[hkmurakami]

So the gist is "good hardware, really really unacceptably crappy software experience"

>I bought the Surface Pro to use as a backup laptop: a secondary presentation device in case my main laptop bit the dust. I make a living teaching people via PowerPoint. For a long list of reasons, I can’t really switch presentation tools, and the iPad doesn’t cut it as a secondary presentation device. The Surface Pro does.

This isn't a typical situation, and if this is the only justification one can have (or perhaps one of the few) in owning a Surface Pro, MSFT has a whole lot of issues on its hands.

[Random_Person]

Essentially, yes. I convinced work to buy me a Pro after around a decade of being Windows free... and I'm underwhelmed. I like the hardware. But having two entirely separate interfaces is really terrible. Like he pointed out, it's no longer intuitive how to interact with the device, you have to constantly switch between input modes which is extremely annoying.

[PaulHoule]

A big part of the Metro nightmare is that the built in apps (other than the core shell) suck.

For instance, Metro lacks a file chooser where you can easily find files anywhere in your system. If the Metro interface had a good file chooser, you wouldn't have to drop out to use the file desktop chooser to find a file on any filesystem.

If Windows 8.1 adds a good file chooser and if Microsoft addresses a few specific problems like that, life in Metro could get much better.

I hope Microsoft can get its branding straight -- I find it weird that I click on a music file across the network and it pops up in a pretty Metro app with the tag line "Xbox Music". There's also some thing (which has never quite worked for me) called "Xbox Games" which I'm not sure will do anything for me if I don't own an Xbox.

Or is everything that runs Windows 8 an "Xbox" of some kind? And how come I see tiles for all kinds of music except for the music that I've got in my own collection?

[Random_Person]

Step one for me was uninstalling all the default apps. Some of them have good replacements in the Market, others I just do without. The lack of quality is a serious issue. I'm not sure how they are going to fix that considering Microsoft themselves can't seem to make anything terribly impressive.

[canthonytucci]

Why are you trying to work with files in the metro interface?

I'm having trouble coming up with a use case where I'd need the file chooser to do any of the things you'd want to do in the touch interface.

I can't speak to the music file thing because I haven't dealt with music files in years, it's always been an annoying and tedious experience for me (as is working with any large number of files with wonky metadata), so I switched to streaming and haven't looked back.

EDIT: That said, videos on my NAS just show up in the metro "Videos" app and I can watch them without issue. I haven't tried it with music but I can't imagine why that would be any different.

[BrentOzar]

Videos and music based on a NAS do indeed show up automatically. I just don't need that part - I need the music and videos when I'm on the road. (Streaming doesn't work on most airplanes.)

[PaulHoule]

It's fair to expect to write a document in Microsoft Word on the Desktop and then view the file, or a PDF copy, when it is in tablet mode.

A good file chooser enables that scenario and generally, maximizes the benefit that Windows 8 brings to a tablet OS, which is the Windows desktop. If Metro can stream, read from memory cards, view files from Desktop apps, etc. the high purchase price of these systems would be justified.

[canthonytucci]

>you have to constantly switch between input modes which is extremely annoying.

I never switch modes unless I am switching tasks.

Desktop tasks (writing code, workign with office apps) all mouse/keyboard/trackpad

Consumption tasks (news, video) all use touch with keyboard folded out of the way

Drawing and taking notes I use the stylus.

I see this as having the right input mode available for each of my tasks, not some sort of "nightmare".

[Random_Person]

You're right. Honestly. The problem is, I've had this device since day one and switching between input modes still gets in the way. It is not a fluid experience. That's all I was saying. I am an "artist", writer, coder, consumer, and gamer. I carry the pen in my pocket and use it regularly. I have the cool little bluetooth touch mouse and enjoy it when gaming/coding. The on-screen keyboard is actually pretty awesome and I can touch type on it with surprising accuracy. BUT... I still have to consciously determine which input method I want to use for which app. If I'm on the desktop, and my Twitter app goes off, I switch back to Modern. I can continue using the mouse somewhat clumsily, or I can switch to touch input which works great. Then, I switch back to desktop and every darn time I'm still trying to use touch. Maybe I'm dense. Maybe I'm just hoping that one day the transition will be seamless... but, for me, it's not, and that is annoying (even if only mildly.)

[YeahKIA]

I think the point he makes about hanging in to it in a hope that Microsoft is going to improve it is the key. Looks like with windows 8.1 they are making a lot of changes based on the feedback, and giving that release away for free. Microsoft better stick to this fast iterative update process if they want people to bet on the new OS.

[smacktoward]

The problem there is that the changes we're hearing about for 8.1 (bringing back the Start button, letting you boot straight to the desktop, etc.) are all changes that will move 8's center of gravity closer to the traditional Windows experience and farther from the new Metro experience. And from the article it sounds like the new Metro experience is the only one that really feels right on Surface.

Making it easier for people to skip Metro will only result in fewer developers writing Metro apps, not more, so it's hard to see 8.1 as a positive for Surface users. They need the Windows world to be more Metro, not less.

[Random_Person]

Exactly this. I actually like the Modern stuff. The interface has some flaws (lack of a notification bar) but overall, the experience is good and interacting with apps is fine. The issue comes when you switch to the desktop and try to work with it as a touch interface.

One example was at launch, Chrome's build didn't work well with touch. If you touched a dialog, the on-screen keyboard would not come up automatically. Scrolling with your finger was near impossible unless you flicked up first... which made no sense. The desktop side of Chrome has gotten better, but I'm not sure who to praise for that.

[steverb]

Especially considering that the RT fits that particular use case pretty well all on its own, and does have excellent battery life as well.

My only gripe about the RT is that even though I like the UI better, it's every bit as useful (and useless) as an iPad.

[BrentOzar]

I had a lot of problems when I tried to use the Surface RT for that use case. Here was my review: http://ozar.me/2012/10/why-im-returning-my-microsoft-surface...

[mtgx]

For $1,000 I would hope it's good hardware.

[revscat]

And, considering that it is coming from the world's largest software company, good software as well. It is surprising (although... not really) that Apple was able to ship a mobile version of their iWork suite for the first gen iPad, but Microsoft could not do so for the first gen of their own tablet.