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Microsoft announces the Surface Pro 3

275 points| sz4kerto | 12 years ago |theverge.com | reply

315 comments

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[+] ggreer|12 years ago|reply
That's a really nice piece of hardware. I've used MacBook Airs since 2010, but the Surface 3 looks to be strictly dominating in the hardware department.

Unfortunately, I don't think Microsoft will convert many OS X devs unless they make some changes to their software. One of the advantages of OS X is that it's a Unix, and lots of Unix software runs on it. It's not hard to compile tools such as nmap, Vim, or steam locomotive.

It would be very interesting if Microsoft made Windows a Unix. They could bundle bash or zsh, add the typical BSD tools, and (most importantly) build a cc front-end for the Visual Studio compiler. They'd also have to ship a libc of their own. To save effort, they could base it on BSD's libc. It'd be like Cygwin, but installed by default and officially supported and maintained.

With such a set-up, you'd be able to run your unix tools alongside Adobe CS and Outlook. You wouldn't have to worry about driver support, since Microsoft made the hardware and the OS (just like Apple). The only thing missing would be the ability to dual-boot OS X (to test on Safari or other OS X stuff).

[+] bri3d|12 years ago|reply
You mean like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Services_for_UNIX ?

In my experience Cygwin works better for the "compile software targeted mostly at Linux users" use case, but Microsoft definitely pursued the "make Windows a Unix" approach. Sadly Interix saw limited adoption (probably due to pricing) and has been discontinued, so we're left with the user-space emulation approaches (like Cygwin).

[+] paperwork|12 years ago|reply
I'm rooting for MS. My (not so serious) test for windows is simple: the day I can resize dos command prompt as easily as terminal windows on linux/osx is the day Microsoft I need to seriously consider going back to windows :)
[+] tdicola|12 years ago|reply
If you want Unix on Windows install cygwin, msys, or even a virtual machine with Ubuntu, etc. It's a bit silly to expect Microsoft to provide a full Unix environment for developing Windows software.
[+] devx|12 years ago|reply
Microsoft is running a very confusing strategy here. Google understood that with Motorola and it's why they sold it off. Microsoft hopes to keep its monopoly in the PC space with its multi-OEM operating system, yet still try to get every PC consumer to buy its own devices. Something's got to give.

I expect Microsoft's partners will increasingly continue to push other operating systems into the market on their devices, even if initially it's not exactly what the market wants. But they will do it anyway, because they will increasingly hate Microsoft.

And it will work, because the PC ecosystem is much bigger than Microsoft, and Microsoft won't succeed fighting against it. They will lose more money from lost licenses than they will be making (in profit, since so far Surfaces have continued to lose them money) than they will be making from these devices.

[+] bunderbunder|12 years ago|reply
I think there's something of a double-standard here.

I use a virtual machine running Windows to take care of software my Mac won't run natively. I could just as easily run Linux or BSD in a virtual machine on a Windows box. Or even OS X, if I were in a EULA-violating mood.

[+] pjmlp|12 years ago|reply
Mac OS X being UNIX compatible only matters for command line and daemons stuff, everything else is Cocoa.

In terms of architecture, Windows is a VMS descendent and although there have been multiple UNIX compatibility layers, both from Microsoft and third parties, very few people really cared about it. As of Windows 8, Microsoft killed their own implementation and is pointing people to Cygwin.

[+] rbanffy|12 years ago|reply
> It would be very interesting if Microsoft made Windows a Unix.

Microsoft's strategy has always been to make it easy to port other apps to Windows (offering POSIX services since ever) but to make it as difficult as possible to port away Windows apps. Offering a full-featured Unix environment would go against that.

[+] emehrkay|12 years ago|reply
Id honestly love a dock-able iPad with a sandboxed OSX app. <-- this is my prediction as to where Apple is going. They won't merge the two OSes. One would assume that they already have an arm version of OS X running, emulation probably isn't strong enough yet.
[+] Nerdfest|12 years ago|reply
Microsoft, like Apple, wants you to only be able to use their products, so there's a very low probability of them releasing a Unix version. Both Apple and MS would actively stop people from installing Linux on their hardware if they could get away with it.
[+] kayoone|12 years ago|reply
Today many people run their development environments in VMs with something like vagrant. That, plus the fact that *nix utilities are available through cygwin, make the choice of OS to run your editor in pretty unimportant and more a matter of personal preference.

I still use a Mac but i don't use any OSX specific software apart from some small tools which i could easily replace on other OSes.

