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Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Unveils Surface Laptops To Fulfill 'PC For Every Single Person' Vision (venturebeat.com) 65

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
Microsoft today unveiled the Surface Laptop Go with a 12.4-inch touchscreen for $549, its cheapest and lightest (2.45lbs) laptop yet. The company also updated the Surface Pro X with SQ2 -- Microsoft's second-generation custom ARM chip co-engineered with Qualcomm -- for $1,500. Both are available for preorder today and ship on October 13. From a report: Those are the highlights. But a single sentence in Microsoft's announcement stood out to us. "What started as a vision for a PC in every single home has now evolved to the need for a PC for every single person," Panos Panay, head of engineering for all of Microsoft's devices, said in press briefing. For decades, Bill Gates' vision was "A computer on every desk, and in every home, running Microsoft software." That's why even in 2020, Windows 10 is running on 1 billion devices.

[...] Surface Laptop Go is powered by Intel's 10th generation i5 QuadCore processor, up to 16GB RAM and 256GB storage, and up to 13 hours of battery life. Microsoft is also touting a full-size keyboard with 1.3mm key travel and a fingerprint power button for one touch sign-in. Then there's a 720p HD camera, Studio Mics, Omnisonic Speakers, Dolby Audio, USB A, USB C, audio jack, and the Surface connector.
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Microsoft Unveils Surface Laptops To Fulfill 'PC For Every Single Person' Vision More

Microsoft Unveils Surface Laptops To Fulfill 'PC For Every Single Person' Vision

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  • then they can keep it, and they wont sell a lot of them either, those ivory tower executives think everybody is sitting on a big pile of money just waiting to buy their over-priced junk

    • If $549 and 2.45lbs is the "cheapest and lightest" you've got, I'll stick with my $75 Raspberry Pi 4 instead. I don't need that Windows 10 spyware crap either. Thanks but no thanks.

      • Also, does $549 buy you the 16GB RAM and 256GB storage? If not, no good. Also, the issue w/ Windows 10 is not so much that it's spyware (I have Cortana disabled and hardly use the camera, and have also disabled location) but that it is excruciatingly slow. Even though I completely wiped my laptop and installed it from scratch, and my laptop has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It takes more than a minute to log in after I've entered the PIN

        • It takes more than a minute to log in after I've entered the PIN

          Call tech support, because that's not normal.

        • No, that version is $900, and if you really need those specs (or better) it's not the laptop for you. For most people, buying the $700 version with 128GB storage is fine; you're not going to use this laptop for huge design applications or for serious gaming. Alas, Microsoft has not chosen to include an SD reader, which is a useful way of getting bulk storage into their Surface Go tablets.

    • The base model Surface Laptop Go is $550 (Core i5-1035G1, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC), though the configuration that most people should actually consider buying is $700 (Core i5-1035G1, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD.). That's mid-range laptop territory. You can get better specs at that price point elsewhere but you'll give up build quality compared to Microsoft's hardware, assuming the new model is on par with Microsoft's previous computers. The one big shortcoming is the relatively low resolution 1536x1024 display; I'd have

  • I didn't see 'any single person' using one of those things other than in a movie or a TV series who got them for free.

    • Re:Really? (Score:5, Informative)

      by godrik ( 1287354 ) on Thursday October 01, 2020 @10:27AM (#60560864)

      Are you talking about the MS Surface product line in general? It is actually pretty popular.

      About a third of my department uses some MS surface. If you are curious, another third use some mac laptops, while the last third uses some Dell.

      The price-performance-portability tradeoff is really good.

      I am using a Dell at the moment. But my next laptop could be a Surface. I need to check how Debian compatible they would be.

      • We have several at work (software for government contracts) as well. Get used a decent amount.
      • I had to replace more Surface Pro 3 units than were purchased for corporate clients. Here's why:

        Glitches with AHCI drivers meant units could freeze at the Surface logo and necessitate physical access to fix
        If left in a car boot on a cold winter day, they would end up with internal condensation and rapidly die
        Firmware issues meant the thermals were poorly managed, resulting in early failures due to excessive, rapid temperature changes
        Touchscreens would randomly break, with phantom clicks all over th

    • I didn't see 'any single person' using one of those things other than in a movie or a TV series who got them for free.

      Not looking or maybe it's a local issue? The Surface is not just popular it's an actual major revenue stream for Microsoft bringing in over $5bn. Personally I see them all over the place. We have a couple of them here too, great little devices for people who don't need a serious work laptop, but unreliable as heck. Personally both mine and my GF have sent ours for a warranty claim (so 100% failure rate there), at our work where IT rolled out 15000 of the Pro 6 they ended up with around 30% failures.

      Mind you

    • I didn't see 'any single person' using one of those things other than in a movie or a TV series who got them for free.

      Son's school handed them out to everyone. No problems so far.

