How would you improve the Surface?

[Billscarnage]

So I've had the Surface since launch as have many of you and I've read hundreds of reviews on the device. I've had a number of co-workers and friends ask what I think about it. The response is that it excels in some areas and falters in others, but then again so does every tablet. I ask them, "What do you want to do with a tablet?" In some cases an ipad might be better and others the Surface might be better, or a Droid.

That being said, there are a number of things (hardware and software) that MS could and should have done a much better job with since the tablet market has a two year head start.

First up, hardware... Quite frankly the camera and speakers blow.

Camera (720p vid and 1mp still) - Seriously MS?? With all of the competing hardware out there this is the best you can do?? It's an embarrassment to have this hardware in today's market. I realize this tablet is intended more for video than stills, but come on.
Surface 2.0 Camera - 720p w/ 60hrz for video. Still Camera is a minimum 5mp rear, 2mp front. It should be more like 8mp rear though.

Speakers - Face it, any type of audio with depth sucks ass. I ran the same audio clip from skydrive on the Surface and ipad2 with volume maxed at 100% at the same time. When I paused the Surface track I barely even noticed it was stopped because the ipad audio was so dominating.
Surface 2.0 speakers - Find the supplier of ipad speakers and buy those. Probably cheaper than trying go make your own :-)

Volume rocker - Dunno about anyone else, but when I hold it in landscape mode I always bump the rocker.
Surface 2.0 volume rocker - I don't know, maybe put it along the top corner (left of the camera)?

Windows button - This is just me, but I'd have preferred an actual button w/o the slanted logo. As another review mentioned, it seems awkward in portrait mode. Also, when the screen shuts off I try to use this to wake it up and it only works probably 50% of the time.
Surface 2.0 - This is a physical button with 4 squared MS logo. And MS if you really want to take it up a notch, make it glow and/or have the ability for it to change colors, and give the user the option to change the color if they want or cycle through a series of colors. It might seem silly, but to the general user it would be a "wow, cool" factor.

Screen ratio - Again, just my .02, but I'd have preferred 16x10. Not all movies are 16x9, so claiming one can watch a movie w/o bars is not entirely accurate. Additionally, 16x10 would provide a better portrait viewing experience and be more magazine-esqe. I'd also drop a 1/2 inch from the width (landscape mode) and add a 1/2 inch to height.
Surface 2.0 - 16x10 ratio and drop a half inch from the overall width of the device and add it to the height.

Ambient light sensor - Ugh, get rid of it. It serves no valuable purpose and I get the random screen flickering. It's just as easy to access the charms bar to change brightness and one less piece of hardware for battery drain.
Surface 2.0 - no ambient light sensor.

GPS - Give Surface GPS. 3G or LTE is a separate monster, but GPS should have been available.

MicroSD - Just make it work and read files like it should. Don't make users jump through hoops to have the files added to the libraries.

On to software..

Windows RT - Oh, where to begin... MS, you really screwed this one up. Create a mobile os and come up with a catchy or clever name for it. I've talked to numerous people about this one and the result is the same, "What is RT??" I've thought about this one a lot and think Vista would have been a cool name for the mobile OS, but it's been used an abused. Windows Phone 8 is the same way; come up with a mobile os name/brand. Don't be afraid to not use "Windows" in the name either. Heck, pay a license fee to the German retailer you were so scared of and use Metro for the os name. Or just get creative.
As for the actual OS, remove the desktop and Metro-ize all traditional apps. The "Start" screen is the os/ux and leave it at that. If the traditional app can't be Metro-ized then get rid of it. Why must I go into the control panel to change the user acct type??? Doing all of this should free up some storage space too.
Surface 2.0 - no more desktop

IE10 - Nice try, but frankly it has render issues and is laggy. I can't even access my work email via the webmail exchange server, go figure. Also, swiping left/right to navigate pages is a great idea, but the fact that it takes several seconds of waiting while the page reloads (greys out) is quite frustrating and makes for a lousy ux. Don't reload the page, just go back.
Give users the option to white-list sites for Flash. Don't be such an Apple in this instance.

Split screen - Major kudos here, but why not take it a step further and allow for 3 split screens?? How cool would it be to have email on one small screen, music on another, and say editing a PPT on the main/large area??
Surface 2.0 - option for a 3rd split screen.

One last thing, take a tip from Apple and include a logo sticker with any product (yours or oems). It's free advertising. Do you know how many cars I see driving around w/ Apple stickers?? Geez...


That's my .02, so what are yours??

[Joe F.]

AWESOME post! I will add my $.02 once I get my Surface.

[Billscarnage]

Here are some things that I've noticed over the time I've had it.

I originally purchased two, 64gb w/ touch and 32gb plain. Amazingly the experience has been somewhat different between using the two.

The screen quality/color is different between the two. When set side by side, the 64gb has a slightly warmer, or subtle yellowish tint. Where as the 32gb seems to have a more vibrant or cooler screen. Side by side, the 32gb seems to have the better screen.

There have been some kind of update along the line that allows 3rd party hardware apps to be installed - specifically for printers. I did a complete refresh of the 32gb and once everything was set there was a Canon app installed for the printer. I had to manually install it on the 64gb. It gets better. With this app, only the 32gb sees the printer whereas the 64gb spits out connection errors. Yet, I can still print from both slates. Go figure.

The 32gb has noticeable lag - the tiles take a moment to load - when scrolling fast through the store. Hardly any such lag on the 64gb.

Wifi is fairly stable on both, but the 64gb seems to lose connection more often.

The Windows button only works about 50% of the time on the 64gb when trying turn the screen on or taking a screen capture. Have had hardly any problems w/ the 32gb.

MS still has their work cut out for them to make the UX better overall.

[Ashley K.]

I feel like the whole launch of the Surface was a bit ham-handed because most people who want one seem to be holding out for the Surface Pro, which is basically a laptop replacement in the form of a tablet. The real deciding factor for that will be whether or not it has outstanding battery life, though.

[Billscarnage]

The pro version will have battery life similar to an ultrabook. Probably ~6hrs. I've never been a fan of ultrabooks since for me the form factor is just too small for anything outside of Office for the most part. It's great the pro will run x86 apps, but enjoy using the Adobe CS on such a small screen or any other desktop app for that matter.

Anything I could want to do while mobile the ARM Surface can do.