didn't imagine I would be using it much outside it being on a desk, but actually having it changed everything, and I now use it docked on the desk, laying on my lap, in tablet mode, laying on the armrest of my sofa, etc. Heck, I even started off with a third-party type cover, which I thought worked fine until I got the MS type cover. Then I returned that.

The usability of the SP3 is pretty mind blowing, but you really have to have one before you realize it.

 

[LukasTaves]

If anyone is brave enough to put the win 10 preview (tomorrow? Is that right?) On their sp3 I'd love to hear all about it. Will put it on a spare dive on the desktop for sure but more antsy about the single boot sp3 and it's firmware and such

I will!

Love testing stuff and so glad to see this popping up so early XD

 

[nordique]

My thoughts:

I got it primarily for my school notes.

Got rid of my iPad air for this. I think it's way, way better overall for doing work. The windows standard helps (my school uses office 365), OneNote is amazing for taking notes and is the closest thing to a pen I've seen on an electronic device. Best of all, you can multitask by having your PowerPoint notes open in one half of the window and one note open on the other half (or 3/4 if you prefer).

Multitasking is awesome. It's nice and light, it's got a good battery life considering is a tablet/laptop hybrid

Main gripe is with the touchpad on the keyboard it's flimsy and weak

Overa though as a dedicated computer, I think it pales compared to dedicated systems. I don't think I'll ever go back to iPads or tablets now, although they had amazing battery life. But I also don't think I'll ever use my surface pro 3 as my main computer over my Mac.

 

[darkside31337]

I'm in the market for a new laptop and was thinking of getting something with a beefy graphics card but realized I don't really have any interest in PC gaming because I spend most of my time with my PS4 and Vita and don't see that changing. This device sounds perfect as I also happened to be looking at buying a tablet before my laptop crapped the bed a couple days ago and well now I can have both in one.

So I have a few questions though before I buy one. How much actual storage space does the 64 GB one have? The $200 price difference just for extra storage (and a bump in processor) seems pretty nuts to me so I was thinking about going with the 64 GB model and buying a decent MicroSD card to basically double the space. As I understand you can't put actual apps on the MicroSD but is it simply enough to treat it as a defacto storage of sorts when it comes to music / videos?

How is the build quality? I treated my laptop like shit so I'm surprised it held up for 5 years. Going to get the type cover for this but that doesn't seem like its very sturdy like an actual case would be? If its not the best case in the world what should I be looking at to protect the thing when its not in use

And for actual games I realize this can't run any new AAA type of budget game at decent settings but how is it with older games? Does it run smaller indie games decently?

 

[SerTapTap]

I'm in the market for a new laptop and was thinking of getting something with a beefy graphics card but realized I don't really have any interest in PC gaming because I spend most of my time with my PS4 and Vita and don't see that changing. This device sounds perfect as I also happened to be looking at buying a tablet before my laptop crapped the bed a couple days ago and well now I can have both in one.

So I have a few questions though before I buy one. How much actual storage space does the 64 GB one have? The $200 price difference just for extra storage (and a bump in processor) seems pretty nuts to me so I was thinking about going with the 64 GB model and buying a decent MicroSD card to basically double the space. As I understand you can't put actual apps on the MicroSD but is it simply enough to treat it as a defacto storage of sorts when it comes to music / videos?

How is the build quality? I treated my laptop like shit so I'm surprised it held up for 5 years. Going to get the type cover for this but that doesn't seem like its very sturdy like an actual case would be? If its not the best case in the world what should I be looking at to protect the thing when its not in use

And for actual games I realize this can't run any new AAA type of budget game at decent settings but how is it with older games? Does it run smaller indie games decently?

Apparently "more than 36gb availible disk space". SD card speed should be fine, not 100% sure about videos, but as long as the app doesn't stream 100% from disk I wouldn't think it'd be a problem.

Please don't treat the surface pro 3 like shit, but the build quality is great. Only thing I have any concerns about is the hinge, I don't have any evidence showing it wears poorly in normal use, it just seems like a logical point of failure. I dropped my first SP3, not a visible scratch on it (it was sent in for an unrelated problem--discoloration on screen, doesn't seem common). They also did a live drop test from chest height during the reveal. Basically I would be more worried about the object your SP3 hits than the surface because it's more likely to dent.

The type cover and power cord are magnetically attached so there's pretty much nothing to tear either.

