Category Archives: Hardware

Windows RT In The CIE (Sung To The Tune Of R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.)

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The Customer Immersion Experience (CIE) is an important part of Microsoft’s strategy to get customers to see how their latest technologies work together, from a scenario driven approach rather than just focusing on the features and benefits of individual products. One of the challenges that Microsoft faces is that most people haven’t seen how well integrated these solutions are, and the CIE helps to address this.

While there is no official support for Windows RT devices in the CIE at this point in time, there are a few things that can be shown to help drive the Windows devices story, these are the latest Mail and Lync apps, as well as both of the included versions of Internet Explorer. There are a few things that need to be taken into account before including Windows RT, and I’ll highlight these below.

Before I go any further, I need to mention that Windows RT devices shouldn’t be used by a CIE attendee as their primary device, instead it can be passed around with a different user account to the personas on the Windows 8 devices. You can also hook them up to the projector to show a mobility scenario, while the attendees can follow what you are doing. The reason why you shouldn’t use a Windows RT device is the same reason why someone using a MacBook, for example, would be a problem. You will have users with different sets of capabilities on their devices, which will impact the experience that all in the room will have.

First of all, because the CIE uses a self signed certificate, you will need to import the certificate into the Windows RT device. While many might not like that Windows RT has a traditional desktop that can be easily accessed, the ability to go into the certificates snap-in in the MMC to import the certificate into the appropriate store makes life easier for those with Windows skills.

I’ve previously had someone mention that they prefer the way iOS devices handle self-signed certificates – they don’t give any warnings about security implications at all, those of us in the real world, where risks need to be minimised, I’ll take stronger security any day of the week. In a production environment the use of self-signed certificates should be limited, so I don’t really see this as a major pain to deal with on a day to day basis.

If you try to connect to the Exchange Server inside of the CIE environment from within the Mail app, it will alert you to the need for the certificate to be imported. While it may not exactly be a user friendly message that it presents, it at least presents enough information to get you started.

Once the certificate is imported, the Mail app will connect to Exchange, but you will need to make sure that you tell the mail app to bring in more than two weeks of mail to get it to show all of the messages. Not a hard thing to do from the Settings Charm, but an easy thing to overlook. You will need to use the Mail app as there is no native Outlook client available on Windows RT at the time of writing, despite there being ongoing rumours about it’s coming availability, something Microsoft has not confirmed.

If you haven’t already installed the Lync app from the Store, sign in using a Microsoft account. Like Outlook, there is no Lync desktop application for Windows RT, so you need to use the Lync app. The Windows Store apps aren’t normally installed and configured on the Windows 8 devices, so this gives the opportunity for people to see both the Mail and Lync apps running.

You also need to be aware of the Office 2013 applications that are preinstalled are not the same bits that are installed on the Windows 8 devices, so you won’t be able to utilise capabilities such as the DRM or Excel PowerView scenarios.

You can, however, show a great deal of Office Web Apps, Excel Web Services, and Dynamics CRM, for example, through either of the Internet Explorer versions that are included. Be careful of going to any SharePoint sites that still have a dependency on Silverlight, as Windows RT doesn’t include support for it, even though it does include Adobe Flash support.

That’s just a quick overview of some of the things you can do with Windows RT in a CIE environment, and how to configure it, but if you want more details on how to configure everything in a step by step I’ll happily oblige.

Hardware Essentials For Your Surface Pro

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In the growing anticipation of the local launch of the Surface Pro, I’ve put together a list of items you may want to add to the your accessory arsenal to maximise your productivity. One of the downsides of downsized devices is that it can compromise some of the things that help you get the most from your new purchase.

Type Cover

As I’ve previously mentioned in my article on the Surface, moving from a Touch Cover to a Type Cover dramatically improves the typing experience. The colourful Touch Covers do attract attention while you are in public, so be prepared for questions if you want to go down this path. My recommendation is to skip the Touch Cover, and spend a few extra dollars on the Type Cover. If you already have a Touch Cover, give it to somebody as a gift, you won’t use it again after buying a Type Cover.

USB 3.0 Hub

I’m not going to call out specific brands or models, instead I’ll focus on what you need when your device has a single USB 3.0 port – a USB 3.0 hub. There are plenty of choices out there in terms of cost and number of ports, your usage requirements will be what determines the right choice. Another important factor is the size if you are going to be throwing it in your travel kit.

