Posts by mmeier

Microsoft's Surface 3 is sweet – but I wouldn't tickle my nads with it

Re: How does it compare

This is a tad more than a "touch only" system. The pen and the software behind it is the key to the system.

And the "killer app" for this type of unit has been around for quite some time:

OneNote

It is the "can use the cloud" notepad app. You do not want cloud - it does not need the cloud. Use a local (company run) Sharepoint instead.

As a long time sufferer of the Note (N7100(1) and Note 10.1(2)) I can tell you that they are nowhere near the capabilities of an Atom powered Windows system. Even MS Journal (included in the OS since at least Vista) beats SNote hands down and challenges Evernote. Same for the Handwriting-Recognition and the rest of the pen support, lightyears ahead of the Samsung stuff.

(1) I do not use touch only phones so sadly a Note is currently a "must use"

(2) Tried it as a replacement for a Win7 tablet pc for 6 month. Gladly went back to the x86 unit despite bigger weight/less endurance. Heck, I'd rather lug my company T902 around rather than the Note 10.1

I have the comparison between a Lenovo TPT10 and a Note 10.1. The poor lil Penguin fell on his back, made a strange sound and died in shame. Even with the same digitiser (both have a Wacom) the upper class Android can not compete with a Baytrail Atom. And the iPad won't do any better.

Even if I leave the pen out of the equation, something that no one who used it for a while will do, the system is a lot faster when handling stuff like complex PDFs, can easily handle multiple documents with fast switching and uses the same software as the main box.

The Pro series is another step upward and may or may not be what one needs. I do not use a private notebook (Company "notebook" is a Fujitsu T902, that does not count) but found that I use my tablet pc most often as a "electronic legal pad" (with OneNote etc). and for such uses a Surface/3 is "good enough" with the benefits of "less openings in the hull" and "USB charging"

Re: Why Why I always asked myself for Surface

When my dad got a new box for his 75s birthday I spend 30min max setting it up. That includes the "standard file associations". And BINGO - no Modern UI apps appear.

Metro was only involved in the sale of the box, we got it from Mediamarkt, that belongs to Metro.

Re: An approach to doing business that..........

The problem with Linux is the lack of (good quality) drivers for WACOM/NTRIG pens and, even more important, the software equivalents to Journal/OneNote and the Handwriting Recognition that Windows has since the days of XP Tablet Edition. Without them the Surface/x86 family runs on half an engine since the very exact pen IS a key component to use desktop software on a tablet pc.

Re: An approach to doing business that..........

Actually MS would LIKE if you do that. But no one is forcing you to USE the bundled subscription.

The beauty of the Surface/3 is that it is just another Win/x86 system. So if you want local Exchange, Sharepoint etc - just use a standard office installation and be done. If you prefer Notes/Domino/OpenOffice - use that instead.

No walled garden, no app-store only software installations. If it runs on Win7 or better - it will run on the Surface/3 (1)

(1) Within the limits of 4GB and an ATOM.

Missed all the important points. That the thing is a speed wizard compared to the ARM "powered" units was clear even without reading the tech specs in detail. The current geneation of Atom CPUs (Baytrail and beyond) are vastly more powerful than the current gen ARM. The interesting questions would have been:

Battery endurance

Pen and pen capabilities

Miracast capabilities and quality

SSD speed

Re: Pricey

Well, it is a tad more than that. Depending on the use case the maschine is nicely priced actually.

IF you want/need a tablet pc with an inductive pen that WORKS (so choose Wacom or NTRIG), can handle all the standard office apps and has all the support software for pen use (choose Win/x86) than your choice in the 10''/Atom class is basically Fujitsu, Lenovo or MS. Fujitsu and Lenovo have the previous Atom generation at higher (Fujitsu) or similar (Lenovo) costs.

IF you do not need the pen than a notebook will be a better choice.

I'm waiting for the LTE version and then get one without keyboard since I will use it as a "electronic legal pad" only just like I do with my current one.

