They have come a long way. The hardware is solid and well built. Keyboards are good too. Trackpads are okay.
Does anyone use these machines and actually like them or is it a case where you are forced by work to use them?
Windows 10 is not bad either. It has a come a long way. Mind you I am a Apple guy all the way but sometimes I pop into a Microsoft store here in Toronto and I kinda like the machines the have. Not saying I am gonna make a switch.
But as I was trying out these Surface machines, I tried opening a PDF from my Dropbox. It was a large PDF with lots of architectural drawings. Man it was zippy! I loved it! I could zoom and out and navigate around super fast. And not gonna like I like the window management better.
I support nearly 50 surface pro 3-6’s. surface laptops, surface book 1 and 2’s.
the issues we have are issues with docking stations. users dislike the keyboard on the surface pro’s, all flimsy and diving board like when it bounces. we had to take one apart to get the SSD out of it. that was a nightmare. The stylus is kinda useful in some instances as long as software really supports it. they’ve been mostly reliable and tough. only a few broken screens. we do have a few surface books which had bulged batteries which was horrifying. the surface laptop with that felt keyboard picks up dirt/grease/handmarks like nobodies business which makes the machine looks like crap after 6 months.
We are now switching to Dell Latitude for our needs. we can fix anything on them and they should last twice as long. they also will have LTE built in which most microsoft products can’t get. Microsoft seemed to have a huge jump on everyone with the light weight but now i think everyone has caught up and surpassed with features. we don’t / can’t use any of that windows 10 apps junk form their appstore.
We have one in our office. I was surprised how much I liked it, but was even more surprised to find out that it cost $100 more than a new MacBook Air. I agree with your sentiment, that the line has come really far. It’s a very solid PC, but I would not consider replacing a Mac, especially when they are in the same price point. But if I needed a PC, it’s a really solid option.
I think Gruber is generally right, but his main hardware complaint goes to the notebook keyboard. Since Apple is moving to make changes (starting with the highest-price hardware at first) I’d give Apple an Incomplete instead of a letter grade there.
His secondary complaint about iMac Pro refreshes doesn’t quite track with me; Apple has no choice but to wait on new Xeon chips, and those processors am have always been iterated far, far more slowly than mass market processors.
Catalina has been issue free for me. I don’t use the catalyst apps. I mainly use Evernote, Chrome (Safari when not plugged in), Things3, and Office.
And I am getting used to the keyboard on my MacBook Pro 2019. Though I have had issues with it and it has been replaced once. Touch Bar is useless for me.
I should note that Dreamweaver 7 stopped working after the Catalina upgrade due it being 32bit app. I manage a website on the side for a friend and now I am stuck as I don’t want to pay for Adobe CC.
I should also add that my dad has had a Surface Book 2 for about three years now and he has had zero issues it. He is not techie but he did leave his MacBook Prop for this Surface Book. Hasn’t had issues with viruses or any such Windows annoyances. Maybe its all in how one uses the machine.
I love the window management in Windows. Maximize window means maximize the window. In the Mac it can mean full screen or it can also mean, partial maximization depending on the app. Putting apps side by side is also very zippy and easy to understand.
I don’t know much coding aside from from html/css. I use dreamweaver templates for side wide changes to banners and navigation and sometimes even the design of the site.
I wish there was a way to export the site to another platform which wouldn’t have a big learning curve.
Had a Surface Pro 4 back when I was in the Windows ecosystem. Wanted to love it so, so badly. One day, just idling through, I tried the original iPad Pro in an APM.
Six months later I had entirely switched my 25-year long computing life story with Windows to all-Apple gear. That’s how bad it is.
I recently purchased a Surface Laptop Go as a birthday gift for one of my friends. They were using an old MacBook Air. Unsurprisingly, Google Chrome was becoming too demanding. It took up the low amount of RAM and prevented my friend from using Microsoft Office and Google Chrome at the same time.
The Surface Laptop Go was a breath of fresh air. I dislike Windows, but my friend is loving it so far. They can run Google Chrome alongside Microsoft Office with absolute ease. It is an easy purchase to make if you know anybody who likes Windows and simply just needs to run a few programs at once.