USB 3.0 To Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

A previous encounter with an Acer S7 left me disappoint with the included choice of an ASIX AX88772B based USB 2.0 to 100Mb/s Ethernet adapter. 100Mb/s Ethernet only uses about a third of the real world throughput that USB 2.0 is capable of, which is still much lower than the throughput of Gigabit Ethernet. That kicked off an investigation into USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet adapters. There didn’t seem to be too many choices, most of them based on ASIX’s latest AX88179, so I settled for  the following item from Startech.

Startech
USB 3.0 To Gigabit Ethernet – note the blue connector

While it only gets about half of the throughput that GbE is capable of, that’s still 5-6 faster than 100Mb/s Ethernet, and much faster than most WiFi offerings that are available today. For casual usage you won’t really notice a difference between the built in wireless capabilities of the Surface Pro and GbE, but as soon as you need to copy down some ISOs, application installs or media files, the performance improvements will make it worthwhile.

I had to go to the SIIG website to grab the latest drivers in hopes of addressing an issue where some websites could not get resolved. I had read about this issue when researching what to buy, so it didn’t involve a great deal of trial and error, just a small driver to download and install.

USB 3.0 Hub With Gigabit Ethernet

I’ve ordered a SIIG unit, and can’t report back on it’s throughput yet, but this could turn out to be a winner. While multifunction devices do have benefits from a device consolidation perspective, I’m always wary of where the compromises are being made. One of the obvious ones in this case is that all data is being pushed over one USB 3.0 port, which could be a disadvantage on a PC with two or more USB 3.0 ports, but it’s a non-issue with the single port on the Surface Pro.

USB 3.0 Ethernet Hub
USB 3.0 Hub with Gigabit Ethernet – lots of blue and an ethernet port

The other thing to be wary of is that you have put two eggs in one basket, so if something goes wrong, all connected devices will suffer along with network connectivity. If the device works as expected, and doesn’t have any major shortcomings, I’ll consider getting a second because I don’t see the need for a device like this diminishing any time soon.

USB 3.0 Docking Station

Again, there are a few choices in this area, but due to the success I and others have had with Targus devices I have to give them the nod. Some of the factors that should influence your choice are as follows…

1. Has it passed Windows 8 logo testing? While this is not an absolute guarantee that everything will work perfectly 100% of the time. However, I place more faith in hardware vendors who do testing as it provides long term advantages to the PC ecosystem due to several years of working with OEM vendors that had to get their PCs through Vista and Windows 7 logo testing to meet certain technical requirements.

2. Do the video outputs meet your requirements? The world used to be simple when it came to video out, but now displays have a variety of physical connectors which they may possess – HDMI, VGA, DVI, DisplayPort, as well as the different sized variations of some of these.

3. Is it Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet? Copying substantial amounts of content from your network can be frustrating, Gigabit makes it less so.

Full Sized Mouse And Keyboard

This is where personal preference is going to play the biggest role, and many people already have their favorites. The inbuilt kick stand of the Surface Pro means that you have flexibility with where you can place the device, but the fixed angle means that you might need to place it somewhere that gives the best result from a comfort and light reflection consideration. This means that in some environments you may need to move the display further away than is comfortable in order to see what is on screen.

Microsoft has included a tablet stand with their Wedge Mobile Keyboard which doubles as a keyboard cover to give you more flexibility with stand angles, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as your permanent keyboard if you have space for a full sized keyboard. Full sized keys and a number pad are far from luxuries in my book, but if you are fine with a smaller keyboard, take a look at the Wedge.

Wedge Keyboard

Wedge Mobile Keyboard and the included stand/cover.

Microsoft’s Wedge Touch Mouse and Sculpt Touch Mouse have both been in my test environment for a few months now, and for my usage the nod has to go to the Sculpt. It’s larger and more comfortable in my hand, and the tactile feedback while scrolling is a nice touch for those of us who mourn the loss of clicking scroll wheels.

Sculpt

Sculpt Touch Mouse

The Wedge Touch Mouse is a completely different beast altogether. If you use it in public, it will get attention due to design. The four way touch scrolling is very useful in some applications, and it’s size means that it can be carried around with adding too much extra bulk at all.

Wedge

Wedge Touch Mouse

USB 3.0 Extension Cable

This may seem like an odd recommendation, but the angled sides of the Surface Pro can be problematic with some USB devices, I’ve experienced this first hand with a Windows To Go drive from Kingston. In this scenario Microsoft does not recommend using a USB 3.0 Hub, instead the extension cable is preferred option.

USB 3.0 Extension

A Webcam

Yes, the Surface Pro already includes two webcams, but in your home or office environment you probably want something isn’t dependent on the angle and location of the Surface Pro. This also gives you the ability to upgrade to something with better video quality and better handling of things such as low light conditions.