Re: We've been giving one a go at work

Sure that you have a Surface/3 and not a Surface/PRO 3? The S/P has a 4/64/core i3 version that fits a lot better to your description

So tablets, if you want to get anything done travelling get a ... yes, a laptop

Re: Glass half empty view.

Actually he seems to have a knack for choosing the most useless IT kit for the job.

Re: Wrong Tablet

Well, Chrome on Win8 is known to eat battery. Otherwise a working solution

Re: Wrong tablet

Or the i3 version of the Surface/Pro3, or most likely the Surface/3, or...

Basically any 4GB Baytrail or better x86 tablet pc should do the job. The rest is "what screen size do I want" and "how much storage do I want" and maybe "how much can I spend". The Surface/Pro (and S/3) offer some choice at around iThingy prices, same for Lenovo, Dell and HP.

Oh x86 based tablet pc with a full-sized OS (Meaning: Windows since no other company supports pens and handwriting on that level of capabilities) can be quite useful. Depending on the job a Baytrail or a core i unit will do nicely for all non-software development jobs. For SD jobs one might prefer a convertible.

Properly supported with a dock (and a notebook needs one as well for office jobs(1)) they combine ease of portability for meetings and good keyboard/monitor for normal work, run all the standard software, integrate in the company network just like any notebook etc.

Network admins LOVE them since they require no "Extrawurst" treatment.

(1) A pure notebook would be illegal as a permanent "computer workplace" in germany due to the "non adjustable distance/viewing hight of the screen" among other things

Actually: Travell with a USEFUL Tablet PC

What is the problem? Any decend tablet pc can handle that workload. Okay, decend units use a full sized OS (Windows) and a full sized CPU (Intel core i or Atom) coupled to standard ports. But OTOH they work just fine with all the software and all the accessories one wants.

My old EP121 (core i5) even ran Lightroom during my trips if needed to check the RAW, worked fine with eiter DPP or the external SD card reader for downloading from the DSLR etc. And the more modern units have more endurance, more memory and even better CPUs if needed. All below 1 kg with a useable BT keyboard (the old EP121 was slightly above the kilo).

Even the Lenovo TPT10 worked in a pinch (not with Lighroom) and the new Surface/3 has more CPU power and looks like a nice replacement (even so it is NTRIG rather than WACOM) from the first short test.

SCREW you, GLASSHOLES! Microsoft unveils HoloLens

Looks good

An AR system from MS that works with Windows - just what I was looking for. They can do hardware, their OS is the major player on the desktop and they are likely smart enough to separate the processing from the display when the battery power is found to be not good enough. "Does not need wires" is not the same as "can not use wires" after all and powerful mobile devices with 8+ hours endurance are something MS already builds with the S/P units. Just drop screen...

Kiss your Glass goodbye: Google mothballs techno-specs (for now)

Wrong producer, wrong os but a good idea

Sorry but Google is the last company I would trust with a Augmented Reality system. Companies are like Vikings: "The vikings will trade with everyone. With the strong in trade goods, with the weak as trade goods" And with Google you are weak.

Glasses are hardwired into "Skynet 2.0", depending on their systems for many services, depending on connection for many tasks - no way I buy that, just happily got rid of my Samsung Spyphone.

Now give me a AR unit from a vendor that makes his money from hardware/software sales and that can work of the privat computer in my attache case/notebook bag, connected using a well encripted PAN and outsourcing many computational parts to that box and you have a customer. That unit would be very useful both on the job and privatly.

You'll get sick of that iPad. And guess who'll be waiting? Big daddy Linux...

Re: THere's a missing "Sponsored: Canonical" at the bottom of this article...

