Some Surface Pro 2 things I don't understand

randomscandinavian

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Here are some questions and annoyances that I have not found answers to after almost a week as a Surface Pro 2 owner. Hoping that someone will know the answers to a few of them!


1. Mail: is there any way of opening the mail application and landing straight in my inbox? I cannot find a way of setting which account is default and the mail app defaults to a Microsoft account that comes with the tablet. I don't use this account. Surely there must be a default account setting somewhere? Also I cannot find a way to make links clickable in emails I receive. I could go for a full desktop mail client I suppose, but what good is a tablet like this if none of the basic apps are usable?


2. OneNote: how do you turn off auto correction of words? I have done so in my PC settings but OneNote still underlines every single word I write in English, presumably since I have a Norwegian keyboard chosen. Also the default font is a lot smaller than in the rest of the OS. (I'm reminded of Office 97 where I think you had to go into settings in MS Word in order to turn auto correct off in the mail client Entourage. Perhaps there is some solution like that here as well.)


3. Typing: one advertized feature is to have words suggested or predicted as you type and then use the space bar to choose between them. I don't get any suggestions. On my Windows 8 phone I do but not here. Why?


4. Camera. I was looking forward to the cool hands-free page turning feature in Bing Food and Drink, but I have only been able to turn recipe pages a couple of times the first days (about once in ten hand waves) and then not at all now. Is it a fact that this feature simply doesn't work? Or maybe my front camera doesn't? How can I test it? There is no flip camera feature that I can see when using the camera.


5. Fresh Paint: There are help files but nothing happens when I click on them. Is this just on my tablet or is it a bug for everyone? This actually isn't a major crisis for me but I just thought of it as I was typing this.


6. How do I review something in the app store? There isn't a single link to click for that as far as I can see. Clicking on the rating stars does nothing either. I want to contribute and rate things because since the Norwegian store only shows ratings by Norwegian customers, hardly any apps have any ratings at all. Even hugely popular famous apps often have no ratings which means that every user must try nearly every Solitaire game and so on.


7. Just curious: What is the difference between Favorites and Favorotes bar in Internet Explorer? They are both identical bars to me. Can I get one to somehow always appear next to the url field like on a desktop browser? Shouldn't something called a Favorites Bar be visible all the time as a bar?


Perhaps these are just as much Windows 8.1 questions as Surface ones. I'm new to both as you can probably tell. All in all I have to say that this is the least intuitive operating system I have used since my Commodore 64 when I was a kid in the '80s. But I suppose I well get there eventually. :)
 

Maaz Mansori

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On the Mail I have a suggestion:
Mine defaults to the correct account but I don't have it configured to Sync my Microsoft account. Try swiping from the right to go to Settings and select Accounts and go to the account that you don't use. Uncheck the option to Sync mail (or anything else if listed).

Also, the predictive text seems to be application specific; I haven't really looked into it much. However, it does work on the Facebook app and some other apps but not all of them.

The favorites bar can be configured to show in a row on the top of the browser at all times when using the Desktop version of Internet Explorer but not the Metro/Modern UI version as far as I can see. The browsers share the same favorites so the favorites bar will show as a submenu under Favorites; it doesn't provide much benefit if not using the Desktop version.
 

randomscandinavian

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Thanks a lot, Maaz! Looks like you have cleared up a few of my questions there! I was certain that I had cleared the sync option for the MS account, but there it still was. And removing it seems to have solved it! :)

Yes the solution to a lot of problems seem to be using the desktop version of applications. One has to wonder what the Metro interface is for then, if one cannot stay within it for more than five minutes.
 

ioaniro

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Hmm, wrote an answer but pressed something wrong and it's gone, I guess I have some problems too :).

Anyway, for writing recommendations in the store, in my case under the stars for the rating there is a link called write a review. You need to have the app installed for that to appear.

For the text suggestions you might need to install a language pack for your language. Not 100% sure but worth a try. Also, adding English as a second language with a Norwegian keyboard (remove the default English keyboard) would help for the OneNote underlining everything you type. You just switch to English/Norwegian keyboard (WinKey+Space Bar if using a real keyboard) before typing in English.
 

randomscandinavian

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Yes, ioaniro, I don't think this forum likes the Surfaces. I cannot enter text in the reply box unless I have the Type keyboard attached. With just the on screen keyboard, I just get thrown out of the text box. Ironically this site behaves best on my old iPad. :)

As for the Store reviewing I don't have such a link under the stars. Checking it again now with an installed app and there is nothing there unfortunately.

Yes, what I have done is to set the system language to English. It came with Norwegian out of the box. For the first several days part of the operating system remained Norwegian. Half of the app titles... then just the login screen. Slowly it all became English. Very odd.

I have added Norwegian keyboard and language pack and deleted the English keyboard because otherwise it defaulted to English every time the keyboard was opened. A shame because the English keyboard has more accent options for each character, that facilitate writing foreign words in several languages.

I have the following confusing options now when I click the lower right button on the keyboard:

Eng Es: English (United States, Spanish keyboard) (I also sometimes need to write Spanish)

Eng No: English (United States), Norwegian keyboard

Nob: Norwegian, Norwegian keyboard.

In OneNote English is underlined no matter which of these three choices I am on. As I often for instance write in Norwegian but quote things in English, it would be best not to have any underlignment at all. But I have tried another note app now, Note Sphere, and it is behaving nice sith the languages it seems. No handwriting directly on the page though, but that is more of a novelty anyway.

Thanks for your input!
 

ioaniro

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This is how the app review should work, no idea why it wouldn't show like this for you. Maybe that's also the reason no apps have reviews in Norwegian?

AppReview.png
 

randomscandinavian

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Yes, it's a small mystery why it is missing. You could be right about it being a bug in the Norwegian version. Then again, why then would some apps have reviews? Because they are reviewed from other devices perhaps.
 

randomscandinavian

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Another thing I don't understand: How are your downloaded Modern apps updated?

On all other devices I have, app store apps are monitored for updates. There is a little flag on the app or in the Store saying that there is a new version. On my Windows 8 phone there is an update or two most every day. Is this missing from the Store or could it be that not a single app I have purchaced or that is bundled have received an update in five weeks?

I checked update history in the desktop mode control panel and that appears only to be for system updates. So where will I be notified of updates?
 

Laura Knotek

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Another thing I don't understand: How are your downloaded Modern apps updated?

On all other devices I have, app store apps are monitored for updates. There is a little flag on the app or in the Store saying that there is a new version. On my Windows 8 phone there is an update or two most every day. Is this missing from the Store or could it be that not a single app I have purchaced or that is bundled have received an update in five weeks?

I checked update history in the desktop mode control panel and that appears only to be for system updates. So where will I be notified of updates?

In Windows 8.1 whenever there is an app update, it'll install automatically when you open that app. For example, I got the Skype update last week when I opened the Skype app.
 

ioaniro

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For me the store live tile shows numbers for the apps needing an update. If you want to do a manual check you open the store, pull the charms bar from the right and go to settings. One of the settings in there is App updates which has a check for update button.
 

randomscandinavian

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For me the store live tile shows numbers for the apps needing an update. If you want to do a manual check you open the store, pull the charms bar from the right and go to settings. One of the settings in there is App updates which has a check for update button.

I see. Mine was set to update apps automatically. Strange that it should be different tho, the notification. I guess maybe the notifications you see appear once a day or something and if you open an app it immediately checks for updates for that. I checked manually in the settings but there is nothing.

Strange that I haven't seen any such notifications in all that time. I have tons of bundled apps I have never even opened. And some only once on the first day.
 

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