LifeCam Cinema

LifeCam Cinema – supports up to 720p, but hamstrung by Office 365 Wave 14

I’ve been using the Microsoft LifeCam Cinema for a while now, and haven’t had the need to upgrade to the LifeCam Studio due to some of the video restrictions placed on Lync in Office 365 Wave 14. Wave 15 removes these limits, so stepping up a level is something I will do sooner rather than later.

LifeCam Studio

LifeCam Studio – supports up to 1080p, more than ready for Office 365 Wave 15

Windows 8 screen resolution requirements being relaxed

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In a move that I’ve got mixed feelings about, Microsoft has announced that the minimum screen resolution for Windows 8 tablet devices is being lowered to 1024*768 instead of 1366*768. Side by side Windows 8 apps won’t be supported at this lower resolution though, and OEMs who ship these devices need to include a disclaimer along the lines of the following…

“The integrated display resolution of this system is below the threshold for snap, a feature that lets people view two Windows Store apps at the same time. App snapping will work if you attach an external display that supports a screen resolution of 1366 x 768 or higher.”

What’s Not To Like?

This lowers the already criticised consistency of working within Windows 8, and the side by side app capabilities are a big differentiator for Windows tablets in iPad compete situations. Now the matrix of Windows versions and capabilities will need an asterix or two to explain that this feature may not be available on your device.

At a time when higher pixel densities are being promoted by Apple and their Retina display marketing, the new Google Chromebook Pixel, and even the Surface Pro to a lesser degree, taking another step backwards in screen resolution is something I am not a fan of.

What’s To Like?

Most seem to think this is something that is acknowledging the move of Windows 8 to smaller form factors in time for the next holiday season. The value of side by side applications would be reduced in a much smaller form factor, but wouldn’t make the whole concept useless. You would just be much more selective about the apps you use in this manner.

Lower cost devices for emerging market scenarios are another scenario that this could enable, but these devices have an unfortunate habit of sneaking into mature markets, positioned as devices for education or other cost sensitive customers. Yes Intel folk, you know what I’m talking about here.

What I Would Prefer

Oh, that’s easy. I wish the Windows team would implement a fix for all of the applications that just don’t scale well with text size settings. While there have been incremental improvements in each version of Windows, Windows 8 has taken a small detour on this journey. Obviously this is something that is easier said than done, otherwise it would have been addressed a long time ago, but encouraging Windows usage on a higher variety of screen sizes and resolutions is only going to make these issues more apparent.

 

Something Is Growing On My Surface

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And that would be me. I embraced the Surface with a sense of skepticism, knowing in advance the shortcomings of Windows RT versus Windows 8, and the limitations of the included versions of the Office applications, yet it hasn’t been placed in the “pile of questionable hardware devices for testing purposes that my wife wishes I would get rid of”.

What’s Not To Like?

I will deliberately keep this section short, too many articles and conversations on Surface and Windows RT focus on the negatives. There are some traditional Windows applications that I miss, but I’m coping without them. The current Mail/People/Calendar apps do not allow me to work the way Outlook 2013 allows me to, but it has forced me to use these apps more than I would on my Windows 8 based devices. I’m not completely sold on the Video app only allowing me to watch videos in two sizes on screen, neither of which are watching videos in half screen mode while being able to take notes, and the side by side split ratio doesn’t really allow the right balance to be made.

Surface Versus Surface Pro

As I mentioned in my last post, Surface Pro doesn’t fill a gap I have in my existing device line up. That’s not to say that I won’t get one at some point, but for now the combination of a 2012 Sony Vaio Z and the Surface is the combination that works for me at this point in time. The 13 inch screen of the Sony is on the edge of how small a screen I can run at 1920*1080 without using text scaling, which to me defeats some of the purposes of having a higher resolution display. Running the Surface Pro at its native resolution without text scaling is not a great experience due to the small size of the text, and based on empirical data, I assume my eyesight will only get worse, not improve as I get older.

Is Adding Outlook The Right Answer?

Originally I would have given a definitive yes as the answer, but now I’m not so sure. The reason my views are changing is that I already spend too much time on the Windows desktop on Windows RT as it is, and adding an ARM compiled version of Outlook 2013 would only make that balance worse. Instead Microsoft needs to deliver major improvements to the existing Mail and Calendar apps. I won’t comment on the People app because I haven’t really spent enough time in it to pass judgment. The Office 2013 desktop applications don’t provide enough of a touch friendly interface to enable them to be first class touch applications in Windows 8 and Windows RT, so I don’t see an Outlook 2013 port as the real solution, just a stop gap measure.

