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With its Subsystem for Linux aimed at developers and now this desktop PC for designers, it seems Microsoft is quickly catching up with Apple. Now if they could

With its Subsystem for Linux aimed at developers and now this desktop PC for designers, it seems Microsoft is quickly catching up with Apple. Now if they could release a good alternative to the MacBook Pro that would be great.

marsrover 10y ago
I have 2010 MBP, 2013 MBP, and Surface Book that I've had since Feb. I never use my MBP anymore. The hardware is great, it looks very sleek (in my opinion) and I am a big fan on Windows 10, which seems to run very well on it (no issues thus far). edit: if you asked me 5 years ago if I would ever be happy with Microsoft, I would have laughed.
- slantyyz 10y ago
  FWIW, Windows 10 runs really fast on your two MBPs, if you can get past the keyboard layout while using Windows. This is highly subjective, but my experience running Windows on Mac hardware was that they felt snappier than OSX on the same machine.
  - Griever 10y ago
    I use Win10 on my MBP as well, and I'd say I use it 95% of the time at this point. Definitely runs snappier than OSX, and now with the Linux subsystem running, I rarely have a need to go back. I only wish Apple would open source BootCamp and allow others to try and fix the few issues that it still has, namely around battery consumption. Highly unlikely they would ever do that, but one can dream.
  - marsrover 10y ago
    Yeah, I have noticed this as well. In fact, I don't have OSX on my 2010 MBP pro at all. It only has Windows 7 on it.
brian_herman 10y ago
Surface Book? It has a touch screen, high dpi display, and you can configure it with an dedicated graphics card.
nailer 10y ago
Surface Book is brilliant. Solid as a rock, keyboard better than a Mac. Battery life in tablet mode sucks, but as a laptop it's excellent.
- thecolorblue 10y ago
  The battery life in tablet mode is only bad when you leave it detached (at least for me).
  - nailer 10y ago
    Yep I'm talking about leaving it detached - chilling out on the couch using the tablet, without the weight of the bottom part. I'd hoped the Surface Book would replace my iPad but it just replaced my Macbook.
- munchbunny 10y ago
  I've had some minor gripes about the reliability of the hinge connection, the behavior of the FN key, and DPI switching on Windows in general. That said, ever since the Intel firmware fixes addressing the power management issues, the Surface Book has been the perfect general purpose mobile computer for me. Crisp screen, solid keyboard, long battery life, lightweight, and the stylus has been sufficient for replacing good ol' pen and paper when I need to scratch out some math for my occasional graphics programming hobby work. (I have a dedicated GPU model.) It's the first new computer I've bought in 4 years, so despite paying over $2000 for it, I'm quite happy with the value I've gotten.
  - nailer 10y ago
    Did the Intel firmware fixes come via Windows Update or did you have to do something specific? DPI oddness (moving between low DPI external monitor and high DPI internal one triggered it) seems much less now.
    - binarycrusader 10y ago
      They arrive via Windows update.
jhwhite 10y ago
MS is definitely taking the steps in the hardware department that Apple has been lagging behind on. But I still feel Windows itself is not a productive OS. I'm big on keyboard shortcuts but MS is very much mouse based. Being required to use my pinky to try and hit CTRL instead of my thumb to hit COMMAND to do simple things like copy and paste is HUGE to me. I didn't use a Windows machine for 3 years and when I did need to use Windows again it was extremely frustrating. I remember switching from Windows to OSX and it felt more natural. Anyway, MS is definitely making some cool stuff and I like the direction they're going. But I'm still not ready to go back.
- bryanlarsen 10y ago
  Sure, the location of the control key on Windows is bad. But the location of the command key on OSX is worse. At least on Windows you can use the meat of your hand to press the control key as long as you have a decent keyboard. But on both OS's remapping it to caps is even better.
- vvanders 10y ago
  Funny, I feel the same way about OSX. Every time I jump over to a macbook I reach for Win + Arrow keys to move windows around. I rarely use the mouse on windows, I think it's just a matter of familiarization on both OSes.
  - jhwhite 10y ago
    I do love the ability to use Win + arrow key to move windows around on Windows!
- dcole2929 10y ago
  There is a difference between not knowing the key bindings and there not being any. See link below. That's a non comprehensive list of just system shortcuts and doesn't even attempt to enumerate application specific ones. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/126449 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/126449
- WayneBro 10y ago
maxsilver 10y ago
I think Microsoft prefers to release somewhat new/unique designs (like the Surface Book). A regular laptop from Microsoft might be redundant, since you can already buy lots of good MacBook Pro alternatives from other companies. (Dell XPS 13/15, Razer Blade / Blade Stealth, HP Spectre, etc)
- seanmcdirmid 10y ago
  Not to mention that running windows on an MBP is completely viable and actually still the best you can get.
reitanqild 10y ago
Yep, can't wait for them to disrupt the whole bloatware-malware-and-lousy-drivers industry that is and has been Dell, HP, Lenovo etc. Apologies to any of you who works for any of these, I understand that a number of you are most likely decent people but I am really tired of seeing new crawling slow pcs that becomes fast once you install a fresh Windows without bloatware.