    • At an Anime Boston staff meeting last year, I saw more Surface devices than Apple devices. To be fair, they may be especially popular among anime fans because of their pen capability and support of full-blown graphics software rather than the stripped-down versions you can run on an iPad; many anime fans are also manga artists. That probably also would have been true this year if staff meetings had actually happened.
  • But it's got Windows, right? That really takes the air out of my balloon.

  • PC for every single person? (Score:5, Funny)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Thursday October 01, 2020 @09:54AM (#60560756)

    What about people who are married or have girlfriends?

    • Re:PC for every single person? (Score:5, Funny)

      by olsmeister ( 1488789 ) on Thursday October 01, 2020 @10:23AM (#60560856)
      Those are the cool people and they obviously would be using Apple products.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by J1896 ( 7064685 )
      "PC for every single person" translates (in my head) as 'We want to monitor everyone through our OS' and by so doing, compete with Google for dominance on peoples online transactions and with Facebook for peoples private information'. I'm not actually objection-ed to being monitored in theory.. but America has shown me repeatedly that those in the background who tend to do such things tend to their own pre-existing narrative and are easily removed or replaced by their bosses if they come to conclusions tha
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Surface computers are at least up until now all sealed inside. You can't get in them if they die to pull out the SSD. Dell latitude tablets (and I assume some others) have removable storage and can be easily swapped to another unit if someone of importance at your company breaks the screen or otherwise kills the tablet.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by vux984 ( 928602 )

      Don't get me wrong, I like devices that you can open and repair too; i like to do ram upgrades, and SSD upgrades, as much as anyone. And I hate throwing away perfectly good hardware just because its been glued to a broken screen.

      " if someone of importance at your company "

      If they're of such importance why isn't their stuff just backed up, ready to restore on another device.

      I'm curious what your plan is for when someone of importance at your company has a device stolen, or the SSD simply fails.

      • If they're of such importance why isn't their stuff just backed up, ready to restore on another device

        Because real backup requires tape and restorable backups require the use of Open Source software - otherwise, when you come to do a restore, you find that the software you used for the backups is the "old, no longer supported version" and you are completely shafted.

        It should be immediately obvious that Microsoft users probably have no backups, and if they do, they are probably not restorable.

        Hence th

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by vux984 ( 928602 )

          TLDR:
          If you are the victim of an advanced persistent threat... your backups are only as good as the very last time you restored them in a separate environment and verified manually everything you need is really there. And THAT is unfortunately, a pretty high bar.

          Full post

          real backup requires tape

          If you are at the scale where you have dedicated backup IT staff, and budget to operate MULTIPLE tape systems; yes, that's "gold standard".

          The average small/medium business using tape backups might as well just be send their backups to dev-

        • > Because real backup requires tape
          Wha???

          No, it requires off-site copies.

          > require the use of Open Source software
          Che???

          Because open source software doesn't have bugs? Because open source software means that your hardware doesn't fail?

          If your "old, no longer supported version" automatically will no longer do a restore, and I'm making a large assumption here that you do test restores while your product is supported, and your assessment when selecting a product didn't reveal that the second it falls out

  • A computer on every desk, ... (Score:3)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Thursday October 01, 2020 @10:13AM (#60560822)

    ... and in every home

    How about a computer in every pocket? Get with the times.

  • Small, under-powered, under ported, over price lappy made by Microsoft which has been more miss than hit on the surface line.

    • Cheaper than a Macbook, and much more desirable IMHO. Anybody who hasn't tried touchscreen Windows 10 with a stylus in one hand really ought to.

      (I wouldn't buy either of those two with my own money though...)

      • Yeah. It sucks. Mouse/kb much more precise and a lot faster. Also doesn't leave my screen a mess of markings.

        • Mouse/kb much more precise and a lot faster.

          Wonder why mobile phones don't come with mice and keyboards then.

          Oh wait I know. Because there's a use case for smaller devices without keyboards and mice, when you aren't going to be typing a lot or needing precise mouse movement and don't want to carry that stuff around.

        • Yeah. It sucks. Mouse/kb much more precise and a lot faster. Also doesn't leave my screen a mess of markings.

          Stylae don't leave markings, you're thinking of your cheez-it covered fingers.

          • Must hurt to constantly hover your palm/side of hand over a screen not to gunk it. Your handwriting quality must've taken a dip.

  • Yawn (Score:3)

    by jon3k ( 691256 ) on Thursday October 01, 2020 @10:34AM (#60560882)
    Yawn, starts at $549 with only 4GB RAM, 64GB storage and a 12" screen and a 1536 x 1024 resolution which means 148 PPI. Can't even watch 1080p movies in native resolution. This is absolutely not going to be sold to "every single person."

    • This is the strangest advertising gimmick since Apple's "It's wicked fast!"(r)(tm) for the Mac 2 Fx decades ago.

    • Can't even watch 1080p movies in native resolution.

      On a 12" screen all I have to wonder is why would you waste the battery life on those pixels. Or maybe it'll come with a fancy case that has a built in magnifying glass.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by chrish ( 4714 )

      4GB RAM? Ouch. When I ran Windows 10, my working set immediately after booting, before loading any applications, was over 6GB.