Smart people choose by needs not by ideologie. So one makes a list of "must haves, should haves, nice to haves and can not haves" and uses what best fits. For clients mine has stuff like:

Single OS for ALL client computers capabel of software development including J2EE

Single client OS at home and on the job

Support for inductive stylus on at least Win7 level (Win8 level preferred) in hard- and software

Support for voice input on at least Win8 level (Dragon Natural level preferred) in hard- and softwar

System must work fully offline

System must work without non-company servers (Cloud etc must be fully in-house/under control)

Integration in company network (Windows based in my case)

Software must be freely installable

Full access to the system without special and potentially warrant voiding methods (so no Jailbreak etc)

Must run all software required by the job without workarounds (no WINE etc)

Must run all software required by my interests without workarounds (no WINE etc)

and with software I add:

Libraries etc. must be useable in company developed software without forcing the publishing of the software source (so NO GPL! but Apache etc. would be totally okay)

Long term stability for API/ABI (5+ years minimum, 10+ preferred)

Long term support for the OS (10+ years) by the same company

Any system that can supply the above makes it into the selection. The others don't.

Re: Laptop/convertible+smart phone

I am using that since before Win8 came out. Thankfully not with Linux (zero support for the Pen) but a Fujitsu T902 with a dock is my "one unit fits all" work maschine. I would not mind loosing a kilogram but that means switching to a ULV CPU and 8GB main memory so I rather keep on with Godjira and it's powerfull hardware.

If one does not need what is a mobile workstation transforming into a tablet pc than units like the TP Yoga or the new HP unit can do the same IF you choose Windows. OTOH - why not, fits nicely in 90+ percent of the company networks.

Re: It may very well be the end of the desktop.

Try Windows Vista/7/8/ with a proper pen. Works perfectly for the copy/past functions (the stylus as a mouse) and quite a bit better than even the Note series of Androids.

Re: Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga: What will you show?

Win 8.1 can do that. It works as long as you do not use more than one computer with the same account. Otherwise you may well end up switching your current maschine to the other mode. OR simply say "start in Modern" since that works on ALL devices as a starting point.

Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga: What will you show? The unit has a 12.5'' touch screen (Actually WACOM+touch) AND keyboard/mouse (Trackpad). Depending on the mode it is a tablet pc or an ultrabook. And then there is docking and the two external 2x'' monitors... And there are more units like that.

Win8 may not be "best possible" but IMHO it is very decend in both jobs without needing guesswork from the system "what display is right now". And once one account uses multiple boxes (say with an AD style system of centralized login) "setting user preferences" gets a hassle of it's own. What is the preference?

Re: OS wars are so last decade

You are right, best tool for the job is the way to go. But also "least amount of different tools for the job" since that reduces the amount of data conversions, changes in "work mode" amd learning time. If one OS can do the job on say server and desktop - that is the choice to go.

I.e I recently sold my more than decend Canon "Kit lenses" (18-55 and 55-250) and went for a heavier Tamron zoom (70-300). Not because it is much better(1) but because ALL other lenses in my kit are Tamron and the fact that they work opposed (Turn left to zoom/focus/narrow appretur vs turn right) is "unneeded added complexity". So I lug an extra few hundered gramm an "all work the same"

(1) Well using a lens designed for the 36mm sensor on a 22.5mm "APS-C" sensor DOES offer some benefits

Re: Linux is possibly the only platform where the same OS on PC, server, mobile and tablet make

The benchmark I would currently set for a non Win/x86 tablet pc would be "performance, hardware and software support equal to a Thinkpad Tablet 10 with Wacom". Anything less is simply not good enough. So

Mature support for ALL Wacom (or NTrig) features like pressure support

Self-Learning Handwriting recognition on all levels of the OS

Software that supports handwriting and post-writing conversion AND is available on the standard office platform(s) so at least Windows support needed

Free access to the system up to "root" access without jailbreak/rooting/special tricks

Free instalability of software (Add-on appstores acceptabel)

Seamless integration in the company and privat networks

User accounts an access rights at least on the Unix Level, preferably ACLs

Choice of programming languages and development platforms for easy construction and testing of privatly written software

All that at less than 800€ and with a guarantee that I get updates and security patches for at least the next 5 years (better next 10).

==============

As for the rest: Win8.x (as well as 7) works fine on desktop and tablet pc. It also is more than "good enough" for in-house servers. The only stuff I'd run on a UNIX box (Solaris or AIX for long term support/stable API and ABI etc) would be outward-facing stuff like Webservers.