[+] pekk|12 years ago|reply
OS X is different from other Unix in many important ways that will affect you from day to day, so I wouldn't be too quick to congratulate Apple on making a Unix environment. If you want Unix, use Unix.
[+] ladzoppelin|12 years ago|reply
Why not just run Linux in a Hyper-V machine? Hyper-v is type 1.
[+] gcr|12 years ago|reply
Do you mean 'sl'?
[+] ZanyProgrammer|12 years ago|reply
I'm sure most of would like for Windows to integrate a Bash shell, but the moment that happens, a ton of Windows sysadmins instantly wouldn't be able to do their jobs. I bet dollars to doughnuts most current Windows sysadmins (even the Powershell people) aren't proficient with Bash. God help the GUI sysadmins if this were to ever happen.
[+] gcb0|12 years ago|reply
OSX is less unix than it can get. No X. Crazy apple-only-standards... Heck you can't even use vim!

i will eat my hat if you open vim in OSX and be able to copy/paste. The + register just goes to nowhere. OS X is broken unix.

windows sucks in many regards, but it always had million more devs than OSX... i know implementing fixes on top of windows goes against the free software philosophy, but there are already too many. I can run remote X apps from another box easier on windows than OS X.

The only leverage apple ever had was IOS. you are forbidden by law to emulate IOS or OSX on any non-apple hardware. so people started to be forced to use macs. it wasn't natural adoption. And IOS is only relevant while we have dumbed down smart phones. Now that this became a standard tabled (a full computer, that you can run windows or even install linux) IOS will lose appeal, and apple will be sidelined to the history of computer history as it always manages to get it self into.

downvote with all the hate you want. you know it to be true :)

[+] bane|12 years ago|reply
I'm starting to see more and more Surface devices in my area. It seems to be getting popular with the Starbuck's salesguy crowd who need something as compact as a tablet, but they can use real applications on. I know that's kind of cliche, but you don't really "get" that meaning until you walk into a coffee shop and see 2 or 3 people sitting around with tablets sticking up on the tables. The Android and iPad guys are usually surfing the web while the Surface guy is editing a spreadsheet or doing something in Powerpoint.

Actually a great network effect is getting a presentation of some business proposal off of a Surface. Everybody who see the presentation usually asks what kind of Android tablet it is, and it suddenly turns every real-estate sales guy in the area into an impromptu Microsoft sales guy, extolling the virtues of the device and OS.

They're still too pricey by my estimation. You should be able to get one of these (maybe a low-ebd 32GB model) with keyboard for $799. I don't get why the keyboard/cover is an optional buy.

[+] rayiner|12 years ago|reply
I'm really excited about this, because its perfect for me (modulo not having Metro version of Office). 12" at that aspect ratio is just right for reading and marking up documents, reviewing drafts, taking notes, etc. That's 90% of my work flow.

Surface Pro 2 wasn't good enough for me because 10.6" at 16:9 was just too narrow. I either did a ton of vertical scrolling or squinted to see things in portrait mode despite having a lot of wasted space above and below. 12" at 2:3 is reasonably close to a sheet of paper (13" at 3:4).

[+] LeafyGreenbriar|12 years ago|reply
I completely agree about the keyboard cover. That accessory is critical to the experience of using the device. Without it the Surface is an oversized tablet with a diminutive app store (yes, I know that it is a lot better than it used to be). The ability to switch it into "laptop-mode" is the key selling point, and has appeared in every demonstration of the device I've ever seen. It should be included, and they need to figure out a way to do it for less than the effective price of $930. If, as you say, you could get it bundled with the device for $799, the Surface starts to look more compelling.
[+] err4nt|12 years ago|reply
In my experience I'm the iPad guy hacking away at code over SFTP or using my iPad for server admin over SSH and most Surface users I spot at coffee shops are using the keyboard as a stand and streaming video. Most iPad users are doing the same thing, or surfing, but I never see a Surface user not using a table-top to hold their tablet. I've seen people walking-and-laptop, walk-and-iPad, walk-and-Nexus, but never walk-and-surface as they move down the street either.
[+] Joeri|12 years ago|reply
Check out the asus t100. It's what a low end surface would be like. I have one and i really like It.
[+] IBM|12 years ago|reply
They've kind of killed this whole angle of "Surface is for getting work done" after they hedged by releasing Office on iPad.
[+] iandanforth|12 years ago|reply
Warning, rant. Why the duck isn't there information on the Surface Pro 3 on the MS website? Apple has done this so well, for so long, I am pissed-off MS can't get its act together. You make an announcement, you need presence on the web. You need to start your customers expectations building, whet their appetite, and tease them. Their experience starts now and right now that experience is reading news articles and reading a press release. Pathetic. Where is the video of the announcement? Where are the beautiful images and specs. Where are the carefully and lovingly crafted pages that sell this hardware to me? Tomorrow isn't good enough. Next week is utter failure. You step off stage, your site is live. Period.
[+] whazzmaster|12 years ago|reply
I'm not sure why you were getting downvoted because the one thing that stuck out to me, after saying to myself "Huh, I'd love to get one of those to play around with." was that in the marketing page [1] it said "Go to microsoftstore.com/whatever" to preorder one yet when I poked around that site there was no reference whatsoever to the Surface Pro 3.

