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Surface Book: Microsoft just made the PC cool again

The Microsoft Surface Book is the computer you always wanted to have but couldn’t. So now that it is here, will you buy it?

surface-4-surface-book

The latest line of Microsoft Surface personal computers is now available from both the virtual and the bricks-and-mortar Microsoft Store. By most accounts, the Surface Pro 4 and the flagship Surface Book offer impressive performance without sacrificing style or that illusive awe factor typically missing from PCs in general.

With the Surface Book in particular, Microsoft is attempting to change the narrative of the personal computer—to change perceptions in the marketplace. The Surface Book is an aspirational computer and it is intended to inspire desire in the overall PC and computing device market.

Strategic reasons

There are some solid strategic reasons why Microsoft has brought the Surface Book to market.

Giving OEMs a reference for their own hardware and increasing participation in Microsoft cloud services and the ecosystem that goes with it are certainly notable goals of the Surface Book.

But there is even more to it than that.

Hardware

It is important to understand the hardware inside the Microsoft Surface Book. These are the technical specifications of a powerful computing device. You do not buy a Surface Book so your kids can watch movies in the car while you run errands.

With a high resolution screen, SSD storage up to 1TB, up to 16GB RAM, an Intel I5 or I7 CPU, and a customized discreet GPU from Nvidia, the Surface Book is designed for performance and productivity. This is some serious computing power delivered in a small package.

Of course, that power comes at a premium price, but that is where the aspirational part of the strategy comes into play. Microsoft knows it will not sell millions upon millions of Surface Books. That is not its purpose. Instead, Microsoft wants millions upon millions of people to want a Surface Book—to aspire to own one someday.

Microsoft wants the Surface Book to be the notebook computer you would buy if money were not an issue. It wants the Surface Book to be a status symbol PC.

Marketing

This is a bold move by Microsoft and it goes hand-in-hand with the “PC does what?” marketing campaign produced in conjunction with its OEM partners like Dell and Lenovo. These companies are trying to make PCs cool again. They are trying to steal some of the thunder so often associated with Apple.

And while the “PC does what?” campaign gets mocked, mostly by fans of Apple, it is more effective than many believe. Remember the Mac versus PC commercials? People often mocked those as inaccurate oversimplifications of fact, but they still seemed to elevate the “cool” factor of the Mac. It didn’t matter what everyone thought of them; what mattered was the perception they produced.


Bottom line

The Microsoft Surface Book sets a high bar for every other notebook computer that comes to market. Microsoft has carefully crafted a powerful computer with hardware, features, and style no other company can currently match. In a single stroke, Microsoft has made owning a PC cool again. It has made the Windows 10 ecosystem cool again.

Let’s punctuate the point with anecdotal evidence. A number of people have spent much of their professional lives complaining about Microsoft and PCs. They have been working in the Apple’s ecosystem and hating every minute of it. They have been looking for more than what Apple offers for years now. The day Microsoft announced the Surface Book, they ordered one. They haven’t been this excited about buying a computer for a decade.

With this lineup of Surface products, Microsoft has changed the tide and established market momentum. It will be interesting to see how Google and Apple respond. We should see some serious competition now. It also wouldn’t be surprised to see a resurgence in Windows 10 mobile devices later this year. It looks to be an exciting time for consumers. Hang on to your hats.

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Windows 10 will be available via USB flash drive or DVD

USB flash drives

There is a possibility that microsoft will be selling Windows 10 on USB flash drives.

As you may know, installing an operating system from a USB flash drive is easier and faster than installing it from an optical disc. A USB flash drive is not as bulky as an optical disc and doesn’t require an external case. You just take it out of your pocket, pull off the cap, and insert it into your computer’s USB port. USB flash drives are faster than optical drives too. USB flash drives have read and write speeds that measure in 10x megabytes per second (MB/s), while optical disc read and write speeds measure in 1x MB/s.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that there are a multitude of articles on the web that describe how to create a Windows installation package on a USB flash drive. Microsoft even provides a tool that facilitates the procedure.

With Windows 10 on the horizon, there have been rumors floating around the web that in addition to making the upgrade available as a download, Microsoft will also be selling the retail copies of the new operating system on both DVD and USB flash drive.

