Stop comparing The Surface Pro to the iPad

 

Surface Pro

 

The Surface pro (the new Microsoft Tablet hybrid) will be available for purchase in just a few days and it seems like the internet trolls have already found something else to hate about it.

It is well known that the windows 8 OS takes up quite a bit of space, that information have been available since the Surface RT came out and it wasn’t very well received back then either. That “problem” still present on the Surface Pro and is bigger than ever. But, lets start from the beginning. What is the Microsoft Surface Pro? The pro is, in very simple terms, a extremely portable touch screen laptop shaped like a tablet.

Contrary of its RT counterpart the Surface pro uses a nothing left behind, full version of Windows 8. There is virtually no substantial difference between a retail version of Win8 and the one that will come installed on the device. Sadly, people don’t seem to get it or they choose to ignore that fact and keep comparing the Pro to the Ipad or an similar android tablet.

When the Surface RT was launched the comparisons between the it and iPad were inevitably and to be perfectly honest somewhat appropriate. The RT, which I love, is a tablet, It uses a mobile processor, it has very limited flash support and it is restricted to running Microsoft approved apps from the Microsoft store, just like the iPad and the app store. If you don’t take in consideration some major hardware differences (the hdmi and USB ports, and the memory card slot) the they are very close cousins.

The surface pro however, is more like a ultrabook than a tablet, so it stands to reason that when comparing it to anything it should compared to other ultra portables with at least similar specs, and when you do you will see that this storage loss is not limited to the Surface pro but all win8 devices.

The Surface pro is not for everyone, so before buying (or even comparing it to anything else) ask what you want out of your device, do you need a complex file system and expandable memory? Do you need to run native windows software? Do you want a touch screen and a portable frame? If you answer yes to any of those questions you know that the neither the iPad or the Surface RT would be enough.

The bottom line is that the Surface Pro is much more than a Tablet as we know it, it is a re-imagination of the old tablet PCS and comparing it to the Galaxy tab or the iPad would be like comparing a fishing boat to a jet sky, sure, both go in the water, both are fun and I guess you could  go fishing out of a jet sky, but if you really want to catch a fish you need a fishing boat!

Posted on February 6, 2013, in computers, Microsoft, mobile, Surface Pro, technology and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

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