Microsoft Marketing.

You tell people they have a desktop mode they can go to if they want an interface they are more comfortable with.

You don't tell them they can't do anything with it because you can't run any of your legacy stuff.

It would be the exact same machine and same user experience with or without it. But it's a selling point.

Stopped by the Microsoft store today to try out the two keyboards. The reviews I read are spot on. While the touch version is certainly easier than typing on a glass screen, I just didn't find it suitable for large amounts of typing. There's a supposed learning curve, so my accuracy could improve after some practice. In contrast, though, I felt much more comfortable on the type keyboard. I had little trouble hitting the correct keys at approx 90 wpm, and for long typing sessions, the choice is crystal clear to me.

Sorry wrong thread

It does get better over time, but never as good as on the "real" keyboard. I picked one up yesterday, so now I have the option of both.

An interesting article that blows away the whole concept of certain companies selling tablets at a loss to generate profits in other areas.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2013...o-chatter.html

LOL

Played around with it at the mall kiosk (they had only six available for consumers to play around with (versus the Apple store down the hall that has 50+ devices and about 90 people crammed in there!) -

The tablet is very nice & smooth - very impressed with the screen speed and responsiveness to the touch.

Both keyboards are amazing fast to type on (the flat keyboard and the regular keyboard).

Would I get one: Well probably not - I'm happy with my Galaxy Tab 7" (old version).

I briefly played with it at the local Microsoft store. It was okay. Instead, I've fallen in love with the Acer Aspire S7 series, except for the fugly white lid. This might be my next laptop.

I then went over to Best Buy to play with the Lenovo Yoga 13. That will be Mrs. Swede's next laptop. Although, I'm rather shocked at how heavy it feels; regardless, it feels like it's built like a tank.

I just noticed the 11" version has a brushed aluminum lid with a full HD IPS screen. ^ And it's a few hundred dollars cheaper. ^^

This guy: http://www.areliablesource.org/post/35064898230/surface

Really nailed it.

Except for...

It's been well-known since August that M$ was somewhat-forced to stop calling it Metro.

The point is they could have worked out an agreement with the department store chain or come up with another name. Calling everything 'Windows' is going to bite them in the end.

I've given up waiting for the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2, and picked up a Surface after playing with it at the mall kiosk. It will replace my iPad3.

Pros:
- Very light, able to sync settings between laptop and the Surface (both running W8)
- Long battery life
- Ability to run new "Windows apps"
- Screen very clear and readable, more comfortable to me than the iPad3 with the landscape vs portrait layout defaults
- It's better than iOS (IMO)

Cons:
- No 4g LTE wireless service
- No ability to run legacy programs - issue will diminish over time
- No VisualStudio or programming languages can be used on it *yet*

It's a great device, but the long term value is still out between the Windows Phone 8 and a full-fledged W8 laptop. Whether it becomes redundant or not remains to be seen.

Did anyone ever get to try the old Microsoft Surface? Now that was an impressive piece of technology...

It only sets you back around $10k IIRC. But it sure would look good in my family room :)

While I agree that it was impressive, it was only impressive in the months around launch. After that, the device pretty much did what most other tablets started being able to do. Remember, when it was launched, the iPad didn't exist yet, neither did the iPhone. Multi-touch on a device was unheard of...