As a regular follower of the German website WinFuture, I recently encountered an article that indicates that Microsoft will indeed be selling the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 10 Home and Pro on USB flash drives in addition to the DVD option. Having a USB flash drive option makes sense, because tablets don’t come with optical disc drives.

The WinFuture article contained a screen shot (Figure A) showing catalog details of the USB offerings. As you can see, it appears that the USB flash drive will contain both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Presumably, the USB flash drives will sell for the same price as the DVDs.

Figure Afigurea

Windows 10 Home and Pro will be sold on USB flash drives.

You can find a number of software reseller sites (mostly Canadian) with advertisements for the USB flash drive offerings of Windows 10 by Googling the part numbers shown in the screenshot: FQC-08788 for the Pro edition and KW9-00016 for the Home edition. However, keep in mind that we’ll have a clearer vision of the USB flash drive offerings once we get closer to the Windows 10 launch date of July 29th.

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Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book race ahead of iPad Pro and Pixel C at the high end

Microsoft gave its high-end Surface a leap forward on Tuesday with the unveiling of the Surface Pro 4 and the surprise launch of the Surface Book, the company’s first laptop.

surface-4-surface-book

Microsoft’s love affair with hardware just got more intense. If there were any doubts about the software juggernaut staying in the devices game, they were erased on Tuesday with one of the biggest and broadest hardware announcements in the company’s history.

Microsoft showed off a fleet of new and freshly updated Windows 10-powered devices in New York. The stars of the show were the Surface Pro 4 and the new Surface Book laptop, which were a potent answers to Apple’s recently unveiled iPad Pro and Google’s newly announed Pixel C.

According to Microsoft Devices lead engineer Panos Panay there are nearly 110 million devices running Windows 10. Most of the products Microsoft unveiled at Tuesday’s press event were intended to show how important mobile hardware and software integration with Windows 10 is to the company.

The event’s biggest surprise, the Surface Book, and the new Surface Pro 4 are powerful machines, and both aim to connect with both enterprise users and creative professionals. They succeed big time in the specs department. In terms of usability and adoption, we’ll know more after both are released on October 26.

The Surface Book is Microsoft’s first laptop, and it’s a fiery, ambitious device. The specs are decked, particularly given that the price is comparable to a Macbook Pro. The Surface Book starts at $1499, and comes with a full Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, 1TB of storage, 16GB RAM, and a GPU designed for gaming and multimedia editing by the Xbox team. Additionally, the 13.5-inch screen (3000 x 2000 resolution) can detach to become a stand-alone tablet.

The Surface Pro 4 tablet runs Windows 10 and, like its predecessors, can serve as a full-fledged laptop replacement. The Surface Pro 4 is, as expected, somewhat thinner and 30 percent faster than the previous model. It has 16GB of RAM, and comes with up to a terabyte of storage, and a 12.3-inch screen (2736 x 1824 resolution). Microsoft cloud and productivity apps Cortana, Windows Hello, Microsoft Office, and OneDrive are deeply integrated. The Surface Pro 4 starts at $899.

When the Surface debuted in 2012 running Windows 8, the tablet seemed like an awkward, out-of-place device. Today, the Surface Pro has been owning and innovating in the high-end tablet space. It’s become a favorite of design professionals, IT administrators, and others who want a productivity tablet.

Arguably, the success of the Surface Pro helped pull Apple and Google into the high-end professional tablet market. Google’s comparable new Pixel C is similarly powerful, features a keyboard cover, and is deeply tied to the Google cloud ecosystem. Yet, Google’s device does not feel as durable as the Surface Pro 4, and Office is still often an essential tool for business users looking for a full laptop replacement.

Apple’s iPad Pro is a powerful professional and creative tool. Apple’s high-end tablet is larger and slightly more expensive than the Surface Pro 4. Microsoft is banking that the integration of Windows 10 and universal apps will help the Surface stand on par with the iPad Pro.

Microsoft’s attention to detail with peripheral devices like the Type Pro cover and the Surface Pen stylus may lend them a slight edge in the professional tablet market. The new Surface Pro Type Cover, notable for its “precision glass trackpad” is a significant refinement over the previous generation. The cover still costs 130 dollars, but is lighter, more responsive, and features more space between the keys than the previous version.