All Hail The Windows Desktop

This somewhat contradicts what I wrote above, and is a polarising topic, but there are some people who think that access to the Windows desktop is a weakness of Windows RT, but for me it provides comfort and easy access to advanced settings and features I need access to. Snap, PowerShell, adding certificates, Internet Explorer presented the way I am used to it, applying local policies, and more. I accept that I am part of a small percentage of the audience for Windows RT devices, but without it I doubt I would bother taking my Surface around as secondary device.

Connected Standby

I discovered an interesting side effect of the Surface’s connected standby – it keeps my internet sharing active on my Nokia 920. In comparison, my other laptops lose the connection when sleeping, meaning I have to start internet sharing after waking the laptops. This isn’t normally a big problem, but recently the only power socket in a hotel room that I could use where the phone charger would fit was in the bathroom, so I had to walk between rooms to reset connections until I connected my Surface.

Battery Life

Surface doesn’t have the best battery life of the current Windows RT devices, but it’s a device I don’t have to charge daily. Even recent usage on a flight between Sydney and Los Angeles with occasional use when I needed to write some notes or update a to do list, and watching a few training videos, barely made an impact on the battery life. Normally after this flight the first thing I look for is a power source so that I can recharge and get back online, but this time round it was a more leisurely affair.

User Profiles

I have a user profile set up on my Surface that connects into the Microsoft CIE environment, so I can happily hand the device around during CIE deliveries so that attendees can experience Surface without me having to worry about them reading my email, updating my Facebook status etc,

Kickstand

The lengthy flight from Sydney to Los Angeles highlighted some of the issues that can occur with the kickstand. There were a few times I pushed the Surface too far back and the kickstand slipped off the rear edge of the tray. The Surface didn’t fall, the gap was too small, but still something to be wary of in other situations. The single angle of the kickstand wasn’t a problem for me, but if the person in front of me had been fully reclined, then it would have been an issue. Balancing on your legs can be problematic, except maybe for someone long femurs that are parallel to the ground.

Type Cover

If you have a Surface and don’t have the Type Cover, you really should get one. While initial impressions of the Touch Cover are usually favourable, they are normally favourable to it not being worse than it is. The Type Cover keys have travel, you know when you have hit a key and your touch typing will be better. As a long time Windows user I know Windows keyboard combinations, and Windows RT supports these Windows keyboard combinations. Using a Bluetooth keyboard with my iPad was another thing that frustrated me, it just didn’t work the way I wanted it to.

Device Compatibility

Okay, this isn’t perfect but overall it’s been pretty damn good. I tried the USB to Ethernet adapter from an Acer Aspire S7, and my USB 3G modem, and Windows RT doesn’t like either of them,  Otherwise I’ve been connecting different printers, mice, keyboards and other Bluetooth devices with great success. Having a single USB port has been problematic for me sometimes, but it has driven the use of additional Bluetooth devices which I’ve had sitting around unused for a while.

BitLocker

Most of my external HDDs and flash drives are encrypted with BitLocker, and Windows RT can access these once the password is entered. There is confusion about the BitLocker capabilities of Windows RT, which are best explained as follows

Internal storage is encrypted with a key applied after you sign in with your Microsoft account. This means that if you haven’t signed in with your Microsoft account the disk is encrypted, but with an open key. This is not a good state to keep your Surface in, so sign in with your Microsoft key. This is handled by the TPM 2.0 capabilities of the device.

The ability to encrypt external drives with BitLocker isn’t available, and this also means that you can’t write to a BitLocker encrypted drive. While it would be nice to be able to write to the drive, the next paragraph shows why it may not be the best option with current generation hardware.

Windows RT can read external drives that have been encrypted with BitLocker, but this is something that is very resource intensive. The image bellow shows the incredibly high CPU utilisation across all four of the Tegra 3 cores while decrypting and copying the content, which is less CPU intensive than encrypting the files on the drive.

BitLocker CPU
Surface’s Tegra 3 CPU usage while copying files from a BitLocker encrypted drive. Ouch!

Security

This is a mixed bag, I like that Windows RT doesn’t blindly accept self signed certificates, and that I can use the same methods inside of Windows to import certificates I choose to trust. Where the story doesn’t hold up as well is that not all of the Windows 8 apps recognise these certificates. The Mail app for example, does use them, and it even tells you they are required. The Lync app, on the other hand, just doesn’t work. The solution here is don’t use self signed certificates apart from in testing or for some very specific scenarios, even if you have worked around their limitations in the past.

