Microsoft Surface Tablet

[Slammr (imported)]

Anything B4 NT is toilet material. Never used 2000, liked XP for several years. Hate despise loathe vista. 7 is OK. Afraid to touch 8. Incoming....!!!

I'm not about to attempt to upgrade a PC running fine on 7 to 8. If there is a reason to run 8 on a computer without a touch screen, someone please tell me what it is.

[Wolf-Pup (imported)]

OS/2 is still the best PC operating system I ever used. F*cking IBM couldn't sell their way out of a paper bag....I made the switch gudgingly to NT 4.0 back in the day. Never looked back after I got over my grief at bowing to the MS juggernaut. XP was the best MS OS I used until Widows 7 (not counting DOS 5.0 which ruled). I actually jumped to Vista 64-bit when I found it did a faster job on things like video conversions even with a 32-bit program. Rough testing showed it to work about 30 minutes faster than the same conversion on XP 32bit.

I did upgrade(?) to Windows 8 today for 2 reasons. Primarily because I've played around with the preview versions and they frustrated the hell out of me. I refuse to be beaten by an Operating System. Its just a personality quirk. The other reason is Stardock came out with a Start Menu program that gives the menu back under Windows 8. With that small piece added back in, Windows 8 suddenly works a LOT like Windows 7 and is less frustrating.

Oh I also got it for $15. Speaking of which I have a 2 more discount codes if anyone wants to get it at the $15 price instead of the $39 upgrade price. First come first serve on the codes.

[Riverwind (imported)]

It has always been my nature to wait a year for the new to become broken in as it were, because if its electronic including software it will have bugs and need a shakedown. This was true 30 years ago with the main frames and its true today. If its hardware the price will drop, look at the price of a tower PC today off the shelf and a Apple 2 from years ago, the price is about the same.

Paolo, you really should upgrade to Windows 7, its a solid system, takes a little to learn but its a good system.

Gunnutz, I am also a gamer, my latest toys are a Naga and Nostromo I have a Razer logo pin on my hat and the last time I went to the Doctor he looked at me and said 'I have a Naga too', I said, 'your a gamer?', he nodded almost embarrassed and said, 'yes'.

For those of you who are not gamers, a Naga is a mouse with 12 thumb buttons among other things, the Nostromo is a left hand key pad and both are programmable.

Now for WOW.

River

[fhunter]

I have seen windows from 3.1 to Win 8 preview. Some out of curiosity, others for work.

And in my opinion, NT family became worse and worse since NT4/2000 with every release.

Yes, they added features, but... the logic in accessing them is gone. Same settings can be accessed through 2-3-4-... different places, and for some you need to dig really deep. The worst offender is the network settings (compare XP with w7).

Add to this, that most windows programmers failed multithreading (any network delay, and "application is not responding" and so on).

Windows 8? On tablet? May be... but I have android, meego (is it still alive?), different linuxes, webos and iOS to choose from.

Windows on my tablet? No. Thanks.

And on desktop... this tablet oriented monstruosity is awful. Still there are better OS.

PS. Regarding the keyboard/cover. I have used similar keyboard on one old machine from Bulgaria. What can I say... unless the keyboard is somewhat soft... welcome RSI.

[Slammr (imported)]

Given the cheap price to upgrade, and given that I did like some features of Windows 8 I saw, I installed it on my Laptop. So far, I like it, even though my laptop doesn't have a touch screen. I definitely wish it had one though. Windows 8 was obviously designed for a touch screen.

I'm still learning how to use it, but the learning curve isn't as steep as I feared.

So far, I'm giving Windows 8 on a laptop a thumbs up with the caveat that I've only been running it for a few hours.

[Riverwind (imported)]

I am with you on this one, OS/2 was fantastic, except for one thing, you needed a week long course on how to use it. I liked 2000 its was solid and easy to get around in it, XP I was always looking for what I wanted and 7 is even worse. I know its there ----- somewhere, its not were it was in XP or 2000. I hate having to go to the internet and look up the how to every time I want to do something.

River

[Slammr (imported)]

Windows 8 has done away with the Start menu accessed from the Windows key, but that's no problem. Just click on the Search icon and it displays all the programs accessible from the Start menu. Still learning, but still liking it so far.

[Losethem (imported)]

I kicked it all to the curb and have been migrating to iOs devices. Have to say I've not had near the trouble with those that I had with Microsoft based OS's after I got past my learning curve of where things were in it. I had been a dedicated PC and Windows person before that, and in the past year I've had fewer problems with the new stuff than I ever did with the PC environment.

My Mac and iPad have operating systems that are more similar than what Microsoft has achieved thus far. I think that iOs will have a much simpler go at integrating laptop/desktop and pad operating systems than Microsoft has since the iOs systems are nearly there as it is.

The only down side I've seen to my switch is lack of .flv support on iOs but I am able to view that stuff on the Mac.

At this point I'm sticking with what I have, not because I purchased it, but because I like things that work.

--LT

[Wolf-Pup (imported)]

Windows 8 has done away with the Start menu accessed from the Windows key, but that's no problem. Just click on the Search icon and it displays all the programs accessible from the Start menu. Still learning, but still liking it so far.

I love Start8 from Stardock. It brings back all the things I'm used to having with the Start Menu and it's only $4.99 for me, it was totally worth it.

[Slammr (imported)]

I went back to the Microsoft kiosk at Washington Square Mall, the only place in Oregon where one can go in person to touch and buy a Surface. No one was in line to buy one, although they could have still been selling them occasionally. Several of the demonstrations stations were open. Remember, this is the only place in Oregon where one can actually touch one of these. Not a good sign I don't think, although I don't know if it's been advertised that they are on sale at the mall.

I asked one of the demonstrators, "Given that I have an IPad already, give me a reason I should buy this device."

Answers: cover that functions as a keyboard, USB and SD card slots, and it comes with Office.

I have a cover that functions as a keyboard for my IPad, and I have an Android tablet (Asus) that comes with a keyboard dock, both of which are much better than the flat piece of plastic keyboard cover that comes with the Surface. I have a USB port and SD card slots on my Asus tablet (micro SD card slot on the tablet, SD card and USB slots on the dock). Word is generally the only part of Office I use, and although I'm not a fan of the versions on the tablets I have, they do work.

I told him I wanted to buy it, if he could give a reason I needed the Surface. He couldn't. He finally said, "Well, it's a good tablet for those that don't already have one."

I'll take a look at the next version that will run actual Windows programs, which will make it essentially a lightweight laptop computer, but I have a feeling that by the time it comes out, the other computer makers will have something better. If Microsoft wants to produce hardware like Apple, they need to do much better than they've done with the Surface so far.

For an ultrabook, I do like the levono Ideapad Yoga models, but they are ultrabooks not tablets.