Replacing my MacBook Pro and IPad Air "thoughts and Advise"

[WildKarrde]

FYI, for those of you looking for a more tablet-like experience on your Windows Hybrid, Microsoft has released a Visual Studio's emulator for Android. It's my understanding that they are going to streamline it into Windows 10 more seamlessly, but it works pretty well as is already. Check it out here:
Microsoft Outs Android Emulator: Here's How To Use It : PERSONAL TECH : Tech Times

And here's how to load Google Play onto it
Installing Google Play Services in the Microsoft Visual Studio Android Emulator | Code Smells

 

[boltman2013]

I'm an Apple user, and a Linux user, and an iOS and Android user. I used to develop for the Microsoft platform. I don't think I have any strong bias. However, the pros of Apple computers is their power management, Retina support, and open source dev tools and libraries. Of the three main desktop OSes, I find OS X's power management to be the only one that actually works well. You can close the lid on a your laptop, come back in 2 weeks, open the lid, and there's still plenty of juice left, and there's no wake from hibernate. It's wake from sleep.

Retina support on OS X is still far ahead of Windows and Linux. Since Apple formally supported Retina 5 years ago, and the standard resolution hasn't changed, it's been easier for app writers to support Retina. This isn't the case on Windows and Linux. Even apps like Java UIs that runs well on OS X retina are unusable on the other OSes.

One reason OS X has gain popularity is the open source support. Open source usually means Linux, and Macs provide a Linux environment with a plethora of tools and apps.

Today, I do not own any personal Macs. I have a work MBP and have a Dell precision laptop with Ubuntu as my personal machine. I'm currently on a Linux binge because I'm just looking for a different user experience. For the OP, I would make this recommendation. SP4 is great hardware, but base your decision on your specific usage. Is power management important? If it is, then SP4 might not be the ideal platform. If you want a tablet experience, I can tell you that it's not optimized for that. A tablet experience and a desktop experience is quite different. If you're using FB app on your tablet, don't expect the same experience. You'll end up using a web browser on Windows to connect to FB. The same goes for media consumption. That's fine, but it's also a lot slower than custom written tablet apps. I had the SP4 for about 3 weeks, and it was the power management that eventually forced me to return it. It's best not to get enamored with any one specific hardware device, esp one that's new. I chose the one that fits my usage, regardless of OS and hardware. Since I use desktop OSes for software development and photoshop, I don't really care about what else it can do. I use real tablets for real tablet experience. I've learned my lesson with trying to combine both. They just don't mix... yet. Maybe one day there will be more consumption apps for Windows or devtools and photoshop for iPad, but as it stands today, they're separate worlds.

"Retina support on OS X is still far ahead of Windows and Linux"...not so fast kiddo

The new displays on both SB and SP4 blow away anything Apple has

 

[PlatypusMaximus]

Speaking of emulators, AMIDuOS could be worth trying out. There are videos in YouTube running AMIDuOS on Surface and it looks pretty solid. Though it's stupid if you need two operating systems to take full advantage of the device. I'm still waiting for Surface Pro 4 to be available here in Europe and see for myself how the tablet mode works. I am currently using MacBook Pro and I hope Surface will improve my workflow in studies. Actually, I'm sure it will improve with OneNote and stylus. But if tablet mode won't seem so pleasing in Windows 10 for light usage, I'll try out AMIDuOS.

Update: I won't be looking after any emulators. I'm happy with the Surface.

 

[m4600]

I'll add one more thing, if I were to go out and buy a Windows device today, I'd still buy a laptop. Windows is still a desktop OS and works better in that mode. If you really want Windows but don't care about the stylus, go get yourself an Dell XPS or Precision laptop. I can't see any other reason to pickup the SP4 for any other use other than to use the stylus.

I love my iPad for light tasks like reading or browsing. I love my Dell M3800 for heavy tasks and typing. But I am tired of carrying both of them around. I travel a lot and I have to carry both the laptop and the iPad. With SP4 I can now carry just one device. It's light enough to be used as a tablet and it's powerful enough to replace a laptop even for most demanding tasks. It's not perfect: there are better tablets and there are better laptops, but as a 2-in-1, Surface Pro has no equals! For my needs it's perfect!

 

[boltman2013]

For many the SP4 is perfect... apart from those that cannot deal with a smaller screen. Macs do not have touch and ipads are toys so Apple has nothing on Surface don't get me started with the ipad "pro"

 

[sflxn]

Speaking of emulators, AMIDuOS could be worth trying out. There are videos in YouTube running AMIDuOS on Surface and it looks pretty solid. Though it's stupid if you need two operating systems to take full advantage of the device. I'm still waiting for Surface Pro 4 to be available here in Europe and see for myself how the tablet mode works. I am currently using MacBook Pro and I hope Surface will improve my workflow in studies. Actually, I'm sure it will improve with OneNote and stylus. But if tablet mode won't seem so pleasing in Windows 10 for light usage, I'll try out AMIDuOS.

AMIDuOS was one of the first app I tried to use on the SP4. It was a terrible experience. It's so slow compared to a real Android tablet. Graphics intensive games wouldn't run. Netflix either didn't run or was dog slow (can't remember). Comcast xfinity app wouldn't run. CPU and fans went ballistic. It's better than BlueStack, but that's not hard to do. If you want an Android tablet, just pick up a 7 or 9" Android tablet.

 

[PlatypusMaximus]

AMIDuOS was one of the first app I tried to use on the SP4. It was a terrible experience. It's so slow compared to a real Android tablet. Graphics intensive games wouldn't run. Netflix either didn't run or was dog slow (can't remember). Comcast xfinity app wouldn't run. CPU and fans went ballistic. It's better than BlueStack, but that's not hard to do. If you want an Android tablet, just pick up a 7 or 9" Android tablet.

That's sad to hear.

 

[PepperdotNet]

I tried that Visual Studio Android emulator, apparently you can't drag and drop, required to install Google services, without fully installing Visual Studio. I'll try the other one.