Microsoft Surface: An Alternative to the iPad for CRE professionals

Microsoft has now splashed out with its new operating system and a new tablet device, purportedly intended to challenge the iPad's dominance and overwhelming success.  This is my initial review and experience with the Microsoft "Surface", their mobile tablet device.  While I have played around a bit also with the new Windows 8, this review will be limited to the Surface.

Let me start by explaining, if you don't already know it, I am a bit of a gadget freak.  My entertainment is often trying out new software and devices to see if I can make them work better for my uses than my current or immediately former devices.  I am what the experts call, "a first adopter".  When Microsoft first came out with their original tablet software, using a digitizing pen, I got my Toshiba tablet before nearly anyone else and was the only one that I saw walking through Comdex with a tablet. To be frank, I was showing it off, but my arms started to hurt after a while because of the heft of the device.  Although I continued to use these predecessor tablets, because of their great ability to write on the device as if it were searchable paper, they were never widely adopted by the public.  Understand, these were very different devices from the current crop of iPad and iPad like devices which are instant on and light as a wisp.

But I digress.  For the last 5 years or so, although I continue to use some windows computers, I predominantly use Macs due to their elegant operating system, ease of use and sturdiness.  If they crash more than twice a year, that is an event as compared to my windows computers that I hope do not crash twice a week.

So yesterday I go into the Microsoft Store, the second time in a week, now convinced I am going to purchase a new tablet.  I had been in the store a week before and tried it out.  Super fast and responsive, brilliant screen and easy operating system using a touch screen.  What was there not to like?  True, I had some concerns about the lack of applications that can be used with this version, (RT) of the Windows operating system, but come on, it was new and shiny.

I actually bought it, giving my credit card to the salesman who processed the purchase on a portable Windows 7 computer, (they didn't even use their own tablet and no it wasn't an iPad).  Nice kid and even offered to set it up for me.  Now, I usually turn down such an offer, preferring to set things up myself while discovering what I could do with it, but this time, I took him up on his offer.

To make a long story short, after an hour, the salesman and two "experts" couldn't seem to get my shiny new tablet to work properly and offered to exchange it for me for a also, brand new tablet.  No thanks.  Look, if the seller can't get the damn thing to work properly before I leave, what's the likelihood that I am not going to want to throw it out the window before I even get home?  The interesting thing is that the experts had never seen this problem before, which led me to the reasonable conclusion that the problem was probably limited to this device and perhaps a corrupted software file.  But still, it sure seemed like a typical Microsoft PC experience, which led me to some additional observations about the Surface and my buying experience:

• A Microsoft Store ain't no Apple Store.  The Microsoft employees are primarily temps with little enthusiasm and experience, particularly with their new operating system and devices. Their, so-called, "experts" were pure amateurs as compared to the marvelous zealots who work at the Apple Store.
• Assuming that the Surface does work as intended, it is different from the iPad and Android devices.  Probably the key difference to me is that the Surface is more of a PC in a touch tablet form.  In many ways, that it a good thing.  Drafting documents in Word on my iPad is a daunting task, while drafting documents with the clip on keyboard on the Surface, in Word, is a wonderful experience.  If you are a writer who is looking for a tablet to take with you to draft letters, articles, blog posts or anything else using Microsoft Word, I highly recommend the Surface rather than lugging a notebook computer wherever you go.  In this respect, the Surface can replace a notebook computer.  But this is also where the surface fails.  It is a much more PC like experience, whereas the iPad is light, quick and easy and is really not intended to replace a laptop computer. Matt Baxter-Reynolds has written a really good article in ZDNet.(click here for the article), further explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the Surface.
• There are very few applications currently available for use on the Surface.  This version of the Surface uses a special "light" version of Windows 8 and you can't use your regular Windows programs or Windows Phone apps on it.  I do understand that there will be another Surface tablet available in a few months that will have the full version of Window 8 on it and you can currently get convertible notebooks with an active digitizer stylus from other manufacturers.  More on that later.

So what does all of this have to do with using the Surface for commercial real estate professionals?  Well, if you have been using an iPhone, iPad or an Android device using any commercial real estate specific applications, and there are a world of them out there that are very useful, don't even think about getting the Microsoft Surface with Windows RT.  If you make it out of the store, you will throw it out the window before you get home.

Next week, I will be writing about my experience with Windows 8 on a PC as well as the new Windows Phone 8 on the new Nokia 920 when it comes out this Friday.