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In depth review of Surface: Microsoft Dives Deep to Surface a Hit

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Nobody asked me about my Surface. I tried flashing it all over the place. But despite my best efforts, no one seemed curious.

At Victrola Coffee Roasters in Seattle, I sat in the front window, with a hot pink Touch Cover attached, intentionally conspicuous. Nobody mentioned it. At the airport, I broke it out at the large open-air counter of a crowded bar. I sat in a seat at the gate, facing the walkway, pounding away at its keys on my lap. On a Virgin America flight, crowded with techies, I sat up front and kept it on my tray table the entire time, swiping from app to app. On San Francisco’s Muni transit system, I tentatively typed in my seat, afraid it may be snatched on the crowded train. But no one said a word.

The only person to comment on it was a TSA agent at the Seattle airport, who told me I didn’t need to take my iPad out of my bag.

That’s too bad. Although nobody asked, Microsoft’s new tablet is an altogether curious device. It’s something completely new and different. It is, in some ways, better than an iPad. In some ways, worse. It’s brilliant, and yet it can be puzzling as well. Confoundingly so at times. It’s a tablet of both compromises and confusion. It is a true hybrid — neither fully a desktop nor mobile device. That’s reflected in all sorts of ways. It is Wi-Fi only, but won’t run traditional Windows applications. It has a full-featured keyboard and runs Microsoft Office — but it’s certainly meant to be touched and swiped and tapped.

It’s different.

Let’s at least get this out of the way: This is one of the most exciting pieces of hardware I’ve ever used. It is extremely well-designed; meticulous even.

Source: Wired.com

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