Abandoned Microsoft for Apple

[Nebor]

Is this supposed to cautionary? Revelatory?

Because I see no point. You're also comparing old hardware to new hardware. You were also using the old hardware in such a way to make yourself frustrated. "Have to" plug in keyboard for password? Ignoring the soft keyboard, the PIN and picture methods completely? Sounds legit.

There are some legitimate hardware issues in there, keyboard issues have been addressed since SP3. It also gets near iPad-like battery life and is magnitudes of order more powerful. Complaining about the Office subscription, but fine using tablet apps? If you don't need full office, use office online or any of the other myriad other suites.

All this thread says to me is that you had been wanting the switch for a while and had just been looking for excuses.

I'm glad you're happier. But this story is pointless.

I don't think you understand what I was saying about the keyboard for the password. Try reading it over again. The keyboard will fail to function but simultaneously disable the soft keyboard. I have no idea what the PIN and picture methods are. I know you can't log in to an SP3 by touching a button with your thumb though.

I hadn't been wanting to switch at all. I've been a stalwart Microsoft supporter for years, enduring Windows Phone ridicule frequently from friends and strangers alike. The Wifi in my hotel caused my wireless adapter on the SP1 to repeatedly disappear, requiring a restart. I'd had that behavior before at home, but it was only once a day instead of every 15 minutes. I needed a new tablet ASAP, and considering I only use my tablet for web browsing, email and ebooks, the need for a full windows OS just wasn't there, so I bought a $500 ipad instead of a $1500 SP3.

 

[Nebor]

You will find that there are just as many quirks when it comes to apple products as ms.

Each ecosystem has things it does better than the others and worse.

You can't buy ebooks from the Kindle App or Amazon App. You can only add them to your wish list. Then you have to go to the Amazon webpage in Safari to make your purchase, which automatically delivers your ebook to the Kindle App. Seems like a weird unnecessary step, but I'm guessing it's because apple wants to push iBook over Kindle?

 

[ControlD]

You can't buy ebooks from the Kindle App or Amazon App. You can only add them to your wish list. Then you have to go to the Amazon webpage in Safari to make your purchase, which automatically delivers your ebook to the Kindle App. Seems like a weird unnecessary step, but I'm guessing it's because apple wants to push iBook over Kindle?

Yeah, that was a big deal when Apple made all of the third party content providers remove in-app purchasing. Back in the day you could buy books right from the app, but that got removed quite some time ago.

 

[Ns1]

i love my SP1 but I agree with you that the wifi is horrible.


No need to be all or nothing IMO, I happily own products from both camps.

 

[TheStu]

Yeah, that was a big deal when Apple made all of the third party content providers remove in-app purchasing. Back in the day you could buy books right from the app, but that got removed quite some time ago.

IIRC, it wasn't that they said that you couldn't have in-app purchases (maybe that was their position briefly?), but rather that if you were going to have them, Apple was going to get their 30% cut.

 

[ControlD]

IIRC, it wasn't that they said that you couldn't have in-app purchases (maybe that was their position briefly?), but rather that if you were going to have them, Apple was going to get their 30% cut.

Ohh .. right. Yep, that was it. I forgot about the 30% thing. Man, I remember some epic trash talk between the Amazon and Apple fans back when all that stuff was going down, just couldn't remember all the details.

 

[TheStu]

Ohh .. right. Yep, that was it. I forgot about the 30% thing. Man, I remember some epic trash talk between the Amazon and Apple fans back when all that stuff was going down, just couldn't remember all the details.

I'm sure that if Amazon thought they were leaving a ton of money on the table by NOT allowing in-app purchasing of books/movies/etc. they'd enable it. But Amazon seems to be about controlling their own stack (not unlike Apple), it's just that in my opinion, Apple does it better, and has taste.

 

[midwestfisherman]

iPad 2 FTW!

 

[MrSquished]

it's probably better to get into the google ecosystem because this way whether you migrate to android, apple or microsoft down the road again, everything comes with you.

 

[quikah]

it's probably better to get into the google ecosystem because this way whether you migrate to android, apple or microsoft down the road again, everything comes with you.

Google doesn't support windows phone at all, so best to stick with MS is you are planning or want the option to switch again. MS supports all 3, it is the best option for a universal service.

 

[Crono]

Google doesn't support windows phone at all, so best to stick with MS is you are planning or want the option to switch again. MS supports all 3, it is the best option for a universal service.

Yup. The new Microsoft is the most agnostic of any of the big hardware/software companies. Even to the point where some loyal WP/Surface users wonder why sometimes the other platforms get updates or new versions of apps first.

 

[Deeko]

I'm still happy enough with my Surface Pro 2, although I'll never buy a full size dedicated tablet, so something like the iPad isn't really an option. I have a smaller Nexus 7 for basic consumption, otherwise, the Surface does what I need - I do primarily use it as a laptop, but I do often enough pop off the keyboard and just use it for browsing. it's a little clumsy at that, true, but the flip side (using it as a laptop) is a far superior solution than what Apple or Google offers. I haven't seen Visual Studio running very effectively on an iPad just yet. If anything, I'd go the other way, and make my next device more of a true convertible, like the Yoga 3 pro.

I don't know why some of you are so shocked when Microsoft releases something first / better on another platform. In the end they are a large software company, not just a platform. If there is an order of magnitude more iPhone and Android users than Windows Phone users, of course it's in the best interests of, say, the Xbox team, to spend more time on Smartglass on those platforms.