Not sure I'd recommend a case. Type cover is fine as a screen cover, and the magnesium case feels sooo gooood in the hand, and it's extremely thin and surprisingly light (about has heavy as my iPad 3 I think), you miss out on some of that if you put it in a case. Just stick it in a bag to transport it I guess. I just have a generic electronics carrying case I use, anything that fits a laptop will easily accommodate a Surface.

 

[LukasTaves]

I had a 64GB SD card on my surface pro 1.

It's fine for storing stuff, but doesn't use it as a main storage for downloads and documents, because SD cards doesn't like multiple access and can get painfully slow.

Download to the internal memory first then move to your SD card, and when consuming from it, make sure there's no one using it.

I know it's tempting to put the onedrive folder on the SD card, but trust me, it's not a pleasant experience

On the other topic, like Tap Tap, I also don't use a cover, I would only recommend a sleeve or something like it if you are tossing it in a bag were there's other stuff that could scratch it. If your bag have a dedicated compartment not even that is needed. Just be careful, the tablet is sturdy enough to be even dropped from your hands on a carpet and not even have a single scratch, but it might dent a little if it falls on a hard floor on the edges... Oh, and a general usage advice: Always try to keep in mind that the "balance point" (not sure how it's called XD) of the device when it's opened like a laptop is on the kickstand, you might end up letting without base which most likely will cause a fall (happened to me with my S1, that's how I know it can fall from a desk and still work )

 

[Unknown Soldier]

MS was offering the free Type Cover again so I jumped in on an SP2.

12 inches was too much tablet for me, I already have a laptop.

 

[SerTapTap]

Anything with lots of read-writes put on the main drive, but anything read-only and write-once shoudl be fine on the SD card, just like a camera's storage.

Oh, yeah, you'll have to get used to the top being the heavy part not the base. For a day or two I treated it like a laptop, that stopped the first time I "closed" the top...don't do that. The Surface "closes" up when set on a desk, you clip the cover up to close it. Always handle it by the screen. You don't have to be too careful as long as you remember that, the type cover should never fall out by accident if you're not holding on to that part, the magnetic connection there is VERY strong.

 

[Enron]

Thanks for the input and info! Yeah, there was no way to try before buying (it's a birthday gift). I agree that the gradient flap of the SP3 is something that should have been mandatory since SP2 - like it is at such parity to a laptop screen positioning. I really hope I won't have issues with the SP2's 2 flap settings, but I'll honestly be using it mostly on a table, flat on the floor while lying on my stomach, or occasionally in bed. The bed scenario has me worried the most, but I think I'll be able to compensate with pillows and blankets to get a desired angle.

I use my SP1 in bed all the time (in fact, thats where the bulk of the use is) and i use it with the keyboard and stand deployed. Never had a problem. Works great.

 

[aaaaa0]

Class ten microSD cards are basically no more expensive than others. Just get one from a known brand and you'll be fine.

I'd be careful about relying on the "class" of the microSD card to tell you how well it will work.

"Class" is basically a standard benchmark for sequential large writes. A "Class 10" card means it can sustain a certain MB/s of large sequential writes, as in a camera taking a series of photos, or video camera recording video.

What "class" a card is actually has very little to do with how well it performs with random IOPS, which something much more important for a computer, tablet, or a phone. Some cards with higher "class" are actually slower for random IOPS as they trade off optimizing for large sequential writes instead of random IOPS.

I would just pay a little extra, and go with a high quality Sandisk or Samsung card, one with has a UHS-I symbol on it, and on the package says "recommended for tablets and phones", and make sure you read some reviews online that confirm the IOPS benchmarks are pretty good for that card.

 

[Totakeke]

I haven't been following every single piece of news, but so far it seems like Windows 10 is a downgrade in terms of the Surface Pro experience. Everything seems less cohesive when they mix the two environments together. What should we be looking toward in Win10? Cortana should be nice, the multiple desktops should be nice but not that important.

 

[kevm3]

SP3 is amazing. This is one of the few Microsoft products I actually like, and they knocked it out of the park on this one. The beautiful thing is being able to use that pen for note-taking, graphics or whatever and then realizing that you're not stuck in the tablet eco-system and can actually run full desktop programs on the machine.

I heard a lot of complaining about the pen changing over to N-trig from wacom, but in my personal experience, the change has been fine. Artists might miss the extra sensitivity, but for everyone else, you won't miss out on much.