Microsoft has worked hard to make the stylus seem useful and cool. The new Surface Pen is intended to feel like writing on paper. The stylus features a tip with 1,024 points of pressure sensitivity, an eraser (yes, an eraser!), year-long battery life, and comes in five colors. When not in use the pen is held snugly to the top of the tablet by magnets. Microsoft took great care to display the tablet tilted in portrait mode like a clipboard, with a pen resting on top. The company emphasized the tablet itself “just fades into the background” when used by office workers, doctors, architects, and musicians.

surface-book-two

As with the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, the new Lumia 950 and 950 XL phones are powered by Windows 10, with special consideration to mobile productivity. The devices measure at 5.2 and 5.7 inches respectively, and feature an upgraded camera with a dedicated shutter release button.

The most unique and innovative announcement from Microsoft may have been the Display Doc. Intended to maximize workplace flexibility, and uncouple the enterprise user from the constraints of a laptop, the Microsoft Display Doc was initially announced at last spring’s Build conference as the Continuum docking station. The Display Doc is a small, square device that connects to any compatible Windows 10 mobile device like the Lumia 950 using three USB Type-3 ports, a DisplayPort and HDMI. When connected to a monitor using Display Doc, the phone will present a traditional Windows home screen, complete with the familiar Start button and icon tray. Though not as robust as a true desktop PC, the experience resembles desktop Windows and is able to manage productivity tasks like mail and messaging, document creation and sharing, and web browsing.

Windows 10 is at the core of the new Microsoft device environment. The company also announced updates to the Windows 10 universal app ecosystem [LINK], and a launch partnership with Facebook to expand the core Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram applications.

CEO Satya Nadella closed the event by stressing the importance of Windows 10 as a unified platform. Every device Microsoft released on Tuesday is a step towards fulfilling that vision. As impressive as the devices were, the biggest thing standing in their way perhaps is the stability of Windows 10

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Patience will be the key to a successful Windows 10 upgrade

let the dust settle before you attempt the free Windows 10 upgrade.

Windows 10

With the official Windows 10 launch and Microsoft’s promise that the upgrade for Windows 7/8.1 systems will be free for the first year after launch, you’ll have until July 29, 2016, to make your move. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean you have to rush to get your copy—unless, of course, it’s a status thing.

For the ordinary Windows user, there really isn’t any immediate need to be one of the first people to download Windows 10. In fact, you’ll probably have a better upgrade experience if you hold off for a bit. Wait for the hype to die down, wait for the load on the Windows Update servers to wane, and more importantly, wait for the first wave of updates to make their way out to the masses of Windows users who had to be the first.

Besides, unless you’re a Windows Insider program participant, chances are that you won’t be able to get Windows 10 right away anyhow.

In his July 2nd blog post, “Windows 10: Preparing to Upgrade One Billion Devices,” Terry Myerson stated:

“We want to make sure all of you have a great upgrade experience, so we’ll roll-out Windows 10 in phases to help manage the demand.”

He then goes on to say:

“Starting on July 29, we will start rolling out Windows 10 to our Windows Insiders. From there, we will start notifying reserved systems in waves, slowly scaling up after July 29th. Each day of the roll-out, we will listen, learn and update the experience for all Windows 10 users.”

That last sentence hints at the fact that the Microsoft is anticipating the possibility that there may be some glitches in the first wave of the roll out.

To be sure, I’m not suggesting that you hold out for months before you upgrade—rather, I’m saying that you may want to give it a couple of weeks just to see how others are faring with Windows 10. With Microsoft’s Windows as a service model, the ongoing testing via the extension of the Windows Insider program, and the rapid update system developed during the Windows Insider preview program, the hope is that any issues that crop up in the first weeks after initial availability will be quickly resolved.

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Google and AT&T: Fighting Fiber with Fiber

Google fiber is coming to your town. But not without a fight. After Louisville, Kentucky approved legislation that would allow Google Fiber to piggyback on pre-existing telecommunication infrastructure, AT&T sued the city.

 

“The ordinance in question, known as “One Touch Make Ready,” essentially allows Google (or any other ISP) to install its equipment on existing utility poles, including those owned and maintained by AT&T. Despite strong opposition from AT&T and Time Warner Cable, the ordinance passed with a 23-0 vote.”

