Switching To Windows

[Huime]

really depends on your need. Surface is a hybrid, not really the ultrabook which you intend to replace. It gives you mobility in terms of a tablet like UX but compromise in sheer feature as a laptop replacement. If you usually plug your device with a larger screen and external input devices, then probably SP will be a decent ultrabook replacement.

 

[dstrauss]

If you're a heavy computer user, the surface pro may not be for you.

At a minimum, I have outlook, word, excel, ppt, and several chrome pages running. This quickly uses up 4gb of RAM. This was the main reason I ruled out the surface pro. For heavy users 8gb is the better choice. Everything else in the tablet is impressive however. I opted for a Sony i5 with 8gb of RAM. Actually cost about 1300.... Not as light, but more powerful.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

I have not run the system graphs to check (as coolqf did above) but I can tell you this: I have had 6-8 documents, a spreadsheet, 5 or more tabs in IE 10, and Outlook all running full out with no indication of lag. I think ram is an oversold issue with modern operating systems, UNLES you are doing very heavy video to photo editing, heavy gaming, or perhaps AutoCAD work (and I would never consider even a laptop for AutoCAD). The same holds true for OSX - my daughter's MacBook Pro show no practical performance improvement from boosting it from 4gb to 8gb. I am sure someone will prove me wrong with detailed analytics of memory and cpu usage at 4gb vs 8gb, but from the users perspective, it is really not noticeable. Focus on the tasks you will be doing and size your system accordingly.

BTW - to answer the question about comparable systems, I noticed the conspicuous absences of the Samsung ATIV 700. Personally, I did not like it because of its typical Samsung plastic build, but the Samsung Series 7 Slate (which was its predecessor) held up well for me, and it does match most of the features of the Surface Pro, plus offers a real ultrabook-like keyboard. However, if I were going that route, I would demand an auxiliary battery in the keyboard as a tradeoff for the already heavier/bulkier unit.

 

[bauerbach]

View attachment 35518
See attached for quick sample. It's really not that hard to get computer to use 4GB of RAM. The main culprit is Chrome, which uses up around 1GB or so (I often have around 20 tabs open), but like I said, if you need more than 4GB of RAM the Surface Pro simply wont cut it.

If you run into circumstances where your tasks require more than 4GB of RAM, the Surface Pro will feel slower compared a similar speced device with 8GB of ram.

your not using 3.7gb, again, your confusing actual system use vs preloading. Windows preloads or retains unused data in ram for just the offchance that you might actually call that data back up. If anything else comes along that needs ram, it clears it out and uses it for what you actually want.

A common misunderstanding about how win vista/7/8 operate their memory use.

If you click on the memory tab, you'll find a "cached" section that comprises most of that 3.7gb used.

 

[elantech123]

I have got that device for using and developing the application. I really happy because this device is very smooth for using and also very helpful to developing applications.

 

[etphoto]

I have a question. Will any wireless or Bluetooth keyboard work with the pro. Those keyboard covers don't look too good

 

[mase123987]

Unless you need some type of hybrid, I would just keep my macbook and install Windows on it.

 

[scgf]

I was solidly in the Apple camp but bought a Windows Phone (Lumia 920) on a special PAYG deal before Christmas. I was so shocked at how good it was I decided to sell my iPhone 5. I came to the realisation that iOS is merely an app repository and the UI is just a disparate collection of app icons with none of the integration and logic of WP8. Pretty poor really.

That was the first step. Next I installed Windows 8 on my iMac and MacBook AIr, then sold my MacBook Air and bought a Surface Pro for myself and a Surface RT for work. Microsoft seems to have a sense of direction whereas, IMO, Apple has lost the plot. They haven't even begun to explore touch on their OS X devices and I fear their way forward will be to make OS X more like iOS.

I say go for it! Give it time though, and don't fear having to use both environments - the 'Modern' interface (used to be called 'Metro) and the desktop. It's no big deal - you simply choose the best environment for the particular task.