34 ms·

If you're going to be using the web and Microsoft apps exclusively, it does, sure.

by hullo 11y ago

Amezarak 11y ago
If by "Microsoft apps" you mean any program compiled for Windows in addition to any of those that can run on an OS supported by VirtualBox. So the iPad can run iOS apps while the Surface can run virtually anything except iOS apps. They're not really comparable platforms.
- gress 11y ago
  Are you seriously suggesting that anything more than a tiny fraction of Windows apps are any good on a touch device?
  - Aldo_MX 11y ago
    You can run not only Windows Apps but Android Apps and Chrome Apps
    - gress 11y ago
      There are no serious pro Android apps, and Chrome Apps are not touch typically designed for touch, so this changes nothing.
      - Aldo_MX 11y ago
        I use this in my surface tablet, the performance is great, it doesn't even feel it's emulated: http://www.amiduos.com/ http://www.amiduos.com/
        gress 11y ago
        What Pro apps does that allow you to run?
        Aldo_MX 11y ago
        What do you mean by "Pro" apps? Photoshop? Illustrator? Premiere? After Effects? Autocad? 3DS Max? Eclipse? Netbeans? IntelliJ? Visual Studio? AFAIK mobile OSes don't have "Pro" apps, just niche apps, and unless those niche apps use ARM assembly or something that an x86 wouldn't run at native speed, you should have no issues.
        gress 11y ago
        The discussion here is about the availability of software for Pro tablets - specifically the iPad Pro, and the Surface Pro 3. You have correctly established that the Surface Pro 3 can run Android apps very well. I was curious about why it's valuable to run Android apps on a Pro tablet, or whether it's just a curiosity for running phone apps. If there was an important pro app that ran on android tablets that was made available to Windows users via emulation, that would seem to be a meaningful advantage. It seems this is not the case.
        Aldo_MX 11y ago
        The point about having an hybrid device is that you can use it in different ways, ex. as a laptop when you are doing productive work, or as a tablet when you just want to relax and check social networks or play some games. You don't need to purchase 2 different devices. The fact that you are using a "pro" device doesn't mean you wouldn't want to use "non-pro" apps, and having a full-featured Android subsystem (which emulates ARM if needed) is a good advantage when you want to use apps that don't exist in the Windows market, or want to use your previous purchases in markets like Amazon or Google Play. Remember that several companies just focus in releasing iOS and Android apps and fall back to the web version for desptop, which usually is not optimized with a touch-friendly workflow.
        gress 11y ago
        If your argument is that the ability to run android apps gives surface an advantage over iPad pro because of access to non-pro tablet apps, this makes no sense at all. The iPad has a better library of non-pro tablet apps by far. The only question is which device is better for running tablet apps aimed at Pros. I think that is currently open to debate, but Android isn't even a player, so running Android apps is no advantage.
  - redblacktree 11y ago
    You mean a touch device with a keyboard and stylus?
  - DiThi 11y ago
    An increasingly number of desktop windows apps I use have touch controls. Most of the time being able to scroll and zoom with touch is all an app needs to be usable.
banashark 11y ago
I'm hoping this lights a fire for a surface pro 4 announcement. What's wrong with using non-microsoft apps on windows?
hkmurakami 11y ago
Or any number of 3rd party Windows applications?
dangrossman 11y ago
Windows RT, the OS that could only run "Metro" apps, is dead and gone. All the current Surface tablets run Windows 8.1/10. They're ordinary PCs, with your choice of Atom x7 (Surface 3) or Core i3/i5/i7 processor (Surface 3 Pro), in tablet form-factor.

If you're going to be using the web and Microsoft apps exclusively, it does, sure.

by hullo 11y ago

If you're going to be using the web and Microsoft apps exclusively, it does, sure.

If by "Microsoft apps" you mean any program compiled for Windows in addition to any of those that can run on an OS supported by VirtualBox. So the iPad can run iOS apps while the Surface can run virtually anything except iOS apps. They're not really comparable platforms.

gress 11y ago
Are you seriously suggesting that anything more than a tiny fraction of Windows apps are any good on a touch device?
- Aldo_MX 11y ago
  You can run not only Windows Apps but Android Apps and Chrome Apps
  - gress 11y ago
    There are no serious pro Android apps, and Chrome Apps are not touch typically designed for touch, so this changes nothing.
    - Aldo_MX 11y ago
      I use this in my surface tablet, the performance is great, it doesn't even feel it's emulated: http://www.amiduos.com/ http://www.amiduos.com/
      - gress 11y ago
        What Pro apps does that allow you to run?
        Aldo_MX 11y ago
        What do you mean by "Pro" apps? Photoshop? Illustrator? Premiere? After Effects? Autocad? 3DS Max? Eclipse? Netbeans? IntelliJ? Visual Studio? AFAIK mobile OSes don't have "Pro" apps, just niche apps, and unless those niche apps use ARM assembly or something that an x86 wouldn't run at native speed, you should have no issues.
        gress 11y ago
        The discussion here is about the availability of software for Pro tablets - specifically the iPad Pro, and the Surface Pro 3. You have correctly established that the Surface Pro 3 can run Android apps very well. I was curious about why it's valuable to run Android apps on a Pro tablet, or whether it's just a curiosity for running phone apps. If there was an important pro app that ran on android tablets that was made available to Windows users via emulation, that would seem to be a meaningful advantage. It seems this is not the case.
        Aldo_MX 11y ago
        The point about having an hybrid device is that you can use it in different ways, ex. as a laptop when you are doing productive work, or as a tablet when you just want to relax and check social networks or play some games. You don't need to purchase 2 different devices. The fact that you are using a "pro" device doesn't mean you wouldn't want to use "non-pro" apps, and having a full-featured Android subsystem (which emulates ARM if needed) is a good advantage when you want to use apps that don't exist in the Windows market, or want to use your previous purchases in markets like Amazon or Google Play. Remember that several companies just focus in releasing iOS and Android apps and fall back to the web version for desptop, which usually is not optimized with a touch-friendly workflow.
        gress 11y ago
        If your argument is that the ability to run android apps gives surface an advantage over iPad pro because of access to non-pro tablet apps, this makes no sense at all. The iPad has a better library of non-pro tablet apps by far. The only question is which device is better for running tablet apps aimed at Pros. I think that is currently open to debate, but Android isn't even a player, so running Android apps is no advantage.
- redblacktree 11y ago
  You mean a touch device with a keyboard and stylus?
- DiThi 11y ago
  An increasingly number of desktop windows apps I use have touch controls. Most of the time being able to scroll and zoom with touch is all an app needs to be usable.

banashark 11y ago

I'm hoping this lights a fire for a surface pro 4 announcement. What's wrong with using non-microsoft apps on windows?

hkmurakami 11y ago

Or any number of 3rd party Windows applications?

dangrossman 11y ago

Windows RT, the OS that could only run "Metro" apps, is dead and gone. All the current Surface tablets run Windows 8.1/10. They're ordinary PCs, with your choice of Atom x7 (Surface 3) or Core i3/i5/i7 processor (Surface 3 Pro), in tablet form-factor.