AT&T claimed a need to defend past infrastructure investment, and that the ordinance violates current telecommunication rules. The city of Louisville countered claiming, “gigabit fiber is too important to our city’s future.” Google pledged to support the city.

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The BlackBerry platform’s slow fade to black

blackberry-logo-SJTechiesBlackBerry’s operating system was recently dealt blow by Facebook. Find out how this could be the final nail in the BB10 coffin.

The only reason this headline should surprise anyone is the fact that BlackBerry OS is actually still alive. End of story, right? Truth be told, most assumed BlackBerry’s operating system dead when the company decided to release a device running the Android platform. It seemed to be the only logical step forward for BlackBerry Limited. And yet, BB continues on.

Only now, they continue on without Whatsapp and Facebook support.

When pressed for the reason why they are pulling support, Facebook made their case quite simple, stating that 99.5 % of all smartphone sales are of the Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile platforms.

Makes sense.

What doesn’t make sense is the fact that the BlackBerry OS is still alive and kicking. Yes, I understand BlackBerry was the platform for business users for a very long time, but that time has come and gone and the only relevant platforms are obvious. In fact, even Windows Mobile is barely hanging on to any semblance of relevancy.

What can you expect

If you happen to be a BlackBerry user, you already knew that Whatsapp pulled the plug. Now you can count on the Facebook app functioning (sans updates) until the end of the year. Once 2016 passes, the app will cease to be available in any form.

My guess is, once the Facebook app no longer functions on the platform, the Grim Reaper will swoop into the offices of the BB10 developers and have a field day. Facebook holds a powerful sway over the ebb and flow of the consumer. No Facebook, no platform.

And you may be saying to yourself, “BB10 is a business-centric platform, there’s no need for a Facebook app”. That assumption is false for at least two reasons. First, businesses actually use Facebook as a form of marketing. Second, you’re assuming that business users do not spend any amount of time on Facebook. According to comScore, the average American citizen spends 40 minutes a day on the social network platform. Relatively speaking, that’s a significant amount of time (considering users tend to work on Facebook in a sort of “hit and run” style). And if you factor in the peak Facebook hours of 1 p.m. – 3 p.m., it’s clear that business users do spend time on Facebook.

BlackBerry’s reaction

Of this separation, BlackBerry said:

“We are extremely disappointed in their decision as we know so many users love these apps. We fought back to work with WhatsApp and Facebook to change their minds, but at this time, their decision stands,”

BlackBerry even started a Twitter campaign to change Facebook’s mind, with the hashtag #ILoveBB10Apps. I did a quick Twitter search for that hashtag and found the hashtag (somewhat) backfired on BlackBerry. Tweets ranging from angry users (one user asking how his BlackBerry device could be showing 0% battery, yet still be functioning), to the usual flood of memes and spam. Some users did proclaim they’d be sticking with BlackBerry by way of the PRIV (which, if we’re being honest, at that point you are as much in support of Android as you are BlackBerry). Of course, there were the BlackBerry faithful, extolling the values of BlackBerry 10 multitasking, security, and such to convince Facebook to not pull the plug.

The truth is in the numbers

You really shouldn’t need anything more than that telling number 99.5. That is beyond significant. We’ve watched new (and promising) platforms come and go, thanks to the might that is Android and iOS. Because BlackBerry has been around for a while, doesn’t give them a special hall pass to avoid the apple flavored robotic death hammer.

If BlackBerry wants to continue on, their only hope clearly lies in Android. The BlackBerry faithful will gladly continue on, with their physical keyboards and Android platform. Either that, or they can say goodbye to BlackBerry altogether, because Facebook pulling support could well be the killing blow to the little platform.

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Research: Apple rated highest for security on mobile devices

Mobile devices are almost universal in the enterprise in 2016. Tech Pro Research conducted a survey to see what devices employees are using for work, and how safe these devices are.