 

[SerTapTap]

I haven't been following every single piece of news, but so far it seems like Windows 10 is a downgrade in terms of the Surface Pro experience. Everything seems less cohesive when they mix the two environments together. What should we be looking toward in Win10? Cortana should be nice, the multiple desktops should be nice but not that important.

I didn't get that from their talk about it at all. They're not removing touch things like the Charm Bar as some rumors said, and I'm sure the Start Screen will be an option for touch devices if not desktop ones as well. It sounds like they're doing what Windows 8 should have done in the first damn place and making the desktop experience better instead of hoping desktop users would use the touch focused stuff.

Also, it sounds like they're doing what they should have done in Win 7 and improve the size of UI elements when the computer knows you're using/have touch. They sorta halfass tried in Win 7 but most elements are still too small even at high DPI settings.

Here's an Ars article about some changes and a brief video of a design study. Looks like the SP might react smarter when you stop using the typecover, it's currently a bit dumb. It often locks to horiz when I do that even when the only time I ever enable the rotation lock is in portrait.

 

[LukasTaves]

I too think it's going to be an upgrade. I really hope that continuum is actually an API that apps can use to sense in which mode they are being used. This would enable for an actual single application that could adapt to all platforms.

And could provide some interesting scenarios. Imagine that the next version of Photohop, instead of having a desktop and a metro app is just a single app, that exposes the touch, simpler interface when using with touch mode, but once you plug a keyboard+ mouse (and other devices like a drawing tablet) it extends its UI to reflect that.

Or a more drastic scenario. You have photoshop touch on your phone, but if they ever release some weird dock where you can plug to an external monitor and use a keyboard and mouse you can also have the benefits of a full blown photoshop app.

I can't wait to hear more on how this is going to be handled, and about Office Gemini, that I'm starting to think it will be a showcase of just that.

 

[hadareud]

I'm glad they're not taking away charms.

That would have been horrible when using your surface as a tablet.

Other than that I'm happy that desktop and modern apps are no longer running in two separate interfaces. Hope that you can adjust the start screen to look like it does now without those quick access things all huge at the left.

Overall I'm looking forward to testing it and to see where they're going. If anything, I hope appeasing kb/m users will allow them to focus much more on improving and adding to touch going forward.

exit: btw, they didn't hint when continuum was going to be ready for testing so we can use 10 on the surface?

 

[SerTapTap]

And could provide some interesting scenarios. Imagine that the next version of Photohop, instead of having a desktop and a metro app is just a single app, that exposes the touch, simpler interface when using with touch mode, but once you plug a keyboard+ mouse (and other devices like a drawing tablet) it extends its UI to reflect that.

This would be great and appears to be more or less what the continuum video does. I hope it works both ways, a bit problem for Metro apps for me is there is currently no way to sensibly use them on the desktop. Full screen is great in tablet mode but even on the Surface I find full screen (with not even a task bar) to be unacceptable when using mouse and keyboard, I just switch apps too much.

Also, hopefully this means the silly "IE metro only works when it's the default browser" is no longer a thing in Win 10

 

[LukasTaves]

This would be great and appears to be more or less what the continuum video does. I hope it works both ways, a bit problem for Metro apps for me is there is currently no way to sensibly use them on the desktop. Full screen is great in tablet mode but even on the Surface I find full screen (with not even a task bar) to be unacceptable when using mouse and keyboard, I just switch apps too much.

Also, hopefully this means the silly "IE metro only works when it's the default browser" is no longer a thing in Win 10

YES. For this to be perfect this needs to be accessible from all apps. Metro and win32 apps should be able to detect which mode they are running and adapt.

 

[LukasTaves]

And I think that's really the direction they are going. Metro IE is no where to be found XD
Oh, everything is working well enough so far, not without it's problems, but they are minor...

The surface pen button isn't working, it shows up on my Bluetooth devices and it shows a bar as if it's trying to connect, when I press the purple button the only action I see from the surface is that the cover lights up. But erase and right buttons are working as expected, so not a deal breaker.

The other is that search bar shortcuts are not working, nor is the search button on the cover. Again nothing major.

I've tried all the applications I need and they are all working! I try to use it as my everyday device, but worst case scenario I still have my work laptop ready to use

 

[SerTapTap]

Oh man I've only been using the preview for an hour but it's going to be sooooo hard to not install this on the SP3. It's everything 8 should have been and more. So much crow will be eaten.