Missing defective BEAGLE FOUND ON MARS! Amazing claim

And boy was that some backbreaking work

Lugging the wreck from the "Reichsflugscheibe" to the area where it was to be found and then covering all the traces. Almost as bad as back in 67 when that Armstrong guy almost landed on an outlying defence installation and had to be divertet...

Google v Oracle: US Supreme Court turns to Obama in Java copyright war

Re: Oracle has a loaded gun, pointed right at their own foot.

How much Android software is

a) Really written in JAVA? There are C(++) alternatives

b) Making money? Fandroids are known to be Freetards

And how important is Java in the mobile units over all? How much Cross-Platform uses C(++) instead or variants of .NET

OTOH the server is not a niche market. That is one of the major markets as can be seen on where Oracle has been focussing most of the work. Only recently did they get back to the desktop with FX2.

Amazon workers in Germany stage Christmas strike

Re: Bah!

Post 2. May 1934 the DAF (Deutsche Arbeiter Front - German workers front/group) became the "single union" for all workers until May 1945.

But before that the SA normally way not "the union". The unions where close to the then VERY Leftwing Social Democrats (1) and / or the slightly more left wing Kommunist Party. And organised in their own "combat groups" like the DKP "Rotfront"

(1) The (west)german socialists (SPD) became a modern "general party" only after the "Godesberger Programm" of 1959. Until then it sounded a lot like the (east)german SED

Re: logistics?

The legal matter is clear:

Amazon does not have to join a trade association (Unternehmerverband) and does not have to deal with a union. The state has clear non interference rules. And there is always the question wether verdi actually IS "Tariffähig" (empowered to run negotiations) when it comes to Amazon (and logistics in general) since they have a less than 10 percent membership rate with Amazon Logistics. And according to laws a union must be strong enough to fight through for its members (Mächtigkeitsprinzip).

That is one of the reasons why verdi does NOT try to negotiate a better logistics tarrif, the big companies like OTTO/Hermes might decide to ask the "Empowerment" question and kick out verdi completely. And then they might look at other contracts (OTTO/Hermes is partially logistics and partially retail tarif)

So there is no case for the court. The workers have a right to join verdi (for what it is worth) and go on strike and Amazon has the right to ignore them, hire a few thousand extra temps and/or redirect traffic to Poland.

The long term effects are not part of the law currently. That is due to the fact that union in germany until the 1990s had two forms

IG's with a 80+ percent membership and the power to fight through

They knew that too much/too long would cost jobs. AND they had to pay a lot of strikers (Union pays it's members "wages" (Streikgeld) when the employer sais "workers go home" / Lockout due to a strike). So strikes where short, last resort and to the point. And they always had a good idea "what can we get, where will the company stop"

The unions that became verdi that never had to strike because the state payed

That changed in the 1990s when the ÖTV (public service and transport) garbage men went on strike and the state said "go away". End result was a loss of support after three weeks of no garbage service, an acceptance of a lousy deal and the femal boss of ÖTV running away to Brussels.

Never the less the verdi guys never learned how to deal on equal level or even on a lower level with their employers and it still shows.

Re: Bah!

Tankers would be IG Metal. The IGs usually do not (need to) strike but rather bargain effectively. So while the tankers where busy annexing, the union was busy negotiating.

Well in reality there was no "union" back then, they woke up on May 2nd with a huge hangover and found the SA had occupied the union houses. Today we still have the 1. May as a national holliday.

And quite a few companies do not work with unions for various reasons at all. THAT is also quite legal, no one is forced to join a trade association. IT generally has none since the union would be verdi and anyone with a pay grade above "roomsweeper" will not find verdi a good union. IF IT cooperates with a union it is typically one of the IGs (IGBCE mostly) for historical reasons. Only big IT that does verdi is T-Systems. And to quote a T-Systems engineer on uses for verdi: "Practice target for the 5inch gun, they are so hollow, they'll float"

Re: Frequently-revolting staff stomp off for three days

State is totally uninvolved. Corporations choose freely if they deal with a union and/or join a business association. Amazon did neither, that is one of verdi's problems. No spoils/positions for the union...

