[garrettlarson]

He encountered problems typing at a reasonable speed, saving a Word document, videoconferencing, and opening the mail client. They sound like issues that can be corrected with a software update, but I don't think they're specific to his workflow.

[brudgers]

Compare these activities to the way in which the Surface's competition handles them...e.g typing, creating documents, video conferencing, and configuring email on an iPad.

The author's expectations were that the Surface would be as productive as a Windows laptop. Nobody expects an iPad to be as productive as a MacBook.

[BrentOzar]

Brent the author here. No, I did not expect the Surface to be as productive as a Windows laptop, but I did expect that Word would be able to keep up with me while I type - just as any other modern device is. I'm not asking to do 3D renderings, just to type a document.

For what it's worth, I also wrote about why I was preordering it here: http://ozar.me/2012/10/why-i-preordered-a-microsoft-surface-...

[brudgers]

Brent, Ben here. Your original blog post is explicit that the critical issue is PowerPoint compatibility. This doesn't come up among your reasons for dissatisfaction. I'm not skewering you, only pointing out that the rationales you articulated are different from your unarticulated expectations...though your articulated expectations were rather low.

The referenced post, however, implies an expectation to replace both an Air and an iPad with the Surface. Your post today implies that this is still the case, i.e. you intend to purchase a Surface Pro when they become available.

I'm not saying the performance of the Surface is excusable. But mainly because Word ships on it and a full function keyboard is an available option. This implies that the Surface is suitable for full speed touch typing while running a Word document (i.e. processing complex XML and accurately rendering arbitrary fonts and graphic elements with full compatibility with the desktop version). Consider the steps Apple took to avoid creating this situation with iWork when initially released - incompatible file structures meant no requirement to support touch typing without discarding document structure.

[BrentOzar]

Hmmm - no, I don't own an Air. I would only be replacing my gen 1 iPad. As such, my expectations were pretty low, but I can't out-type my iPad in any document editor.

[rsynnott]

> Compare these activities to the way in which the Surface's competition handles them...e.g typing, creating documents, video conferencing, and configuring email on an iPad.

I just tried making a Word document on an iPad. Astonishingly, it did _not_ lag in that hilarious manner. I haven't done it in a while, but I seem to remember that configuring email was also easy an intuitive. Certainly, tablets will tend to be less capable than desktops, but not to this extent.

[admiralpumpkin]

You're creating an inaccurate view of the author's desires that is not supported by anything he wrote or showed us.

He wanted Word to not be laggy—completely reasonable and basic, nothing that would require laptop-level productivity.

He wanted programs to give an indication that they are doing something, when they are doing something—completely reasonable and obvious.

He wanted programs to not take minutes to launch or set-up—completely reasonable, etc.

____

I think your suggestion that Surface/Win RT's performance be compared to that of an iPad is spot on. iPad creates documents, video conferences and sets up email quickly and without problem in all of my experiences and in all of the reviews on the web that I have read.

[white_devil]

That's just not accurate. It's not unreasonable to expect your tablet to keep up with your typing, or opening the Mail app to not take a full minute.