New to Windows

[Cyb3rDud3]

Hi,

Just thought I would introduce myself. I have been a primary Apple user for many decades and when they moved to the Intel platform it became my primary machine. I do a lot of enterprise software development and within virtual machines and client machines I have kept up with the windows world though little on the desktop side of things.

Anyway lately I've been commuting a lot by train and found that the seats are so close together that it makes it hard to use a laptop on your lap and I was looking at what else is out there. Queue the Surface Pro.

I have been using mine now for two weeks. It is an i5/8GB/256SSD with 128GB Micro SD. I have installed office 365 professional, Visio, project, jetbrains intellij idea, java 8, and also run Microsoft SQL server.

I've got to admit that I really like it. Battery life is ok, sure not at MacBook Air levels but good enough. The power is fast enough for what I need. And I love the versatility in its use; laptop, tablet, docked desktop replacement, games console (brilliant with Xbox one controller and WiDi).

There are a few things that are bugging me though;

1. Lack of universal inbox. I can't believe how different the approach to email is. I've got about 14 email addresses for different projects, clients and business ventures. Within OS X Mail I can have a neat single inbox view and deal with them. I find it hard to believe that a product like Outlook 2013 can't do that. Yes I know that thunderbird does it, however the scaling on the touch display is rubbish and you loose the one note integration. That brings me to the other annoyance.
2. Lack of continuity. I love the tablet feel, and I love the desktop feel. Why aren't the two integrated? I mean I prefer to use People and Calendar apps. But the metro versions use a different database to hold the contacts and calendaring locally, such that if I then use outlook I am accessing duplicated data which syncs separately. That approach doesn't make any sense to me and is a waste of space. Same for email, outlook will keep it in its PST whilst the metro app keeps it elsewhere. Or when using touchmail, which is very promising, there is yet another copy. This approach annoys me as I hate duplication of data and inconsistencies OS X Definitely got that one sorted and through the OS Frameworks makes that data available to other apps so they can improve on functionality

Perhaps the next version will makes those annoyances go away.

Cheers,
JP

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum

Though I could comment on some of the things you mentioned I'll leave it to others who will probably do a better job. I do think you are on the right track and 1 or more of your issues will inn fact be solved to some extent with Windows 10.

Despite your issues with Thunderbird you may want to consider it for that universal inbox but there may be other options.

 

[GreyFox7]

Re: Lack of continuity - not sure if this is a result of outsourcing, offshoring, a generational thing, bad project management or a combination of the above. (unlike sex where all sex is good sex, Project Management is the opposite; all PM is bad PM). .... Web Sites seem to be universally adopting a rather disorganized approach as well. My grandfather used a phrase "Organized like an armload of universal joints" which would probably be completely lost o the current generation but suffice it to say that's pretty disorganized.

It might be a result of the checkbox project management mentality which has so many things wrong with it I believe one day soon some enlightenment will come after it is declared an abject failure by big data analysis. The evidence is mounting and anytime soon the Himalayan sized mountain of evidence will crush it. Never fear it will get spun and replaced by something else sold by slick talking jokers that's equally ridiculous.

 

[Garyjk]

you mention "Lack of continuity"
well, windows 10, which will be free, has a feature called continuum. I think it will address what you're seeing.
http://tinyurl.com/kqdkagd

 

[smalltowngirl13]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[Cyb3rDud3]

Thanks all. Yes I hope Windows 10 will provide a bit more consistency.... I've also found an email client that I like, EM Client, stupid name but very promising. If they can get iCloud sync to work then it would be great for me.