Windows Intune Company Portal

The Company Portal app for Windows 8 and Windows RT is the way that Windows Intune users can install new apps that have been published by their administrators. On Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows, these apps are available via a web page. Windows Intune can publish the application from the online service, or it can push users to the Windows Store via a deep link.

Surface Intune

Leverage Your Existing Windows Skills

This is both incredibly useful and incredibly frustrating at times, depending on what you are trying to do. As mentioned in the above, many of the tools and technologies that are available in Windows 8 are available in Windows RT. The frustration comes when you discover some of the subtle and not so subtle differences with Windows RT and the tools or features that you want aren’t there.

Choosing The Right Windows 8 Device

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In the wake of the release of Microsoft’s Surface Pro I’ve been surprised by some of the reviews and reactions, both online and in person. Perhaps the most surprising things I’ve been hearing are from those that are disappointed by the battery life and the free space available, along with those who surprised to find that the Surface Pro isn’t the perfect device for everyone. I’ll address these items in today’s post, as well as what you should take into consideration when choosing the device that is right for you.

Choosing the right computing device is all about choosing the compromises that you are happy with, and I’ll start by saying that at this point the Surface Pro is not a device I’m plannng on purchasing any time soon. Not because I think there is anything inherently wrongwith it , but rather that it doesn’t fill a gap in my current hardware lineup. As a point of reference, my primary laptop is a Sony Vaio Z – i7, 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD, and my secondary or should I say companion device is a Surface, and a fading number three is my third generation iPad.

A S(t)ore Point

First of all, I’ll address the issue of storage on the Surface Pro, as I view these as variations of the same concern/complaint. An installation of Windows 8 and the Office 365 trial take a certain amount of space. If Microsoft used Surface Pro as the opportunity to drastically reduce the footprint of Windows 8 without affecting functionality, all of their OEMs would have cried foul. OEM licensing for Windows is strict in many areas surrounding customisaton, and a non-level playing field would have caused a huge amount of unrest. The criticism of the amount of free disk space is something that needs to be applied to any Windows 8 device with limited storage, rather than being a criticism singling out the Surface Pro. While I can’t see the 64GB Surface Pro serving much more of a purpose than a cheaper option for prize draws, giveaways and an option on the pricing waterfall, those who won’t move it out of areas of high bandwidth connectivity may find it’s limited free storage acceptable.

More Power To You

A similar view needs to be taken of battery life. If somehow Microsoft was able to squeeze out double the battery life from a certain size battery versus other OEMs, some would have been crying foul again. Either Mirosoft would have had access to some new battery or other hardware technologies, or they would have had to use software optimisations that others didn’t have access to. Considering the long term views of laptop battery life as leaving much to be desired, Microsoft could not have waited until the Surface Pro to reveal them. Microsoft could have included a larger battery at the expense of weight, size and usability, trading one complaint for several others. I already have a laptop power supply with a USB charging port built in, and seeing it included with the Surface Pro was a nice touch.

Intel Inside. The Good Kind.

The inclusion of an Intel i5 CPU is a good choice from a balanced feature and performance perspective. Sure, an i7 would have been faster for some things, but the battery life and thermal issues would have been more pronounced. An i3 may have allowed longer battery life, but there are some hardware capabilities that the i3 lacks which mean that the AES operations that BitLocker uses would have been more CPU intensive. Again, it all comes down to tradeoffs. The Sony Vaio Z, as well as a loan unit of the recently released Acer 13.3″ S7, are both i7 based, and both have the high pitched cooling fans kick in more than I like. Cramming an i7 into the Surface Pro would not have been a great idea with today’s CPUs, but no doubt faster and cooler options will be available for use later in the year.

There are other CPU options available from Intel and AMD, including several good Windows 8 device designs based on Atom CPUs, but you are going to make some serious compromises here in terms of performance versus battery life. While Atom performance has increased since the netbook days, and battery life can approach ARM based devices. As well as the tradeoff in CPU performance, you are also limited to 2GB of RAM on these platforms. For some people this will be a showstopper, especially if paired with a slow HDD or slow Flash memory based drive, as can be the case. Why this artificial limitation? Originally it aligned to Microsoft’s Starter editions of Windows, which was licensed to run on limited hardware platforms, effectively creating a new market segment of lower priced options that were less likely to cannibalise higher margin products.

Is 4GB RAM Enough?

