Couple things in have questions about that no one seems to have mentioned in the reviews I have read.
Flash - is it present and working? (kids play flash games on my wife's laptop)
OnScreen keybaord - How does it function when multitasking?
Flash is enabled for a white-list of sites (youtube, vimeo, cnn, stuff like that). Microsoft controls the white-list. I understand that it's a sort of sub-set of flash?
Sweet!
Still waiting on the shipping confirmation for mine. Spent too much time hoing and humming over it. Curious to hear your initial thoughts.
A lot of the stuff my kids play requires additional installations on top of flash. The Lego Bionicle site, for instance, requires unity web player. Probably not going to work I'd guess.
A lot of the stuff my kids play requires additional installations on top of flash. The Lego Bionicle site, for instance, requires unity web player. Probably not going to work I'd guess.
Extra things like Unity are straight out, at least for Metro IE 10. If you get a Pro version, they should* still work with desktop IE (or if not, with Surface Pro you can just install desktop Firefox or Chrome).
*note, have not tried first hand...
I'm guessing no, Silverlight is the FUTURE!
ya
Not sure if that's sarcastic or not (probably is), but it's kind of being abandoned just in case people miss what that post is saying. 
groan wrote:I'm guessing no, Silverlight is the FUTURE!
ya
Not sure if that's sarcastic or not (probably is), but it's kind of being abandoned just in case people miss what that post is saying. :)
That can't be. Silverlight delivers all of my porn. And we all know that porn is what drives internet tech.
Extra things like Unity are straight out, at least for Metro IE 10
And Unity is a goddamn great toolkit, nicely cross-platform. It's hosting a lot of the current multi-platform games, particularly the ones that work on Linux. So of course Microsoft won't let it into the garden.
so far so good...Metro IE is very snappy. Weird thing is the RT Versions of Office dump you into the desktop. I didn't even realize there was a desktop in RT. Touch keyboard works surprisingly well...spacebar is its weakest point though
Extra things like Unity are straight out, at least for Metro IE 10And Unity is a goddamn great toolkit, nicely cross-platform. It's hosting a lot of the current multi-platform games, particularly the ones that work on Linux. So of course Microsoft won't let it into the garden.
Unity for Windows Store development, though. On both Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8/RT. So you can make games with Unity and sell them for both platforms.
IIRC, those preinstalled apps are the only ones that will be able to access/use the traditional desktop in RT. Third party developers are still limited to the Windows 8 UI environment-whatever, ie Metro.
IIRC, those preinstalled apps are the only ones that will be able to access/use the traditional desktop in RT. Third party developers are still limited to the Windows 8 UI environment-whatever, ie Metro.
I saw the Ars Technica windows beat guy post something on twitter that sounded like he thinks you can execute code on the desktop after some minor hackery. But I assume you'll have to compile programs specifically to run in that environment.
It's probably just a matter of time until there's some desktop stuff outside of what MS blesses.
IIRC, those preinstalled apps are the only ones that will be able to access/use the traditional desktop in RT. Third party developers are still limited to the Windows 8 UI environment-whatever, ie Metro.
From what I've read Office is in the desktop because MS didn't want to change the experience from Windows to RT and the only good way to do it was with the desktop. So basically, the RT version is full blown Office (though without some programs) and is really meant to shine with a keyboard. OneNote is the exception, of course.
General Crespin wrote:IIRC, those preinstalled apps are the only ones that will be able to access/use the traditional desktop in RT. Third party developers are still limited to the Windows 8 UI environment-whatever, ie Metro.
From what I've read Office is in the desktop because MS didn't want to change the experience from Windows to RT and the only good way to do it was with the desktop. So basically, the RT version is full blown Office (though without some programs) and is really meant to shine with a keyboard. OneNote is the exception, of course.
yeah its 100% Office.. which is to me awesome.. the integration with Skydrive equally.. plus you can save anything Office related locally on the device as well.. Not surprised there is no Outlook..people with 10+GB mailboxes would have an awful experience and blame the tablet.. Theres even a free Lync client you can download.. (yah!!)
Are you able to add a Pop3 email account?
I've been reading that it is challenging.
Not surprised there is no Outlook..people with 10+GB mailboxes would have an awful experience and blame the tablet.. Theres even a free Lync client you can download.. (yah!!)
Do you know how close the mail client is to WP7? I quite like that client and think it deals with my decent sized inboxes pretty well. The search looks locally first and then gives the option to search the server. It pulls the emails from the server when searching. Granted my inbox at work is under 500 meg, my gmail account is half a meg, no idea about hotmail but I've had that since the early 90s so it is likely the biggest. Anyway, I quite like the client on WP7
The more I read about these things the more interested I am in the Pro model when it finally shows up.
The more I read about these things the more interested I am in the Pro model when it finally shows up.
This! Though based on the RT pricing scheme, I won't be able to afford it.
TheGameguru wrote:Not surprised there is no Outlook..people with 10+GB mailboxes would have an awful experience and blame the tablet.. Theres even a free Lync client you can download.. (yah!!)
