Thank you for reminding me about the 30 day returns policy.
I haven’t returned a non-useful product in years and I forgot about it.
But I did take that route.
Yes I did own the product and have poked through it.
The hard drive is spliced as follows: 3.6 GB is needed for the restore / reload image (NTFS), 128 MB is reserved for unknown reason as of now (no volume created), 300 MB is the recovery console (NTFS), 200 MB is for the system (FAT32), and the rest is
for the OS which depends on 32 GB or 64 GB versions (NTFS). Use diskpart in cmd since Disk Management in Computer Management does not show the proper information. I found the recovery console to be just like a 2008 core install, which UI applications such
as regedit or notepad maybe ran alongside command line tools.
Do this by Swiping from the right side inward -> Settings -> Change PC Settings -> General -> Advanced Startup -> Restart Now -> Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> Command Prompt.
I could have tried booting from removable medium to see even more but since I’m not keeping the device my time can be spent elsewhere.
Playing with Surface ARM the touch interface is well laid out for navigation and control.
They also gave you the ability to close an app unlike iOS or Android, without using a custom app of course.
But what is really nice is the touch text input controls that can be used to delete a text input’s information with one touch and easily bring it back with your fingertips.
Microsoft of course knows there is value in the desktop and that is why they kept the “Old” UI in the ARM Surface instead of just the new modern UI.
Others will say this is still value in the product since RDP can be used to run business applications or connect to remote environments.
By not allowing 3 party desktop applications a business cannot install remote control services to better help or service the employees remotely or
use device management and auditing software.
Nor can a developer work offline on a project.
I’m going to say that laptops will be replaced by ARM processors and x86 will go the way of virtualization but stay on desktops for now.
ARM (RISC) processors keep showing that small chained instructions can perform better and are more energy efficient compared to x86 (CISC) processors which have more specialty longer instructions.
Intel is even working on high core capacity ARM processors.
With AMD and Microsoft starting to work on 64bit ARM and more and more mobile devices using them, it is just a matter of time before they hit desktops too.
Legacy code and legacy API is most likely costing Microsoft headaches and money. When developing Windows RT, they could have used that opportunity to pull an Apple.
Redesign the Windows API for the future and remove legacy APIs.
Just like Apple did with moving from Mac OS 8/9 to Mac OS X, except Mac OS X was a rewrite with a completely different directory structure.
The Windows 8 (x86) could be their jump point to the new API while letting old code work too.
Apple did this by allowing the first couple of Mac OS X versions to run Mac OS 8/9 applications or event boot into the Mac OS 9 environment.
Virtual PC could handle the rest of the past legacy applications with the OS after Windows 8.
The new UI is nice for entertainment (movies, music, and reading) but is bad for real computer work.
The old desktop UI allows for the use of the device as a universal tool and for products and services that do not fit the new UI model.
Having to use multiple tools to troubleshoot network issues or debug service issues does not fit the new UI model of one app full screen.
I would hate having to keep switching between Metro Apps to reanalyze information coming from multiple tool sources.
I cannot stand switching between traceroute, ping, telnet, and netstat with Apple’s network UI utility.
I am more effect with multiple terminals being open that allow me to see the sum of the information at once.
I know you could split the screen between Metro Apps but the split is too time consuming and cumbersome since not all scenarios require the same tools nor is just one of the same tool always needed.
If I was really looking for an entertainment device I would of purchased a tablet by now.
Android would have been my choice since the iPad and Surface lacks video and audio codecs. Microsoft has yet to support open audio codec FLAC.
I was looking for a productive, innovative, and futuristic productive device at can bring same entertainment as a tablet.
Turns out Microsoft just came out with an entertainment device with a keyboard if purchased.
I will most likely purchase a Surface Pro but I cannot recommend the ARM.
The cost of entertainment is not there for Microsoft’s ARM nor do I believe in the Store business model fits for all software.
This of course will the last post on the subject matter from me.