For a general purpose PC/Tablet, 4GB of RAM is going to be more than adequate, and combined with an SSD, even if there is some paging it’s not going to be as disruptive as it was back with older, slower mechanical drives. 4GB of fixed memory is a problem for anyone who wants to take advantage of Hyper-V on Windows 8 Pro and run several VMs at once, which I do on my Sony Vaio Z. However, the limited storage on the Surface Pro is going to limit the number of VMs you can run anyway, unless you want to lug around an external USB 3.0 drive. This raises the next area for investigation, the ultra portable compromises you will need to make, which don’t just affect the Surface Pro.

While I would have liked to have seen an 8GB Surface Pro with a 256GB SSD option for the sake of it being a better candidate for Hyper-V, we need to take thermals into account again. Running multiple VMs means a higher CPU load, which will cause the Surface Pro to run warmer with more fan noise. What this is starting to highlight is that a configuration like this would have encouraged usage scenarios that may not have really suited the form factor.

Get Ready To Accessorise

When Apple introduced the MacBook Air, the number of standard ports that weren’t available natively were noted by many. Over time the world of Ultrabooks has adopted this approach, with mini VGA and HDMI connectors and USB ethernet adapters, increasing the number of accessories you need to carry around. Add a USB hub to the mix, potentially a powered one with it’s wall adapter, and this whole ultra portable story isn’t quite as good as it seemed. Maybe going for something slightly larger, and getting a better keyboard instead of some of the weak keyboards on ultraportables, and you may end up with a better computing experience. Of course it won’t look as good though, but hey, if you were doing this to look good, you wouldn’t have read this far.

While the Sony Vaio Z isn’t perfect, it does have full sized GBe, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, VGA and HDMI ports, so adapters aren’t required. The USB ports are too close to each other though, and I rely on USB extension cables more than I like when using wide USB devices. But at least it’s two free USB ports. The Acer S7 has different pros and cons with the USB ports. The pros are that they are further apart and are both USB 3.0. The downside is that the thinner base of the S7 means tha thicker USB devices really need to be used with a USB extension cable. You also lose one of the ports when you use the included USB to Ethernet adapter, which is only 10/100, not GbE. Trying to do network based installs using this approach can be problematic at worst, and slow at best.

Keyboard and Touchpad Considerations

I made the mistake of buying the Sony Vaio Z online without having first tested the keyboard. The minimal travel of the keys, and my constant brushing of the touchpad make me regret this decision sometimes. The other thing you really should check with the keyboards is the key layout, especially things like arrow keys, page up, page down etc, depending on your usage habits. If you are using multiple devices you will find that it can be less frustrating if you choose devices with similar layouts.

Another keyboard issue you need to take into consideration with the Surface and Surface Pro is that neither of the keyboard options provide backlit keys. This isn’t always going to be a problem, but there are some scenarios where it is going to be an issue. I would also strongly encourage the type keyboard with the more traditional keys, it transforms the typing experience on the device.

If you want to use touch gestures on the touchpad, make sure that the touchpad is big enough to support these gestures without the gestures making the touchpad unusable. Going back to the Sony Vaio Z as an example, it supports Windows 8 gestures with recent Synaptics drivers, but it can be frustrating to use because it’s not  a large trackpad. This isn’t an issue on the Acer S7, the touchpad is large, so it’s easy to use the touchpad without triggering unwanted gestures.

Screen Resolution

At the time I was buying I purchased this based on it having the smallest 1080p display and TPM so that I could use it with Windows 7′s DirectAcces capabilities. The Surface Pro now meets this requirement, but I wonder about the usability of the Windows desktop at 1080p on such a small screen. I’m not a fan of the text size scaling capabilities that Windows hasn’t really gotten right after multiple attempts, and in many ways I still view 1080p as a compromise after running 2560*1600 at home for five plus years. Things get interesting when you start working in the Windows 8 apps, where screen resolution is less of an issue, and you don’t necessarily need as high a resolution display. Unfortunately I don’t spend enough time working in these apps for it to be a major factor in my decisions or recommendations, but over time this is something that could become an important factor.

The other factor that I knew would be problematic with the Surface and Surface Pro is the fixed angle kickstand. I learned this almost two years ago when I received an Acer Iconia W500. An interesting device under Windows 7, with way too many compromises, but with the Windows 8 pre-releases installed it was my primary Windows 8 machine for quite a while. I wrote about some of my Windows 8 experiences on my old Microsoft blog, you can read them here, here and here. Windows 8 couldn’t magically fix the design issues of the device, but it did highlight how well the Windows 8 interface could utilise the graphics capabilities of the AMD APU as opposed to getting bogged down by the CPU capabilities.