 

[Unicorn]

Getting my SP2 in the mail today! Perfect time surrounding all of this Windows 10 hype too.


What are the first things I should do or get for this new experience?! Guides, apps, settings, installs, tricks, tips, gimmicks, etc. What can I do to really up my experience? Should I dive right into W10 preview

?

 

[SerTapTap]

Getting my SP2 in the mail today! Perfect time surrounding all of this Windows 10 hype too.


What are the first things I should do or get for this new experience?! Guides, apps, settings, installs, tricks, tips, gimmicks, etc. What can I do to really up my experience? Should I dive right into W10 preview

?

You'll definitely want to try One Note, best app for the pen (for notes obviously, not drawing). I wouldn't personally recommend putting a preview OS on a single-boot device, but Win 10 does look great so far. If it's like the SP3, Internet Explorer's first page should be a getting started guide that walks you through Surface features. Note that Metro IE is actually pretty nice for touch, but requires IE to be set to default. I bit the bullet and did that, but still mostly use Chrome because of password sync

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Browsing GAF at work on my SP2 is going to kill my productivity.

 

[Unicorn]

All right, this is pretty neat.

One thing though - Coming from android market - is there a way to replace all of this Microsoft account with Google stuff? The skype requiring MSN email is bullshit, as well as some other apps where all of my default things (email, calendar, etc) is all tied to Google Services.

Hell, even the Microsoft store doesn't have Google Drive - dafuq?

I understand (and have already) that I just use it as a typical desktop, but the metro menu is then absolutely useless to me when they require a specific account to use it.

 

[SerTapTap]

All right, this is pretty neat.

One thing though - Coming from android market - is there a way to replace all of this Microsoft account with Google stuff? The skype requiring MSN email is bullshit, as well as some other apps where all of my default things (email, calendar, etc) is all tied to Google Services.

Hell, even the Microsoft store doesn't have Google Drive - dafuq?

I understand (and have already) that I just use it as a typical desktop, but the metro menu is then absolutely useless to me when they require a specific account to use it.

Skype is owned by Microsoft, and the MS store has almost nothing by Google. You can (via a read-only workaround) get google calendar events in the metro app, but you'll just have to download desktop Google Drive and such.

 

[Unicorn]

Skype is owned by Microsoft, and the MS store has almost nothing by Google. You can (via a read-only workaround) get google calendar events in the metro app, but you'll just have to download desktop Google Drive and such.

I read a bit about it, and it seems that there's a MS and Google rivalry. Yet, doesn't Apple have Google apps now? lol. At least have a way to sync my Google stuff to MS stuff.

Oh well, I wanted this mostly as a laptop replacement, which it seems like it's perfect for thus far.

Also, tray and start bar icons are crappy pixel quality. What's up with that?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Apple, Google, and Microsoft comprise the Three Kingdoms of Technology. As such they are generally at war with each other, sometimes they cooperate against the 3rd enemy if that enemy is getting too strong, but yeah you won't find any Google apps in the Windows 8 app store. I just got my SP2 and I was amused that the only Google app in the Win8 app store was Google Search.

Fortunately, the Surface Pros are full blown laptops, and that means Chrome. All the Google apps are available as web apps, and they are accessible if you install a shortcut in Chrome from the Chrome store. Hell, Google even implemented Google Now inside of Chrome, that was pretty funny the first time I installed Chrome on my SP2 and I was like "WTF where did my Google Now cards come from?". I guess having all of Google's ecosystem inside Chrome is targeted towards the Chromebooks but it sure came in handy getting my Google ecosystem from my Galaxy Note II to my SP2.

I actually use Microsoft Outlook on my laptop for email so I'll just install Office on my SP2 and use Outlook. The built-in Mail app on Win8 is astonishingly shitty, and my Hotmail account is only used as a spam bucket for random website registrations anyways. I have never used Skype and I probably never will. I already have Dropbox and Google Drive so SkyDrive can go take a flying leap. It kind of sucks that my SP2 is trying so hard to force me to use MS's so-called ecosystem when I'm already a part of Google's and they should be focusing on making Windows not shitty for touch devices instead of whatever the fuck Windows 8.1 is, a crappy Metro touch UI shell on top of the same Windows desktop we've been staring at for decades. I'm actually amazed at how Metro is such a terrible touch UI paradigm, especially after reading the endless wanking of Windows Phone users about it on GAF, and then there isn't even anything that uses the Metro layer since the Win8 app store is so barren so you go to the Windows desktop and you're instantly wishing you had your mouse back. I need my goddamn Type Cover 2 but it shipped separately from my SP2 and still hasn't arrived yet.