      And 64GB of storage? Is that even enough to run Windows Update the next time there's a new OS?

      Low-end hardware with terrible specs is literally one of the biggest reasons why people hated Vista so much. There were lawsuits.

  • nah (Score:4, Interesting)

    by nomadic ( 141991 ) <nomadicworld@ g m a i l . com> on Thursday October 01, 2020 @10:35AM (#60560896) Homepage

    I'm usually defending MS here but I got a Surface Pro 4 and it was...meh. The low RAM and underpowered CPU made it annoying to use, and it was definitely more expensive than the hardware would warrant. I just don't trust MS on these things anymore.

    • I'm usually defending MS here but I got a Surface Pro 4 and it was...meh. The low RAM and underpowered CPU made it annoying to use, and it was definitely more expensive than the hardware would warrant. I just don't trust MS on these things anymore.

      I honestly wonder what you expect. Given how it was by far one of the thinnest devices on the market, and one of only a couple that were in a full tablet form factor yet ran a windows OS, did you think you would get comparable performance specs to a laptop?

      If you didn't buy these devices for the form factor then you bought the wrong device. They've gotten much better on the performance front now but you still pay a premium for the form factor. If you're looking for price/performance don't buy a thin tablet,

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by nomadic ( 141991 )

        I didn't expect comparable performance specs to a laptop, but I did expect it to not freeze and stutter like a PC from the 1990s. I wasn't trying to do anything complicated or graphically intensive on it. I did buy it for the form factor, and chose it over the similarly priced iPad pro 12.9", and I regret going with it instead of the ipad.

  • Everyone has a computer in their pocket and many don't have a use for a desktop or laptop anymore.

    • Everyone has a computer in their pocket and many don't have a use for a desktop or laptop anymore.

      I have a desktop, although it's a fairly small mini-itx with a small monitor.
      But anyway, I haven't had a laptop since I got my first smartphone. No need anymore.

    • I get the feeling people high up at Microsoft are still stuck thinking about how their stuff is no longer running on most people's computing devices. They've attempted so many weird melds of desktop computers and phones over the past decade. Shot themselves in the foot as often as not, like with Windows 8 Metro. Now they're pushing an ARM-based "PCs for everyone"? I don't see it having much of a niche. 12" is still a bit tiny for serious work or serious gaming. Will it even run Windows software? It doesn't

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Most people in developed nations have computers already, they're called smartphones. Of course, among the tech-minded like readers of Slashdot, a smartphone is no substitute for a PC, but for many people, they are good enough. Good luck with that, Microsoft!

  • (stops reading).

    Seriously, I have absolutely no interest in anything that Microsoft is selling, ESPECIALLY hardware. I grudgingly continue to use Windows solely because Adobe refuses to port Creative Cloud to Linux. And some day, when it's mature enough, I'll switch to Darktable and both Microsoft and Adobe can go straight to hell.

  • Ad campaign obviously started by wealthy execs (Score:3)

    by marcle ( 1575627 ) on Thursday October 01, 2020 @11:59AM (#60561216)

    Aside from the fact, already mentioned, that cell phones eliminate the need for everyone to have a computer, there's a big proportion of the population for whom $550 is not a trivial amount. Especially in this weird Covid era, a lot of people are scrambling for rent and food money.
    Hey, MS is wealthy right? Why not start a giveaway program? Great PR, and it furthers their goal of ruling, I mean serving, the world.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JustNiz ( 692889 )

      > cell phones eliminate the need for everyone to have a computer

      Sure as long as you incorrectly assume that all anyone ever does is check their email and surf a few websites.
      .
      Wake me up when a cell phone can compile large projects, run PC games like Microsoft Flight Simulator or support my steam VR headset.

    • I have a $299 lappy with a Ryzen 3. It serves all basic computing needs. I run Linux on it and I can compile software or whatever. $550 is a lot.

  • I want it to come just with Linux installed (natively), no Windows.
    Yeah thought not.

  • Don't want and won't have any of your products anymore because I don't care to become Just Another Microsoft Bot-net NPC. I would rather have NO computer than have to have anything with Windows 10 on it.
  • Selling a phone to every individual failed. Selling a PC to each person seems to be the fallback strategy.

  • I'm happy with my desktop, some people I am sure have a laptop and will view getting a MS Surface as an upgrade, I see it as getting a down grade, in bang for buck, performance and usability.

    If you want to sell some hardware why not sell a unit like the xbox but its a PC with a predefined spec and capability, able to run productivity Apps and games, MS could make a qua-zillion dollar business out of this.

    I'll even throw in a name for free call it the winbox.

  • Why is everyone else offering 16GB Ram and 512GB SSD while Microsoft still stuck on 4GB and 8GB along with 256GB. For their price they need to just max it out Not all of us want to run everything from the cloud either

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