Introducing the new Microsoft Surface 3 ( $499 )

[ArnoldRimmer]

I still have mixed feelings about Windows 8 tablets, as I bought my parents a Windows 8 tablet for christmas, for they were often struggling with their Windows XP desktop PC (my parents are both over 70 and are anything but tech-savvy).

I first wanted to buy them an Android tablet, but when I saw a 10" Windows 8 tablet with a fast quadcore x86-processor for under 200 Euros, that simply seemed like the better choice for the money. After all, the tablet would be able to run all the Windows desktop software they were already familiar with etc., and in case Windows wouldn't turn out to be the best choice, I assumed booting/installing a different OS like Linux or Android would be about as simple as on a typical x86 notebook/desktop PC.

Well, I really like the hardware. The quadcore CPU is doing a fine job, the whole tablet is very responsible, battery time is okay etc. But that's about the positive things.
- the classical desktop mode turned out not to be very useful. Desktop applications work fine, but their UI is clearly targeted towards precise mouse pointer-type input devices. My parents fingers turned out to be way too big to even think of using classical desktop applications without attaching an additional mouse.
- "No big deal!", I first thought, "that's one of the main reasons they invented Metro apps." So I looked in the app store, only to find out that the library of useful metro apps is still very very limited.
- As I had plans to install a small and simple piece of software on my parents tablet but couldn't find anything in the official app store, I decided to simply develop a small Metro app myself. Getting in touch with developing for a new software environment always seems like a good idea! Well, my motiviation instantly got shattered when I realized that it would be impossible to install and use my self-developed Metro app on my parents tablet, for Microsoft is extremely restrictive when it comes to what they call "sideloading". It is apparently possible on certain "enterprise" versions of Windows 8 if the company has Active Directory servers or something but it turned out to be impossible on the "Windows 8 with Bing"-version installed on my parents tablet. The only chance would have been to publish the software on the official Windows app store.
- Booting to a different OS turned out to be hard to impossible as well, although it seems some Linux hackers are making progress in this direction

So ultimately, my plan to give my parents a computer they would have much less trouble with than their current Windows XP PC completely failed. In practice, all my parents are using the tablet for is for playing Sudoku and Solitaire, and for anything else they still always turn on their Windows XP PC.

Unless I should eventually find some way to boot/install a different OS, I guess I should have bought an Android tablet instead. My first enthusiasm about the great price tag and hardware soon turned into disappointment about a device that is completely locked, just like Apple products are often said to be.