It just seems odd to go to so much trouble for the unveiling and then say, "but you can't check out the specs/look at accessories/drool over it" until 12:01am.

[1] http://blog.surface.com/2014/05/announcing-surface-pro-3/

[+] r00fus|12 years ago|reply
Maybe because they're still selling Surface2's? But some cohesive story like Surface2 is now $X00 cheaper, or pre-order Surface3 today would be the level of messaging needed to match Apple.
[+] justin66|12 years ago|reply
> Apple has done this so well, for so long, I am pissed-off MS can't get its act together.

Apple doesn't pre-announce products at all, do they?

This was sloppy (Microsoft is going to have something up for preorders tomorrow, why not just put it up when the speech is finished?) but it's not something Apple even does.

[+] mikerg87|12 years ago|reply
Small things continue to kill the surface pro acceptance:

- The Surface site on the surface site hasn't updated with surface pro 3 info/pricing. The run way for this is long, why isn't the site updated or ready to go?

- Accessories are notoriously out of stock. Why are they hard to get? Docking station, keyboards, mice. Fix that.

- The dock has 10/100 Ethernet. In 2013-2014? Why?

- Updates for firmware and drivers assume enterprise infrastructure. Without the infrastructure you need a manual upgrade using command line tools. The updates don't come through the normal windows update channel. You have to discover them on your own.

- The track pad on the type/touch cover is flaky . Its forever getting stuck in a fixed place and stuck on gestures you cant turn off or control. You end up having to disconnect the cover and reconnect. this is stupid for an elite/pro device.

Despite the gripes these devices continue to show promise and I see them more and more around airports and coffee shops.

[+] ldd-|12 years ago|reply
As a proud Gen 1 Surface Pro owner, this looks spectacular.

My Surface replaced my laptop, and while I definitely had my issues with the transition (trackpad sucks so often use external mouse, aspect ratio is inconvenient for Office, display angle is limiting, and no built-in LTE), I've ultimately come to enjoy using it.

I've almost always got it with me, and I've found I've become nearly as productive on it as I was with my laptop. I've been willing to make the "nearly" tradeoff since I have it on me more often, so more opportunity to be productive, and I do use it as a tablet in ways that I obviously couldn't with my laptop.

The updates in the Gen 3 address nearly all of my gripes (why can't they integrate LTE??). I'm not sure if I'll pick up a 3, but only because my Gen 1 is less than 2 years old and still under warranty. If not a Gen 3, then a Gen 4 will definitely be on my shopping list.

I can't imagine I'll go back to a normal laptop. I guess I'm exactly who they are targeting.

[+] josefresco|12 years ago|reply
Microsoft needs to keep at it. While this iteration is great, the platform will not flourish if they falter or take a release cycle off. Consistent upgrades to the Surface hardware, and support of the developer community is key to winning the overall tablet war for MS.
[+] skrebbel|12 years ago|reply
Just when I was "boohoo"-ing over Sony Vaios entirely leaving (WORLD & ~JAPAN), MS does this. Awesome. I would probably buy one if I didn't just buy a new laptop 2 months ago.

The slightly bigger screen also makes this a worthy competitor to "real" laptops (as in, 13" and up) - a first for the Surface IMO.

[+] sz4kerto|12 years ago|reply
3:2 screen ratio is a killer feature. The size (800g, 9.1 mm) is quite unbelievable as well.
[+] tompagenet2|12 years ago|reply
Really impressed by this, especially the 3:2 ratio screen which will be great for writing and for browsing, and amazing for photos. The pen looks great. I've recently been given an iPad by work as part of a trial. It's great for quick e-mails, but really seems hard for me to get 'proper' work done. This might be the thing - shame I have to pay for it.
[+] JimmaDaRustla|12 years ago|reply
Looks awesome.

I always say I won't buy a tablet until it is as useful as my laptop - this is a great step in that direction with the multi position stand, 12" screen, core i7, thin and light...Will I actually enter the tablet world?

