Microsoft Surface RT: Windows sheds the desktop …deal with it

With Window 8, Microsoft is attempting something revolutionary, in fact, they want you to forget Windows as we know it today. The ‘desktop’, a virtual workspace housing multiple ‘windows’ is being phase out, and Microsoft’s launch of Surface RT translate this into three words – DEAL WITH IT.

Hardware: Microsoft took take in providing the Surface RT with a compelling design. With the transition from Widows 7 to Windows 8 being quite severe, it looks as though the company decided that making the initial hardware itself would be its best change at a good first impression.

From initial glances, the Surface RT looks similar to existing tablets in the market, a black slab composed of majority screen. Once in-hand however, the Surface RT indeed feels more robust with a functional design that was purpose built to showcase Windows 8. Touring the device, there is the usual selection of power and volume buttons, with cameras front and rear. These camera however, both front and rear, are noted only as ‘720p’, which could range anywhere from 2 to 5MP. In both well-lit and dim shooting environments, the camera hardware left much to be desired and end up being the only bit of the hardware package feeling second-rate. At 1366×768, the screen on the device is not as pixel dense as today’s crop of most premium tablets, but performed excellently with movies and web pages. A micro-SD card slot, as well as a full size USB port are included to round out the port selection. Battery life clocks in around 9hrs.

Hardware features that showcase the engineering talent at Microsoft include a slick kickstand that holds the device at a slight angle for movie viewing and desktop typing, as well as the colorful selection soft-touch keyboards being offered at launch. Two models of the Surface keyboard are offered. I purchased the razor thing model in cyan. The second model keyboard comes only in black, and while more bulky, offered more tactile feedback while typing. Using the low-profile keyboard was novel, but an exercise in frustration that will not work will for all users. In completing a page of typed text, each paragraph was littered with misspellings caused by unregistered key presses.

Inside the Surface RT, Microsoft includes 2GB of RAM which it pairs with an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. The same used in the Google Nexus 7 tablet. Prior to Windows 8, running on this mobile class processor was not possible. Choosing the ARM-based Tegra 3 as the heart of the first release device looks to be purely intentional as it limits the compatibility of the device outside of the Windows 8 tile interface.

Software: With Windows 8, Microsoft has begun a much needed strategy shift in accepting mobile computing as the current and future direction for computing. The company seems to acknowledge that the way people use computers and the information being accessed no longer required a traditional Windows environment. Rather than wither on the vine as Apple and Android tablets consume increasing amount the computer market – Microsoft has chosen to pivot its entire user base, totaling billions of Windows installs in this direction. This is the point where the company tells you to DEAL WITH IT.

Releasing Surface RT with an ARM-based chip as the initial launch product meant that for the possible millions who buy the device – these users will not get the ability to run classic Windows applications, and would be required to live within the new Windows 8 application market. If you can do this, the Surface RT gives you the power of a desktop in tablet form. If you insist on installing Adobe Photoshop 5, then it will be a quick trip to the returns line at your local Best Buy. In fact, the Surface RT indeed provides the entire Windows desktop in a 1.5lb tablet form. The only difference between the ‘RT’ tablet and more expensive ultrabook offering is that lack of support for the ARM processor among legacy applications. A day after unboxing the device, I decided I would like to print a form – so I plugged my printer into the USB port, waited within the legacy Windows desktop for the drivers to install, then printed as normal. As I would from a desktop, in a way that simply isn’t possible, or easily done from an iPad or other tablet device. After completing the printout, I popped in my Micro-SD card for more storage, and used the legacy windows file browser to format the card. Soon after, I returned to the tile interface, where I decided I preferred the layout and touch friendly design elements. From that moment, I decided I would take a look in the application market where most my future application would come.

Clicking around the Windows 8 interface on the Surface RT is a generally pleasing experience. Anyone who is a fan, or takes a mild interest in Microsoft’s Windows Phone will find much to like with the release. Applications within the market are still very spare, although both Netflix and Hulu make an appearance. Other changes to the Windows 8 software are too many too mention, but Microsoft does include a full copy of its expensive Office 2013 suite as incentive and proof that you indeed get a full PC within the Surface RT’s compact tablet frame.

It’s easier to think of this transition in the terms as Apple’s move from PowerPC to Intel chips. The operating system was entirely the same. But there was a long delay before all of the legacy application were re-written for the new core. This is what has happened with the Surface RT, and Microsoft is hoping that this delay is just long enough for you simply DEAL WITH IT, and accept the full intention of Windows 8, as system never intended to look and behave like Windows 7, or even require a traditional desktop. After purchasing the Surface RT as a replacement for my Macbook Pro laptop, I too am learning to just DEAL WITH IT, and think I’ll be fine after all.