As for the strikes "effektiveness": Amazon Logistics currently employs about 20.000 people (half/half permanent and short term). The higher number in the strike says 2300 of those are not working. Hardly a problem with delivery times reported (all orders in the family come in fine either today or tomorrow) and you can bet that Amazon expected a red socks attack during this time of the year and "overhired" a bit.

So far all reports say "delivery as usual". Just a slightly higher count of packages from Poland than last year but that might be due to the new logistics centers that came online 2014.

Re: Frequently-revolting staff stomp off for three days

Yes and no. The biggest german mail order company (OTTO Versand-Hamburg(1)) has a split similar to Amazon. The logistics branch is called Hermes (or Herpes by many customers(2)) and that is well known for LOUSY pay and treatment of employees. The "oldtimers" get paid retail but new ones are lucky if the get "logistics" (and that pays less than Amazons wages)

And Zalando (biggest european clothed mail order) has shown verdi the "binary four" hand signal as well and has contract terms that are "interesting" (barely above the minimum wage, mostly short term etc.)

(1) That is a "generalist" just like Amazon. It's just that they have multiple "personalities" for their store system

(2) Q: How do you get Hermes to deliver your refrigerator to the second floor

A: Ambush them when they try to put the "you where not here" card in WITHOUT ringing the bell

Re: "How can different industries have different rules?"

Besides being dead for anything "Amazon sized" for a decade or so the "Briefmonopol" has absolutely NOTHING to do with this. BM was a rules than only "The Gilb" aka Germans state owned Bundespost could deliver any kind of mail. That has long stopped for packages of any size. DHL, Her(p|m)es, Uuups etc. all deliver.

What rules of payment (if any) apply depends on what "Unternehmerverband" (businessmen's or trade association) a company has joined (if any) and if that association has a wage agreement with a union. A logistics worker in the mining industrie (they have quite large storage/distribution departments) will be payed by IGBCE(1) since the german mining companies have a treaty with that one. One working for Volksthingies will be IGM(1) since car manufacturers made treaties with those. And the poor guys at Hermes are with Verdie so they are underpayed (verdis logistics tarrif is a piece of shit) and overworked.

Since we have "liberty of coalation" for both workers and employers a company can always elect NOT to join any trade association. In that case any wage agreements are done between the company and the employees. Amazon has gone that way as have most IT companies (BITCOM is not working as a trade associatian and no engineer wants verdi as a union(3))

(1)Industiral Union of Miners, Chemical Workers and Energy/Powercompany workers

(2)Industrial Union of Metalworkers

(3)One look at verdi's origins and key personal and you know they do not care for you, won't understand the needs/ways of anyone not working 9-17 (1h lunch brake, state employed preferable)

Google Glassholes haven't achieved 'social acceptance' - report

Re: It can be accepted

A data display can be had for less from some vendors. What GG and similar units could offer is augmented reality. And that needs a camera. What it does not need is a Cloud getting the pictures, local processing (say in a belt mounted unit) would be enough/better.

See examples above. Or in a less technical version: Scale modelling. I look at the sprue, ask "find part 48b" and the system highlights it. Or superimpose the paint scheme over the kit so I can do away with cut-out masks etc. for NATO 3-color kits.

Re: The bell end factor

In case of the german example above:

If you visit the "Karnevalsumzug" (Done each year 48 days before easter sunday) or similar public events then you accept that you end up in a picture as "part of the event". That can, unlike the normal "Panoramafreiheit" include that you are singled out due to your costume of being part of one of the marching groups/display wagon crews. Normally that would not be legal, "Panoramafreiheit" says the main motive must be something else and "work / be worth photographing without the person as well"

Le whoops! Microsoft France boss blows lid off 'Windows 9' event

I have the store icon on my desktop since the day W8 was released and - I never bought a thing there. Guess I still have that think called "self control". And while Office/2013 is on the boxes, no 365 anywhere here. What's the problem again? Except fanatism on your part?

Re: what made you do it in the first place

Suicide is a sin and running Amok prior to it is illegal here in germany.