Do you know how close the mail client is to WP7? I quite like that client and think it deals with my decent sized inboxes pretty well. The search looks locally first and then gives the option to search the server. It pulls the emails from the server when searching. Granted my inbox at work is under 500 meg, my gmail account is half a meg, no idea about hotmail but I've had that since the early 90s so it is likely the biggest. Anyway, I quite like the client on WP7
the Mail client seems very similar to WP7... I added 2 Exchange accounts, my gmail account and my hotmail account.. so far everything is snappy.. I keep 1 month of mail from my Exchange Accounts and like the phone can search the server for older emails.
Thin_J wrote:The more I read about these things the more interested I am in the Pro model when it finally shows up.
This! Though based on the RT pricing scheme, I won't be able to afford it.
Yep, I'm in the same place. My laptop's battery can't hold a charge anymore (2006 HP, I think?), and I'd love to have a laptop that could play/mod Fallout: New Vegas at reasonable framerates, and yet have a detachable screen when all I want to do is read books/email/play Puzzle Quest.
I'll give you eight, eight hundred dollars I don't have for this, Surface! Don't disappoint me! You'd better have USB, HDMI, card storage, and I'd love a video-in if you could manage it!
If current Windows 8 tablets are any evidence then pricing will start around 799.
There are already some released for preorder.
Asus vivo tab starts at 799 cdn.
There are more but I am on my mobile device.
I'm considering this one because it does have gps and nfc. Proposed stats of the surface won't have these.
Guru, how do you like the screen resolution? Does it provide you with enough workspace?
Thing is, wait a couple of months on these models that are out now, and all the cool Lenovos, Asus's, etc. will all be on sale for 30+% off all over the web.
So although they may be launching at $900 and up, you'll be able to buy an Ivy Bridge convertible for sub $700 soon enough.
If current Windows 8 tablets are any evidence then pricing will start around 799.
There are already some released for preorder.
Asus vivo tab starts at 799 cdn.
There are more but I am on my mobile device.I'm considering this one because it does have gps and nfc. Proposed stats of the surface won't have these.
Guru, how do you like the screen resolution? Does it provide you with enough workspace?
its optimized well enough so it works well enough...sure 1080P on this sized screen would be even nicer but 720P is certainly workable
Outside of some minor glitches and oddities (for example downloading an HD movie had some weird issues if the system had to pause and restart) this is a vastly better tablet OS than iOS IMO. The biggest issue is just lack of apps...which obviously is huge. But the core experience is just better. I love the notification system so I can see emails as they come in and get some idea of what and who emailed me. Xbox smartglass seems to work well enough..the onscreen keyboard is really nice.
Anecdotal, but a friend of mine tried to see a Suface at the Bellevue MS Store this weekend on 3 different occasions and wasn't able to get near one due to the lines.
Had a bit of a surprise today. Mine Surface got delivered without ever receiving shipping notice. Still shows as "in process" online. So far I'm liking it - nothing terribly surprising since I've been running Win8 release preview on all my machines at home here. It is a nice piece of hardware though. I got the touch keyboard and while different, it seems pretty decent so far.
I just discovered my Surface RT tablet has a MicroSD slot.. and a fairly easy way to extend storage to it seamlessly
http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/01/j...
So I ordered a 64GB card for $60... will be nice to have a 128GB Tablet.
I just discovered my Surface RT tablet has a MicroSD slot.. and a fairly easy way to extend storage to it seamlessly
http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/01/j...
So I ordered a 64GB card for $60... will be nice to have a 128GB Tablet.
From what I understand, the store can't install apps onto the SD card and apps can't make use of it directly - they can access through Libraries though. Makes for a nice spot to dump pictures, music, or movies.
TheGameguru wrote:I just discovered my Surface RT tablet has a MicroSD slot.. and a fairly easy way to extend storage to it seamlessly
http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/01/j...
So I ordered a 64GB card for $60... will be nice to have a 128GB Tablet.
From what I understand, the store can't install apps onto the SD card and apps can't make use of it directly - they can access through Libraries though. Makes for a nice spot to dump pictures, music, or movies.
yeah there are probably limitations idk.. but if Music, Movies can take advantage of it and show it to me seamlessly then thats probably enough for me.. 80% of what takes up my tablet storage is exactly that.
The other thing is there arent enough apps to fill up 64GB of storage let alone 128GB lol.
I just read on Engadget that only 16GB of the 32GB model is available once recovery, software (OS,mi assume) and "binary conversion" is set up. Not a huge deal, given the SD slot, but that seems to be a pretty huge chunk compared to Android and iOS.
Extra things like Unity are straight out, at least for Metro IE 10And Unity is a goddamn great toolkit, nicely cross-platform. It's hosting a lot of the current multi-platform games, particularly the ones that work on Linux. So of course Microsoft won't let it into the garden.
QFH - quoted for hyperbole and untruth.
Anand is saying the Intel Clovertrail stuff is good battery wise. At least as good as Surface with a larger display.
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