In new research conducted by Tech Pro Research, 98% of respondents said they use mobile devices for work. Smartphones and laptops were the most common, with 94% of respondents who use mobile devices using them. 74% of mobile device users said they work with tablets. Wearables haven’t found a widespread usage base in the workplace, with only 14% reporting using them. When users rated the security of devices based on vendors, Apple got the best ratings in all categories.smartphones

For smartphones Apple’s high ratings could be partially attributed to familiarity since 67% of respondents said employees at their company use iPhones. Only Samsung was close to Apple in terms of prevalence, and the company was way behind Apple in security ratings.

tablets

Apple also had the largest share of tablet use, and the highest security rankings, among respondents. 53% said they and their colleagues use iPads and 46% of users ranked security as very good or excellent.

laptops

Dell was the most popular brand among respondents, in terms of use for work, but it got third place in security ratings.

wearables

Security on wearables appears to still be developing, based on the mediocre security ratings among all brands, and the fact that security feature usage isn’t the norm for wearables yet.

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iPhone 7: What business users need to know

Apple recently announced the latest version of its flagship smartphone. Here are the features and functions that will matter to professionals.

iphone7lineup

The iPhone 7 is officially here. At an Apple event in California on Wednesday (September 7, coincidentally), the phone was unveiled by Tim Cook and the crew amid a variety of Apple announcements.

The first mention of the new device came in a now-deleted tweet that read: “New cameras. Water-resistant. Stereo speakers. Longer battery life. This is 7.” Apple is known for being tight-lipped until the last possible second, so it was definitely a surprise.

The phone has a new design, featuring an aluminum body with almost non-existent seams and is available in gold, silver, rose gold, black, and Jet Black. The home button was also redesigned, with Force sensitivity and a new Taptic engine. It can also be programmed by third-party applications and customized as well.

The above tweet wasn’t a fluke. The new enclosure is both water and dust resistant, with IP67 protection standard.

The new, 12-megapixel iPhone 7 camera has image stabilization and a wider f1.8 aperture lens that is made up of six distinct layers. The sensor for the camera is faster and more efficient, and a quad-LED flash can help users take better photos. The iPhone 7+ gets a second 12MP camera to use as a telephoto lens.

A new image processor helps balance colors and tone in an image, among many other features. This could be helpful for small marketing departments, or businesses that rely on image content, to produce better photos.

The front camera is a 7MP FaceTime HD camera. This will be helpful for road warriors and remote workers alike, as it could provide a better experience for mobile video conferencing.

The new Retina HD display is now 25% brighter than previous generations. The iPhone 7 has stereo speakers with twice the volume and better quality sound. If you want to use headphones, the traditional auxiliary input jack is gone, and the Apple EarPods now connect via Lightning connector only. If you have traditional headphones, though, Apple will include an adapter in the box with the new iPhone 7 and 7+.

Apple also debuted a wireless version of its earbuds called AirPods. They use a W1 chip to enable “intelligent connection” and users can access Siri through the AirPods with a tap. The batteries provide five hours of listening per charge.

In terms of performance, the iPhone 7 has a new A10 Fusion 64-bit, four core processor. Using two high-efficient cores, tasks like checking email will take less battery power. It also has stronger graphics performance while consuming less power than previous models. Pro apps, like those from Adobe, can perform better on the device as well.

Storage-wise, the new iPhones will be available with 32GB, 128GB, or 256GB of space.

apple_watch_series_2

Apple also announced the Apple Watch Series 2. The watch is swim-proof, which is a fancy way of saying that it is water resistant up to 50 meters. Its second-generation SiP (system in a package) has a dual-core processor that’s up to 50% faster, and a stronger GPU for better graphics performance as well.

A new display is easier to read, and the more powerful hardware allows for more complex apps to be built for the device. Built-in GPS will be good for business travelers, and developers can take advantage of it to build more contextual apps. Of course, watchOS 3 came to preview back in June, but Apple was expected to bring a new version of the hardware for quite some time.

Real-time collaboration is coming to the iWork suite as well. Apple showcased the functionality by editing the slide deck live on stage. Of course, Google Docs and Office 365 have had similar functionality for some time, and iWork has struggled to gain traction in the enterprise, but it’s a welcome update.

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Microsoft Surface Studio: The smart person’s guide

Everything you need to know about the Surface Studio, Microsoft’s new all-in-one PC designed to tempt professional artists and designers over to Windows.

microsoft-surface-studio

The Surface Studio is an all-in-one PC with premium specs, designed to wow professional artists, designers, architects and other creatives.