And if you refer to Windows - no, you won't. The typical corp workplace is a dozend commonly used programs pinned to the desktop. Win 8 easily can do that AND can "boot to desktop" automatically since W8.1 (free update!) So for the average office worker nothing serious changes.

Re: Who cares about the looks?

I still can not see how W8 forces "Cloud" or "Appstore". Cloud is 100 percent optional (Yes, you can install/activate etc, W8 without an MS account. And there is no special tool etc. needed either).

And Modern UI Apps are an "if you want it" part not a "can use only this" part on the x86 version (RT is similar to an iPad - official store only). If you do not need Apps, and on a desktop or a tablet pc you do not (tablets otoh - but hey, just say no to touchy toys!) you install the same software you ran under W7 the same way you did under W7.

Re: Upgrade?

Okay, Linux or Mac-OS equivalents to (Mix of commercial and privat software but I prefer "One OS" so what the companie uses my privat box uses if possible and vice versa)

Sharepoint

Outlook/Exchange

Support for WACOM/NTRIG tablet pc including Pressure support, handwriting recognition, Writing->Text Batch process

Commecial and certified .NET based corporate software in the accounting and HR department

DATEV

Certified HBCI compatible Electronic Banking

WSUS (and no, 3rd party repositories outside of company control are not!)

Equivalent to Lightroom and the camera supplied software (I actually can limp along with GIMP for the rest since I am a bit of a miser)

Running the games I want to play

Ease of buying current gen hardware without checking "is it compatible"

10+ years of update support

All on the same level of capabilities and ease of installation. So no WINE stuff, no extra VM, no praying that the CS-Driver for "card x / device y" works with the current kernel etc. And at no loss in performance compared to Windows either, if my graphic card can do something, it MUST be useable!

Re: too bad...

Business did a major upgrade wave in 2013 to get XP out. With a typical three-five years lease on office systems I expect the next change to start 2016 with a peak around 2017.

Actually MS listens. More to corporate customers than to end users but the do. And they implement changes. Slowly and step by step in 8.x currently (Direkt to Desktop is an example, rearanged shutdown element on Modern UI another). They do not follow the "We want the W7 candy look" back screaming of some people and that gets those screamers frustrated. But changes do happen and W8 is very much a "we experiment with this" version of the UI IMHO.

If your W7 maschine works - no good reason to switch to W8 now. If OTOH you can make good use of W8 features/changes - no good reason NOT to switch to W8 now. For me the changes in the WLAN / boot sequence made a big enough difference to switch the desktop as well as the tablet pc. The Modern UI is "good enough for developer work" for me so no big deal since the "special features" of the start menu either are not used, not useful or present in the programs I use so I do not miss them. And I do not use touch at all, not even on the smartphone.

W8 changes a lot and needs fine tuning as did elder versions (Compare NT3.5.1 with Win7). Some already happended (Win 8.1) and some more will happen. There are requests from corporate customers (Admins mostly, less so end users once you whack Muscle Memory Mike a few times to re-train him). This can be a PITA for Joe Average that gets the choice of W8/W8/W8 in the big electronic markets and must relearn stuff. It is mostly of no interest to corporations that have downgrade rights / company licence for W7 and use a "corp client" anyway instead of the seller supplied OS (IF they buy a unit with an installed OS at all - most bigger don't)

And MS is aware of all that. They know (and speak with) their corporate customers and update cycles (3-5 years). And W8 hit the "sweet spot" IMHO timing-wise. W7 was mature but has quite a few years of support left and therefor was choosen by most corporations as an XP replacement so they are done for the next cycle. And now MS slowly improves W8, gets feedback from privat customers and limited roll ins of W8 (for tablet pc mostly) and when 2016 comes along and the next cycle ramps up - they have the Wx version ready that corporations will use for that next cycle.

IBM killed it? Strange, they developed 2.x, 3.x and 4.x versions of it. Nice OS and quite a few good development tools. But it had the same big problem as some other OS - not enough end user software and a lousy marketing.