 

[Commodus]

I don't know why some of you are so shocked when Microsoft releases something first / better on another platform. In the end they are a large software company, not just a platform. If there is an order of magnitude more iPhone and Android users than Windows Phone users, of course it's in the best interests of, say, the Xbox team, to spend more time on Smartglass on those platforms.

It's because of the culture that Ballmer fostered at Microsoft. It spent so long protecting the Windows platform at all costs (ruining the Kin to make it run Windows, insisting on Windows-only software nearly all of the time) that many are still getting used to a company that offers programs on the platforms people actually use. It's going to be a while before this more realistic Microsoft sinks in.

 

[Nebor]

I guess I just don't see the purpose of them giving away all their software for free on competing platforms. How do they monetize that?

 

[Artdeco]

I guess I just don't see the purpose of them giving away all their software for free on competing platforms. How do they monetize that?

They're trying to sucker people in to the subscription of Office

 

[Commodus]

I guess I just don't see the purpose of them giving away all their software for free on competing platforms. How do they monetize that?

A few things.

First, as was hinted: Office is a big deal. Ultimately, Microsoft wants serious users to pay for Office 365 subscriptions. Also, the software isn't free on PC-class devices (laptops and desktops with screens 10 inches and up), so you'll still have to pay up at work.

There are similar strategies elsewhere. Windows 10 may be a free upgrade if you're using 7 or 8, but it'll still cost PC vendors to preload it... and of course, it'll cost you if you're late to the party. OneDrive? It's free, but Microsoft knows that serious users can and will pay for more.

And I think Microsoft is up front in admitting that it's striving to reclaim mindshare. More than anything, the company is afraid of a world where the Microsoft brand no longer matters -- where you're writing in Google Docs on your iPad and wondering why anyone would pay for software from the stuffy folks in Redmond. It's better to be where the people are and remind them that Microsoft is still big than hope they'll come crawling back on their own... they won't.

 

[Commodus]

To add to this, here's a good (if not perfect) explanation of why Microsoft is doing what it is now.

http://www.economist.com/news/busin...determined-prove-life-begins-again-40-opening

Gates established a Microsoft strategy centered around worshipping at the Windows altar: any project that threatened to undermine Windows, no matter how innovative, had to be killed immediately. He didn't really have to worry about the consequences of this strategy during his CEO tenure, because the market was still centered heavily around conventional PCs and offline apps, where Windows was already leading.

Ballmer didn't have that excuse -- he consciously embraced this strategy at the very moment technology was upending Microsoft's business. The company culture didn't allow a truly mobile-friendly OS, because that would involve making Not Windows (not as Microsoft knew it, anyway); it had to be coerced into making MP3 players and consoles, because those didn't directly fuel Windows. And of course, this meant never, ever giving other platforms more than token support. Ballmer willingly handed the future to Apple (and eventually, Google) because he was more obsessed with protecting the cash cow than making the best products possible. Nadella knows that Windows is important to the company, but he's the first Microsoft CEO to know that it doesn't have to define the company for all eternity.

 

[lupi]

You had all those microsoft subscriptions, sounds like you are a ready made apple user.

 

[Oyeve]

You had all those microsoft subscriptions, sounds like you are a ready made apple user.

Hehe, he do dont he?

I personally would rather pay a subscription fee and use a non-apple device than use an MS office product on a mac.

 

[Nebor]

You had all those microsoft subscriptions, sounds like you are a ready made apple user.

I don't get it. Apple hardly seems to offer any subscriptions. I got the match service with commercial free itunes radio for $25 a year. And Amazon Prime Music is fairly impressive with my existing Amazon Prime subscription, letting me download tons of premade playlists to the phone. I'm wondering if I should pay the $10 a month for beats radio so I can download a larger library to my phone, or if there's something better.

 

[Ns1]

I don't get it. Apple hardly seems to offer any subscriptions. I got the match service with commercial free itunes radio for $25 a year. And Amazon Prime Music is fairly impressive with my existing Amazon Prime subscription, letting me download tons of premade playlists to the phone. I'm wondering if I should pay the $10 a month for beats radio so I can download a larger library to my phone, or if there's something better.

As a current beats subscriber, you should wait for the relaunch or get spotify. I don't think I've gotten a single beats music update and I'm a day 1 subscriber, whereas everytime I look at the spotify app it seems to iterate.

 

[Nebor]

As a current beats subscriber, you should wait for the relaunch or get spotify. I don't think I've gotten a single beats music update and I'm a day 1 subscriber, whereas everytime I look at the spotify app it seems to iterate.

Not being sarcastic, I would never pay for a service that didn't include Taylor Swift.

 

[Ns1]

Not being sarcastic, I would never pay for a service that didn't include Taylor Swift.

Beats has her albums up to 2012. Many new artists choose to keep their newest album off beats, including Taylor Swift/Black Keys/Bruno Mars.

 

[Harry_Wild]

So 3 days later I went and grabbed an iPhone 6 64gb for $800 at AT&T. /rant

You should of purchased the iPhone 6 through the Apple Store or Apple online and get the "Unlocked" GSM version/model that has about 1/3 more radios included in this model and is already "unlocked" too. The AT&T and T-Mobile are more limited iPhone 6 models.

It will be worth 25% more when go and resell it too! Plus, if you travel abroad especially in EU; it will work will almost all the EU carriers and many of the Far East carriers too!