While the $2,999 price tag will deter most consumers, Microsoft seems to be targeting the Studio at design professionals, who would otherwise be using Apple Macs alongside specialist devices like Wacom’s Cintiq drawing tablet.

The Studio is a machine with a lot to recommend it, but one that could still be a leap too far for creatives already heavily invested in alternative tech.

Executive summary

  • What it is: The Surface Studio is a high-end, all-in-one PC aimed at being a drafting table and canvas for creatives.
  • Why it matters: The machine marks Microsoft’s first venture into designing desktop PCs and may put pressure on Apple and other manufacturers to crank up specs on competing machines.
  • Who it is for: Artists, designers, architects — creative professionals who want a machine that shows off their work at its best.
  • Why you should get it: For its super sleek, razor-sharp display that lets users draw straight onto the screen.
  • Why you shouldn’t get it: The price is too high or you’re a professional already heavily invested in alternative software and hardware.
  • How to get it: Pre-order online, although stock is limited according to Microsoft

What it is

An all-in-one, Windows 10 PC designed to dazzle users with its superlative display.

The screen, a 28-inch touchscreen LCD monitor, is ‘the thinnest in the world’ according to Microsoft, and sits on a counterbalanced hinge that makes it easy to push down onto the desk, and start drawing on with a digital pen.

The monitor’s 4K+ resolution and ability to display more than one billion colors, as well as to show drawings and documents at 1:1 scale with their paper equivalents, is designed to give professionals the ability to see how their creations would look in the real world.

Sketching on the screen with the Surface Pen is made easier when the Studio is used with the newly released Surface Dial, a brushed silver knob that can be rotated to select a new color when drawing on the screen or to turn the image.

Why it matters

From the point of view of artists and designers, the Studio offers a high-end computer built around their creative needs, which does away with having to use a separate drawing tablet and computer.

Even if creatives ignore the Surface Studio, its release is good news, likely to prompt incumbents like Apple and Wacom to spec up and cut the prices of new machines — in particular for the iMac, which the Studio has been compared to many times, despite the iMac lacking a touchscreen.

By following up the immaculately designed Surface Book laptop with a striking machine like the Surface Studio, Microsoft also appears to be trying to establish itself as a competitor to Apple on the design front.

Who it is for

Broadly, the Studio seems to be aimed at anyone who draws or designs for a living.

In launch videos, the Studio was seen being used by artists, architects and product designers.

The multi-purpose nature of the Studio, a machine that combines a Windows desktop PC with the functionality of a separate digital drawing tablet, such as the Cintiq 27 QHD Touch, will likely make the $2,999 price tag easier to swallow among those in the creative industries.

Why you should get it

If you draw or design for a living there are plenty of reasons why you might want the Studio. For example, there’s the quality of the display and the ease with which the Surface Pen draws on the screen. Microsoft describes this experience as virtually as fluid as drawing on paper. Then there’s the Studio’s significant graphical processing power, the ability to view documents and drawings actual size on screen and the ease with which you can switch push down the monitor and begin drawing.

Why you shouldn’t get it

Despite the Studio’s looks, its high price makes it hard to recommend as a consumer purchase, particularly when an iMac with a higher resolution, and only very slightly smaller screen, will cost less money.

Even professional creators are unlikely to abandon their current expensive setup for a Studio, as Mikako Kitagawa, principal research analyst with Gartner, pointed out.

“An all-in-one device is not the most cost-effective device, as the users pay for both the computing unit and monitor at the same time,” she said.

“Creative professionals have already invested heavily in hardware and software. For instance, many professional illustrators use a high-end drawing tablet and high-resolution monitor at the same time.”

If those same professionals exclusively use macOS, as is the case in some creative outlets, then the high cost of switching to Windows will also be a deterrent, she said.

There is also Microsoft’s odd decision not to include the $99 Surface Dial with the Studio, despite the peripheral featuring so heavily in demos of the machine, and being particularly useful for tasks like changing colors while drawing with the Surface Pen.

How to get it

The Surface Studio is available to pre-order from Microsoft, with prices starting at $2,999 and shipping starting from 12 December. Microsoft has warned the machine will be available in limited quantities.