And that started the loop again. Not enough software for the end user => not enough sales of the OS => Not enough reasons to write/port end user software => Not enough software for the end user=>....

The same with other companies like Commodore (Hey, how about selling that UNIX Amiga), Atari (Hey, how about getting the TT IN THE STORES and Selling us that brilliant Unix TT/X or the ATW), Acorn... Those companies had brilliant engineers and a marketing that would have failed at selling a cure against old age, death and taxes

MS had good engineers and a brilliant marketing. They won.

What's an Ultrabook? Now Intel touts 2-in-1 typoslabs to save PC biz

Re: W8!

Here! As soon as the Helix-B goes on (pre)order that will be my next private one. Had an A model as a test device when it came out. Liked most stuff but the pre-Haswell CPU wasn't up to what I really wanted. For a while it looked like I had to bite the sour apple and buy a NTrig unit to get what I want but the both HP (Haswell based) and Lenovo (Broadwell based) WACOM units. The Broadwell unit in the Helix-B fits my usage profile (mainly Tablet PC/Pen only) better

Brit Sci-Fi author Alastair Reynolds says MS Word 'drives me to distraction'

Re: CS Lewis' food for thought

Tolkien? Wrote a lot of low grade stuff like "Lord of the Blings" and "Bilbos 14". His OED on the other hand - still a great work. A bit dry maybe.

Re: Personally ...

>Show me any serious author who uses anything other than a text editor.

Well, Jerry Pournelle for starters. Larry Niven as well if one believes Mr. Pournelles "Chaos Manor" column. Serious enough?

Re: @ Khaptain (was: Personally ...)

>>BSD and Linux (and Minix, Coherent, et alia) were written in vi...

>Remind me again which of those is a science fiction novel?

Linux. It starts with "When Linux dominates the desktop". About as likely as the Orion VII taking of from Base 104.

Is it an iPad? Is it a MacBook Air? No, it's a Surface Pro 3

Re: When a Brit does a review

Maintainability is the one big fault of the S/P series. They are glued together so changing any components is not doable by the customer. MS offers a battery replacement service but replacement after extended warranty is stated at 200€.

Different beasts. The Lenovo equivalent to an S/P2 is the Thinkpad Yoga with Wacom digitizer. That adds a lot of capabilities the touch only Yoga lacks. And between those two the question is one of weight. The TPY always weights around 1.7kg, the S/P2 is around 900g if I need a tablet pc only.

Surface or Surface/Pro? Totally different beasts in usage. The inductive stylus on the S/P will replace a keyboard in all situations where note taking is the prime usage. Say talking with a customer about specs, typical meetings etc. Given the quality and capabilities of the support software for the pen AND the integration into stuff like Sharepont the documents can be shared instantly with all co-workers, stored centrally, indexed, searched etc. And HWR->text is easily done even post-writing. And all works offline.

Back on the desk the unit is docked and likely used with external monitors like a desktop (not a notebook) complete with variable distance between me and the monitors etc.

The fact that it is a Windows unit that integrates in most (90+ percent) of the corporate networks and security policies just like a notebook is an additional bonus. And never having to think "will Windows software x work" is nice as well.

Re: they definitely have a place in the business environment.

Ask Samsung how easy the "incremental improvement" is. Integrating a Wacom or NTrig is one thing. Getting the support software right is another. Samsung even was so-so on the former (Palm rejection on the N8000 is not as good as on the Ativ500t Windows unit of the same gen and tech) and their handwriting recognition and note taking software are still Win XP Tablet editon level. The ARM CPU does not help there either.

Re: What's the market?

Tablet PC market. See Q704, HP Elitepad 1000G2 and the new 2:1 that comes in september etc. The inductive stylus is the dead giveaway there. Small market but its mainly a business market so the prices are okay.

And the docking station fits in nicely as well, same for the seemingly smallish SSDs. A business maschine has no problems with a 128GB SSD since storing the lasted blockbuster "found on the net" is not the typical use case. Even 64GB works (around 25GB left after W8, Office:2013 and some other tools are on it) since business will likely use a central storage.