 

[Unicorn]

Sweet I need to set that up.

I just need to research a way to turn the Metro theme into a straight up Android theme instead

 

[Unknown Soldier]

You and me both. Android and iOS have limitations of their own but they are actually designed from the ground up as touch UI-based OSes. Windows 8.1 is literally a (crummy) touch UI launcher floating on top of the same mouse/keyboard UI-based Windows desktop since forever. Now that I've actually used it as a touch UI, I can't believe that this Metro thing is what the Windows Phone owners are so desperately in love with. I mean, just installing a few apps makes the standard apps list like 5 screens to scroll through.

And apparently MS in their infinite wisdom decided that you need to tap the Windows button to get to the Metro launcher, swipe it down to the list of all apps, swipe to the right forever to find it, and finally tap Control Panel to access it. Instead of, you know, just letting me get to the Control Panel from the desktop by opening the Start menu and selecting Control Panel from it like on Win7. This is progress, guys. Serious progress.

 

[Unicorn]

In Desktop view you can hold touch or right click that windows icon to then select Control Panel too.

 

[The Faceless Master]

You and me both. Android and iOS have limitations of their own but they are actually designed from the ground up as touch UI-based OSes. Windows 8.1 is literally a (crummy) touch UI launcher floating on top of the same mouse/keyboard UI-based Windows desktop since forever. Now that I've actually used it as a touch UI, I can't believe that this Metro thing is what the Windows Phone owners are so desperately in love with. I mean, just installing a few apps makes the standard apps list like 5 screens to scroll through.

And apparently MS in their infinite wisdom decided that you need to tap the Windows button to get to the Metro launcher, swipe it down to the list of all apps, swipe to the right forever to find it, and finally tap Control Panel to access it. Instead of, you know, just letting me get to the Control Panel from the desktop by opening the Start menu and selecting Control Panel from it like on Win7. This is progress, guys. Serious progress.

get classic shell!

 

[aaaaa0]

And apparently MS in their infinite wisdom decided that you need to tap the Windows button to get to the Metro launcher, swipe it down to the list of all apps, swipe to the right forever to find it, and finally tap Control Panel to access it. Instead of, you know, just letting me get to the Control Panel from the desktop by opening the Start menu and selecting Control Panel from it like on Win7. This is progress, guys. Serious progress.

Huh? If you care about the control panel so much, just pin it to the Start Screen. It's the third tile down on mine.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Huh? If you care about the control panel so much, just pin it to the Start Screen. It's the third tile down on mine.

I ended up just putting the classic Control Panel icon back on my desktop. I sidn't want to pin it to the Start screen or the taskbar.

 

[SerTapTap]

I just hit "windows key" and start typing to find control panel items as always. I guess if you want to reach it via touch you'll want to pin it though.

I read a bit about it, and it seems that there's a MS and Google rivalry. Yet, doesn't Apple have Google apps now? lol. At least have a way to sync my Google stuff to MS stuff.

Oh well, I wanted this mostly as a laptop replacement, which it seems like it's perfect for thus far.

Also, tray and start bar icons are crappy pixel quality. What's up with that?

I'm not sure WTF is up with the MS/google rivalry. Apple has been actively hostile to Google for years yet it's much easier to use google services on iOS than it is for non-web, non-desktop stuff on Win 8. Wish they'd make up, because almost ALL apps I use on my phone that I actually miss on desktop are made by Google. And I doubt Cortana will be as nice as Google Now (I use it as an actual assistant, not a glorified voice search like Siri).

Task bar icons you mean? Stuff without a high DPI icon won't look as good. You can set low DPI to "fix" it but then everything's super tiny and you don't get the lovely high-DPI text in DPI aware apps.

 

[dLMN8R]

My neighbor works for Google and we got drinks yesterday.

Needless to say, the night ended up with 3 people dying, and no one getting any apps :-/

 

[lastflowers]

My neighbor works for Google and we got drinks yesterday.