marsrover 10y ago

I have 2010 MBP, 2013 MBP, and Surface Book that I've had since Feb. I never use my MBP anymore. The hardware is great, it looks very sleek (in my opinion) and I am a big fan on Windows 10, which seems to run very well on it (no issues thus far). edit: if you asked me 5 years ago if I would ever be happy with Microsoft, I would have laughed.

slantyyz 10y ago
FWIW, Windows 10 runs really fast on your two MBPs, if you can get past the keyboard layout while using Windows. This is highly subjective, but my experience running Windows on Mac hardware was that they felt snappier than OSX on the same machine.
- Griever 10y ago
  I use Win10 on my MBP as well, and I'd say I use it 95% of the time at this point. Definitely runs snappier than OSX, and now with the Linux subsystem running, I rarely have a need to go back. I only wish Apple would open source BootCamp and allow others to try and fix the few issues that it still has, namely around battery consumption. Highly unlikely they would ever do that, but one can dream.
- marsrover 10y ago
  Yeah, I have noticed this as well. In fact, I don't have OSX on my 2010 MBP pro at all. It only has Windows 7 on it.

brian_herman 10y ago

Surface Book? It has a touch screen, high dpi display, and you can configure it with an dedicated graphics card.

nailer 10y ago

Surface Book is brilliant. Solid as a rock, keyboard better than a Mac. Battery life in tablet mode sucks, but as a laptop it's excellent.

thecolorblue 10y ago
The battery life in tablet mode is only bad when you leave it detached (at least for me).
- nailer 10y ago
  Yep I'm talking about leaving it detached - chilling out on the couch using the tablet, without the weight of the bottom part. I'd hoped the Surface Book would replace my iPad but it just replaced my Macbook.
munchbunny 10y ago
I've had some minor gripes about the reliability of the hinge connection, the behavior of the FN key, and DPI switching on Windows in general. That said, ever since the Intel firmware fixes addressing the power management issues, the Surface Book has been the perfect general purpose mobile computer for me. Crisp screen, solid keyboard, long battery life, lightweight, and the stylus has been sufficient for replacing good ol' pen and paper when I need to scratch out some math for my occasional graphics programming hobby work. (I have a dedicated GPU model.) It's the first new computer I've bought in 4 years, so despite paying over $2000 for it, I'm quite happy with the value I've gotten.
- nailer 10y ago
  Did the Intel firmware fixes come via Windows Update or did you have to do something specific? DPI oddness (moving between low DPI external monitor and high DPI internal one triggered it) seems much less now.
  - binarycrusader 10y ago
    They arrive via Windows update.

jhwhite 10y ago

MS is definitely taking the steps in the hardware department that Apple has been lagging behind on. But I still feel Windows itself is not a productive OS. I'm big on keyboard shortcuts but MS is very much mouse based. Being required to use my pinky to try and hit CTRL instead of my thumb to hit COMMAND to do simple things like copy and paste is HUGE to me. I didn't use a Windows machine for 3 years and when I did need to use Windows again it was extremely frustrating. I remember switching from Windows to OSX and it felt more natural. Anyway, MS is definitely making some cool stuff and I like the direction they're going. But I'm still not ready to go back.

bryanlarsen 10y ago
Sure, the location of the control key on Windows is bad. But the location of the command key on OSX is worse. At least on Windows you can use the meat of your hand to press the control key as long as you have a decent keyboard. But on both OS's remapping it to caps is even better.
vvanders 10y ago
Funny, I feel the same way about OSX. Every time I jump over to a macbook I reach for Win + Arrow keys to move windows around. I rarely use the mouse on windows, I think it's just a matter of familiarization on both OSes.
- jhwhite 10y ago
  I do love the ability to use Win + arrow key to move windows around on Windows!
dcole2929 10y ago
There is a difference between not knowing the key bindings and there not being any. See link below. That's a non comprehensive list of just system shortcuts and doesn't even attempt to enumerate application specific ones. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/126449 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/126449
WayneBro 10y ago

maxsilver 10y ago

I think Microsoft prefers to release somewhat new/unique designs (like the Surface Book). A regular laptop from Microsoft might be redundant, since you can already buy lots of good MacBook Pro alternatives from other companies. (Dell XPS 13/15, Razer Blade / Blade Stealth, HP Spectre, etc)

seanmcdirmid 10y ago
Not to mention that running windows on an MBP is completely viable and actually still the best you can get.

reitanqild 10y ago

Yep, can't wait for them to disrupt the whole bloatware-malware-and-lousy-drivers industry that is and has been Dell, HP, Lenovo etc. Apologies to any of you who works for any of these, I understand that a number of you are most likely decent people but I am really tired of seeing new crawling slow pcs that becomes fast once you install a fresh Windows without bloatware.