Touch

I’ve left touchscreen capabilities until last even though they are a major element in Windows 8. Despite what you may think, Windows 8 works incredibly well for non-touch devices. Whether it’s new mouse capabilities that have been added, gestures on the touchpad, or keyboard shortcuts, touch isn’t always the best way to do things. I don’t think Windows 8 laptops need to have touchscreens for all usage scenarios, and before long it won’t be much of a cost consideration. When in laptop mode or on the traditional Windows desktop I don’t use touch much at all, but as soon as I’m in tablet mode or using Windows 8 apps, touch is natural.

Putting It All Together

Hopefully this post has highlighted some of the things you need to take into consideration when choosing an ultraportable laptop, slate or convertible for Windows 8. Thin and light usually means tradeoffs have been made, but only you can decide which tradeoffs are worth it for you. In the rush to go small don’t forget the extras you may need to carry around, such as USB ethernet adapters, mini HDMI to VGA connectors, external storage and USB hubs. These can also add to the cost of the device, as well as replacing the extras that you may lose. Weigh up all the pros and cons, and feel free to ask for help in making a decision.

Altech Windows 8 Launch Site – Week 6 Content

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My posts from the Altech launch site from last week…

Rethinking Your Windows 8 Pre-Install Part 1

With the general availability of Windows 8 rapidly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about how your system builds will change when the new OS ships. Today I’ll cover off some of the things that system builders will need to take into account from the software perspective.

Rethinking Your Windows 8 Pre-Install Part 1

With the general availability of Windows 8 rapidly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about how your system builds will change when the new OS ships. Today I’ll cover off some of the things that system builders will need to take into account from the software perspective.

Organising The Windows 8 Start Screen Part 1

With Windows 8, the demise of the Start menu means that your approach to organising your applications may change. I have previously discussed pinning applications to the task bar as a way of staying in the classic desktop view, and there’s always the cluttered desktop approach. But when it comes to a unified way of finding and launching your current applications and new Windows 8 apps, it pays to spend some time organising the new Start screen.

Organising The Windows 8 Start Screen Part 2

In yesterday’s post I covered how to start taking control of the Windows 8 Start screen, and in today’s post I’ll continue on, discussing several strategies to improve your experience with it.

Making Smarter Hardware Choices For Windows 8 Pro

In previous posts I’ve discussed some of the new hardware advances that Windows 8 supports. In today’s post I will focus on how to select hardware components that can help to ensure you get the best experiences from the Windows 8 PCs that you supply to your customers based on features that will be used. Some smarter planning early on will ensure that you and your customers aren’t caught by surprise later on.

Altech Windows Server 2012 Launch Site–Week 5 Content

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Last week’s posts from the Altech launch site

SSD Benefits For Windows Server 2012 Part 1

For specific workloads, many of the benefits that end users receive from SSDs also apply on servers, and in today’s post I want to cover a some of these. While it’s not cost effective or all that useful to use SSDs in general purpose storage where speed isn’t critical, such as the typical file server, for scenarios such as virtualisation and databases there are some huge performance improvements to be seen.

Why Choose Hyper-V For Virtualisation in SMB

Now in its third version, Hyper-V has grown into a very mature, capable product, and has long distanced itself from its Virtual Server predecessors of many years ago. For those of you who have already been deploying Hyper-V solutions, the move to the new version brings a host of new features to enable new scenarios and solutions. For those of you who are new to virtualisation, Hyper-V builds on your existing Windows skills to allow you to jump into the world of virtualisation without learning everything from scratch. For those of you who may currently be using other virtualisation solutions, it’s definitely worth taking a look at the new version to see if it addresses your customer needs.

Altech Windows 8 Launch Site–Week 5 Content

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Here are last week’s articles, ramping up with launch rapidly approaching!

Gaming Improvements With Windows 8

With Windows 8, gaming is now a much more varied beast than it was under earlier versions of Windows. The rise of casual gaming over the past years was something that Windows 7 didn’t directly address, instead it continued the ongoing focus on DirectX.

Improving The Hyper-V User Experience

In the first two parts of this series, I covered the steps involved in moving virtual machines from Virtual PC to Hyper-V, so that existing applications, settings and data were maintained. Today’s post will cover what you can do to help improve the user experience so that they don’t have to become familiar with the Hyper-V tools in order keep using the VMs.

Importing your Virtual Machines into Windows 8 Pro Hyper-V

In yesterday’s post I covered the necessary steps to export virtual machines from Virtual PC in Windows 7 to aid migration across to Hyper-V in Windows 8 Pro, and today I will cover what is necessary to get them running under Hyper-V. This is also a handy guide for those of you who may not be importing VMs, but still need some guidance on VM setup in Hyper-V.