Tech specs:

$2,999: 1TB drive; Intel Core i5 CPU; 8GB RAM; 2GB GPU

$3,499: 1TB drive; Intel Core i7 CPU; 16GB RAM; 2GB GPU

$4,199: 2TB drive; Intel Core i7 CPU; 32GB RAM; 4GB GPU

Display: 28″ PixelSense Display; 4500 x 3000 resolution; 192 DPI; Color settings: Adobe sRGB, DCI-P3 and Vivid Color Profiles; Touch: 10-point multi-touch; Aspect ratio: 3:2 TB drive; Intel Core i5 CPU; 8GB RAM; 2GB GPU

Processor: Quad-core 6th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M 2GB GPU GDDR5 memory or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 4GB GPU GDDR5 memory

Storage: 1TB or 2TB ‘rapid hybrid drive’

Memory: 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB RAM

Wireless: 802.11ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0; Xbox Wireless built-in3

Dimensions: Display: 25.09 x 17.27 x 0.44 in (637.35 x 438.90 x 11.4 mm); Base: 9.84 x 8.66 x 1.26 in (250.00 x 220.00 x 32.20 mm)

Weight: 21.07 lbs max (9.56 kg)

Connections: 4 USB 3.0; Full-size SD card reader (SDXC compatible); Mini Displayport; 3.5mm headset jack; Compatible with Surface Dial onscreen interaction

Cameras: 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video

Audio: Dual microphones; Stereo 2.1 speakers with Dolby Audio Premium

Buttons: Volume and power

Surface Pen

Surface Keyboard

Surface Mouse

Power cord with grip-release cable

Security: TPM chip for enterprise security; Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in

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Microsoft Office 2016: Lots of upgrade questions and some answers

Microsoft began rolling out Office 2016 for Windows on September 22. Since then, there have been a lot of questions around timing and installation techniques from those attempting to move to the latest version of Microsoft’s Office suite.

Office 2016

It turns out that not everyone has been able to upgrade to the latest release this week, in spite of Microsoft declaring the suite generally available. Instead, as many have discovered, the Office 2016 rollout is a staggered one, and one which has resulted in some OneDrive, Skype for Business and other app and service installation and compatibility issues.

While Microsoft officials did say a week ago that the company would be moving to a servicing/branch model with Office 2016 similar to the one the Windows 10 team is using, details on exactly how that would play out for Office users were scarce. But thanks to Microsoft pages and KB articles — we now know more.

Office 2016

It turns out anyone in the Office 365 First Release program was able to get the latest Office 2016 apps for Windows as of this week. The same is true of those on the existing Office 365 Small Business Premium, Business and/or Business Premium — but only for those who are buying new subscriptions, according to the chart from a Microsoft community answers post, embedded above. Automatic updates to Office 2016 for those on these three plans won’t begin until the fourth quarter of 2016..

Just to add a little more complexity to this already complex set of rules, Microsoft is in the midst of replacing its Office 365 Small Business, Small Business Premium and Midsize Busines plans with three new ones. The three: Office 365 Business, Business Essentials and Business Premium. Microsoft has pushed the suggested migration date kick-off for these new plans back from October 1 to December 1, 2015, The reason for the date change: “The renewal experience will be best for users who have the latest version of Office,” meaning Office 2016.

Those with Office 365 ProPlus SKUs — meaning Office 365 Enterprise, Midsize and Education — are on the Current Branch for Business. This means these users cannot upgrade to the new Office 2016 for Windows bits right now unless the administrators change the update branch to be used by some/all of their users to Current Branch.

“For Office 365 ProPlus subscribers, administrators can opt to upgrade by manually rolling out to their users with Office deployment tools available today, September 22. Automatic updates for Office 365 ProPlus customers will begin early next year,” a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed when I asked.

Here are some more links that might help those interested in making the move to Office 2016:

Microsoft made the Office 2016 for Windows release available to MSDN subscribers on September 22. Volume licensees will have access to the new release via the Volume License Servicing Center (VLSC) as of October 1.

DreamSpark users got access to Office 2016 on September 22. Microsoft Action Pack and MPN subscribers will get access on October 1. And Home Use Rights for Office 2016 for Windows and Mac, both, will be available as of October 7, according to Microsoft.

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