Needless to say, the night ended up with 3 people dying, and no one getting any apps :-/

and they say chivalry is dead. I'm rooming with an Amazon employee. I'm pretty sure we're going to battle to the death over whether Xbox 1 or Amazon Fire Tv is set up as the first HDMI input. We've already dueled over phones, tablets, and e-readers. It's been a rough year

 

[SerTapTap]

So should we make a proper OT for this bad boy at somepoint (or all surface) or is that less of a thing in Off topic? This is the only off topic thread I use, heh

 

[jagowar]

All right, this is pretty neat.

One thing though - Coming from android market - is there a way to replace all of this Microsoft account with Google stuff? The skype requiring MSN email is bullshit, as well as some other apps where all of my default things (email, calendar, etc) is all tied to Google Services.

Hell, even the Microsoft store doesn't have Google Drive - dafuq?

I understand (and have already) that I just use it as a typical desktop, but the metro menu is then absolutely useless to me when they require a specific account to use it.

You really expected them to play nice? You think google would let you sign in on android or chrome with a non gmail address? Of course they would want you to use the "ecosystem".... their apps and services are better integrated than what 3rd parties do giving the user a better experience.

That said unlike google you can create a new microsoft account using your gmail address (more than google lets you do) and then use that going forward to sign into apps.

 

[SerTapTap]

You really expected them to play nice? You think google would let you sign in on android or chrome with a non gmail address? Of course they would want you to use the "ecosystem".... their apps and services are better integrated than what 3rd parties do giving the user a better experience.

That said unlike google you can create a new microsoft account using your gmail address (more than google lets you do) and then use that going forward to sign into apps.

You can?! Crap, I've made TWO MS email accounts to remember not realizing you could do this.

 

[killer rin]

So I just got a 32GB MicroSD card for my Pro3 128GB... mainly because it was only $30 and they were sold out of every other size of card. Not going to lie, its pretty nice having just the little bit of extra space, if only to store my personal files while I keep programs installed on C. I even took the time to mount it to C so I can use it for installing programs if it ever comes to that, though I doubt it will.

You and me both. Android and iOS have limitations of their own but they are actually designed from the ground up as touch UI-based OSes. Windows 8.1 is literally a (crummy) touch UI launcher floating on top of the same mouse/keyboard UI-based Windows desktop since forever. Now that I've actually used it as a touch UI, I can't believe that this Metro thing is what the Windows Phone owners are so desperately in love with. I mean, just installing a few apps makes the standard apps list like 5 screens to scroll through.

The thing is though, The Windows 8 Metro really is nothing compared to the Windows Phone Metro. Sure its the same in that it utilizes the same vague concepts from it, but the Windows 8 team basically ignored Windows Phone and went into metro trying to re-invent a wheel which already existed... and ended up with a square. There is a reason most people refer to the Metro environment as Windows 8 Metro or Windows Phone Metro. If they only went into it being opened and wanting to work with the Phone team, to learn from their experiences like we are seeing now (since Windows is now currently run by the guys who made phone) we would have a much better Metro environment on the Windows 8 side, one which likely would have already been compatible with the superior app marketplace which Phone has.

 

[jagowar]

You can?! Crap, I've made TWO MS email accounts to remember not realizing you could do this.

https://signup.live.com/

they did make it a little harder..... now the default is to create a new outlook or hotmail account but if you go directly there you can still put your own address in.

 

[SerTapTap]

https://signup.live.com/

they did make it a little harder..... now the default is to create a new outlook or hotmail account but if you go directly there you can still put your own address in.

Ah...I'm probably already doomed though, one is my japanese Xbox account with the gamertag I wanted and one is my windows login

 

[killer rin]

Ah...I'm probably already doomed though, one is my japanese Xbox account with the gamertag I wanted and one is my windows login

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone, but I'm pretty sure you can change the email associated with your Xbox live Account. So I'm pretty sure you could move it to the new Microsoft account (granted you didn't make a new Xbox Account on the new Microsoft Account)

 

[aaaaa0]

and they say chivalry is dead. I'm rooming with an Amazon employee. I'm pretty sure we're going to battle to the death over whether Xbox 1 or Amazon Fire Tv is set up as the first HDMI input. We've already dueled over phones, tablets, and e-readers. It's been a rough year

Can't you just feed the Amazon FireTV into the Xbox One?