Exporting Your Windows 7 Virtual PC Virtual Machines

With the move from Virtual PC in Windows XP to Microsoft’s Hyper-V platform in Windows 8 Pro, you may have customers that you will need to do some migration of the virtual machines to the new platform. By following the steps in this article you can speed up the time to move the virtual machine (VM) to the new platform, as well as avoid a few common pitfalls that may be encountered.

Exporting Your Windows 7 Virtual PC Virtual Machines

With the move from Virtual PC in Windows XP to Microsoft’s Hyper-V platform in Windows 8 Pro, you may have customers that you will need to do some migration of the virtual machines to the new platform. By following the steps in this article you can speed up the time to move the virtual machine (VM) to the new platform, as well as avoid a few common pitfalls that may be encountered.

Altech Windows 8 Launch Articles – Week 3

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Week 3 of the Altech Windows 8 Launch articles I’ve been writing – have a read for my take on the new features and capabilities in Windows 8.

Hyper-V Tips And Tricks In Windows 8 Pro

The inclusion of Hyper-V with Windows 8 Pro delivers some great out of box functionality, but there are some simple things you can do to make it even more useful in a variety of scenarios, including development,  testing, deployment and application compatibility scenarios.

Windows 7 Ultimate Features That Now Require Windows 8 Enterprise

As mentioned in my previous post on the Windows 8 editions, there are some Windows 7 Ultimate features that are no longer available in OEM or retail versions of Windows. This doesn’t mean that the features aren’t available for your customers, but that you will need to obtain Windows 8 Enterprise in order to deliver these features. Traditionally you would have had to look at one of Microsoft’s volume licensing programs in order to get an Enterprise version of Windows, but that’s not the only option now.

Media Playback Options In Windows 8

Microsoft has had something of a disjointed approach to media playback in Windows for a while now. For an extended period of time, Windows Media Player was their go to media playback client, but then Windows Media Center got it’s moment in the spotlight, and with the launch of Windows Phone 7, the Zune software took centre stage. Where does this leave us with Windows 8? Let’s start with the existing media clients from Microsoft before getting into the new additions and changes.

Introduction To Windows RT

Windows RT is a version of Windows 8 that currently runs on ARM based tablets. ARM System on Chip (SoC) hardware currently runs the majority of tablets that are already in use, as well as powering a large percentage of the phones that are in market today. ARM solutions are generally selected when efficient power usage is required along with good performance, and there are a large variety of ARM offerings currently in market for different purposes from different ARM licensees. ARM has been one of the targets for Microsoft in the mobile and PDA space over the years, but until Windows 8 and Windows RT it hasn’t gotten a great deal of direct attention from the core Windows team.

Windows 8 And SSD Technology

Everyone knows that an SSD is faster that a mechanical drive, with my recently acquired Corsair Neutron GTX drive delivering a read speed of over 500MB/s and write speed over 470MB/s. These numbers, combined with extremely low seek times, can completely transform a PC, and today’s post will focus on what to expect when adding an SSD to a Windows 8 based PC.

Altech Windows Server 2012 Launch Articles – Week 2

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Week two articles for the Altech Windows Server 2012 launch site, where I explore some of the new capabilities of Windows Server 2012 for an SMB focused reseller base. 

Windows Server 2012 Enhancements For SMB Customers

The first time someone familiar with previous versions of Windows Server sits down and takes a close look at Windows Server 2012, it is obvious that this is easily the most significant upgrade of Windows Server in terms of new capabilities being delivered. While the introduction of Windows Server 2000 introduced Active Directory which helped Microsoft gain a dominant position in the network directory space , Windows Server 2012 is helping Microsoft do the same across many fronts, including virtualisation, hosting, and storage, to name a few. The best part is that these capabilities are available to SMB customers, not just large enterprises, changing the landscape of just what a network can deliver at an affordable price.

Enhanced Hardware Support In Windows Server 2012

While technologies on the desktop and in the mobile devices space tend to hog the spotlight, there are always advancements in server hardware platforms that Windows Server needs to keep pace with. Today I will cover some of these, and the benefits these technologies provide to help you with future hardware purchase decisions.

New Networking Capabilities in Windows Server 2012

If you’ve been following these posts, you are probably already aware that Windows Server 2012 has implemented some major advances over Windows Server 2008 R2. If you tried to tackle all of the changes that have been included at once, it would be completely overwhelming. The good news is that most of these new capabilities are easily utilised, and can be deployed while still taking advantage of many of your existing skills in Windows Server products.