Getting a Surface 3 and undecided about Win 10 on it.

[michail71]

I'm going to get the Surface 3 from AT&T and I've been reading through some of these threads and I've been using Windows 10 for several months. However, I'm not so sure I want to upgrade the Surface to Win 10.

When I handle them in the store Windows 8.1 just feels so natural on them. When I use tablet mode in the RTM it just doesn't seem like it would be as good. Granted, I'm not using a touch interface. So it's hard to tell for sure.

Also, the OneDrive placeholders would be a big issue for me as I have a larger OneDrive than the Surface 3 has storage. At least the Photo app connects to OneDrive. That would help some.

So, does anyone here prefer Win 10 over 8.1 on the Surface?

 

[illegaloperation]

It doesn't matter if you like Windows 10 or not. Soon, there will be many Windows 10 universal apps on the Windows Store and Windows 8.1 won't be able to run them hence the reason to upgrade.

 

[michail71]

Well, I actually like Windows 10. It's just from what I have seen it doesn't look as tablet friendly.

 

[rory753]

I've been going back and forth on this issue. I use a surface 3 for work, so I don't want any buggy issues with it, but i have an asus vivotab note 8 for trying win10 out. i have build 10240 on the asus, and what i notice is yes, it's definitely different, but i'm liking some things better. windows 10 in tablet mode has evolved very nicely over the past few month to become something similar to win8.1. What i do like is being able to go into desktop mode easier, which is something i'd never thought i'd say with win 8.1. now, i've notice that i'm looking for things on my surface 3 when i switch back from the asus. I think this is a sign that i'll probably switch to win10 when it comes out.

 

[michail71]

Thanks, I've only tried tablet mode on Win 10 with my desktop and I know that's not a good test. The help tips popped up to tell me to swipe from the sides so it looks like some of the gestures are still there, like swipe from left for app switching.

 

[michail71]

Do you use desktop mode or tablet mode more on the Surface with Windows 10?

 

[rory753]

I haven't put win10 on my surface, but on my asus, i use the tablet mode. This works fine, and I'm growing to like it better then regular win8.

 

[michail71]

Thanks, I'll probably keep it on 8.1 until the upgrade gets released. I could load the last 10 iso but I'm not sure if that would will pull the RTM at this point.

My biggest thing I think is that the task bar is always visible unless it's a full screen app. Tablet mode should have a swipe up option. But that could be complicated by the fact you can move it.

 

[michail71]

Well, I can say I am missing Windows 10 on the Surface 3. Some of the UI looks dated now, lol.

I may run my iso on it but am worried I won't be able to pull the 10240 update since this device hasn't been on the preview yet.

 

[Ezhik]

I'm keeping 8.1 on my Surface Pro 3. I'm honestly not really a fan of Windows 10 as it is now. It is a downgrade in some aspects for me. Especially OneDrive, I relied on things like file placeholders heavily - it made working with 700GB of files possible on a 64GB Surface. On Windows 10, though, it's literally the Windows 7 OneDrive app and that's it.

I think I'm going to wait for Windows 10's "second wave" - the rollout when we are supposed to get Windows 10 Mobile, new Messaging app, and presumably new OneDrive app.

 

[michail71]

I'm updating now. Just hope I can get 10240 on after I do the iso.

I'm bummed about the OneDrive too. But at some point they'll add this back. My plan is to not sync my photo but everything else. The photo app actually takes care of caching the pictures local.

And OMG, I could have updated my desktop 3-4 times by now. Surface 3 does not update fast.

 

[michail71]

I seem to be stuck on build 10162 but I much prefer 10 over 8.1 on this device.

 

[michail71]

Update 10240 came through this morning. There seems to be a delay from when the machine goes preview to when it can grab that update.

 

[michail71]

With all the reports out there of this being bad on a tablet I'd have to disagree. I didn't quite get it when I was using tablet mode on the desktop.

I'm finding it much easier to get around and multitask. I find I'm keeping it in tablet mode more so than desktop mode. Although, desktop mode works great too. The benefit of tablet mode just seems to be to optimize for smaller sized screens. I love the back arrow too.

I kind of miss the cool app fly out from swipe from the left. But the task view is much more practical and consistent with desktop use as well. I'd almost like to see an option to keep the old style if you only have two apps running but that could be considered inconsistent.

 

[michail71]

After living with both for a bit of time now I still miss the old all apps view. Especially with it being sortable. But I also find I just use Cortana to pull up what I'm looking for. If not installed she sends me to the store too.

 

[rider2040]

After the updates of this weekend, I am very happy with W10 on my Surface 3. It is now totally stable and I now prefer the W10 UI to W8.1 in both desktop AND tablet mode. Tablet mode could still use a little more refinement, but it is now very functional and I find that I prefer the task switching of W10 much more than W8.1. I now have my Surface 3 set up to automatically switch between tablet and desktop mode and I find that it works perfectly - it's a laptop when I want it to be and a tablet when I want it to be. Really really great!

 

[michail71]

It's nice but there are a couple issues it seems.

I've seen mention of this one but the brightness seems to be stuck at whatever level is default. Nothing changes it.

There is also an input lag (mouse, pen, touch) I identified and have an open issue with Microsoft Surface support . It's mostly a problem for games. I don't know that anyone else has identified this one yet so I'm concerned they'll get it fixed.

Given those issues I still prefer to stick with 10.

 

[bittercold]

Works great on Surface 3. I think it is actually better than W8.1

 

[Drehood]

Question: I got a Surface 3 LTE from AT&T a few days ago and have installed the system updates that are available. My understanding is that there is supposed to be a "Get Windows 10" app in the store. First of all, is that true? If so, does anyone know why I'm not seeing it? I also don't have the little Windows notification on the taskbar that allows you to sign up for the free upgrade to Windows 10. Any feedback is appreciated, and sorry if this is a dumb question. I'm just wanting to make sure I can get the upgrade as soon as possible. Thank you.

 

[bockersjv]

Works great on Surface 3. I think it is actually better than W8.1

Could not agree more. Works a treat.