[+] yulaow|12 years ago|reply
Did I miss that or they said nothing about the battery duration? For me that's a very important information. For the rest is a really great piece of hw

edit:

Yep I missed: "Over ~20% more battery life than any product Surface has shipped before"

and: " battery life is up to 9 hours on the Surface Pro 3."

[+] msh|12 years ago|reply
The anandtech live blog says it's 20% better than surface pro 2.
[+] gcb0|12 years ago|reply
...and how hot it gets!

"The first surface that can't boil your eggs" would be a slogan that make me buy one.

[+] bcoates|12 years ago|reply
I was holding out for this announcement to upgrade my Surface Pro, which I've been happily using as a main work PC for more than a year now. I'm not big on the size/aspect ratio change--I don't carry a bag around, and the current surface is about as large as I'd want to handle. A bigger, presumably floppier keyboard isn't too enticing either.

3:2 makes the portrait mode go from silly to potentially useable, except for the part where almost no Windows programs are actually usable in portrait mode, and of course the keyboard requires landscape mode anyway.

With no interesting spec upgrades over the Pro 2 (I was hoping for LTE, or more ports) I think I'll get one of those instead.

[+] rbanffy|12 years ago|reply
Looks good, but I was expecting a screen with the same specs as Google's Chromebook Pixel. I understand that, beyond a certain point, pixel density ceases to be relevant, but the different numbers mean this is a different part.

Now, I wonder how good would Linux support be.

Also, weighting a keyboardless tablet with a MacBook air is disingenuous at best.

[+] themodelplumber|12 years ago|reply
I look at the environment in which the product was presented and it's just one no-no after another. Check out this photo:

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2014/05/20/microsoft-unveils...

They've picked some awful desaturated blue/green wallpaper image that clashes with the tiles that are supposed to be so great in Windows. Then the tiles themselves have this weird whitespace issue that creates an imbalanced appearance and even allows some tiles to use a right-aligned symbol rather than the default center.

To say nothing of the shirt Panay is wearing. Nice and shiny, I'll give it that.

Then I watch the MS dubstep ad for this product and it's just a bunch of meaningless flash. You don't even get to see people smiling, just music and lights (dah dah-dah). Oh and a pen writing on the screen, as if that's some miracle of modern technology. You can take notes with pictures in them, too.

This is a step up from most Windows laptops, I'm sure, but the presentation really needs improvement. There is amateur work that is so much better than this. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugmR9nq3Yiw -- Wacom review done by an Australian cartoonist.

[+] tdicola|12 years ago|reply
Really akward that they made a point of saying the device is 'fanless' when it clearly has a fan and vents around the side. Sure it might be a very nice and quiet fan, but it sounds disingenuous to be saying there isn't one.
[+] iaskwhy|12 years ago|reply
For reference:

Surface Pro 3: 12" @ 2160x1440 => 216 PPI

MacBook Air 11": 11.6" @ 1366x768 => 135 PPI

MacBook Air 13": 13.3" @ 1440x900 => 128 PPI

MacBook Pro 13" (Retina): 13.3" @ 2560x1600 => 227 PPI

(Rumor) MacBook Air 12" (Retina): 12" @ 2304x1440 => 226 PPI

[+] evanmoran|12 years ago|reply
Notice in the video he didn't weigh an iPad, he weighed the MacBook Air. Microsoft is going after laptops – not tablets – with the Surface. This makes sense to me because when I'm working I need a keyboard (typing is just too important). When I'm in a meeting I want to jot notes down with a stylus (feels more personal then typing). This is a pretty impressive bridge between these ideals.
[+] Rudism|12 years ago|reply
I bought a Surface Pro 2 a while back, mostly excited about the digitizer. I was definitely not disappointed.

From a casual digital artist's perspective (read: I draw a webcomic and occasionally dabble in hobbyist animation), this is a dream device. The ability to sit at my desk with the tablet hooked up to KVM via a USB hub, write and edit my script like on any desktop computer, then simply unplug and start drawing right on the screen is an amazingly satisfying work-flow. Looks like the Surface Pro 3 will only make that even better with the larger screen area.

With the right tools that are touch-enabled for panning, zooming, and rotating, it's basically the perfect way to work.

[+] bch|12 years ago|reply
If this has good support from *BSD (or perhaps, Linux) -- this sounds like it might be the device that'd tip me from laptop to tablet user as a primary machine.
[+] crayola|12 years ago|reply
$799. Impressive. I think this is a big moment for Microsoft.