Back in 2016, I was all aboard the Microsoft train. Windows 10 had come out and was (mostly) an improvement on Windows 8, the Surface line was becoming more mainstream, and even Windows Phone was still something Microsoft cared about. In addition, the HoloLens was announced and released, getting everyone excited about the future of computing.
The excitement around Microsoft was palpable. Driven mostly by Windows Insiders who, for the first time, actually felt that the software giant was listening to them.
And the crowning jewel in Microsoft’s cap (in my opinion) was the marriage between Surface, Windows Ink and OneNote. Being a massive OneNote fan already, the Surface was something I dreamed about. A device that could become, not only my mobile notepad, but my daily tablet too.
Because of my use case, I was happy to keep my Surface Pro 4 in tablet mode forever. In fact, I installed Windows 10 S on it by choice. Which locked me to apps from the Windows Store. But as is the nature of these things, Microsoft was moving more and more towards the traditional desktop and away from touch first. Windows 10 Tablet Mode had no meaningful updates for its entire life, while Windows got updated with less touch-friendly controls.
This has culminated in Windows 11. Everything touch-first is gone and in its place, we have a very Apple-Mac-ified interface. Now don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great, if a little limiting. There is just one thing I have been painfully aware of while running it – Windows 11 is not made for touch first. In fact, I’d argue, Windows 11 is not made for touch at all. Do you want to know what makes me think this? Swipe down to close is gone. In Windows 10 you could take an app, and swipe to the bottom of your screen to close it. In Windows 11, that same gesture moves the app to behind your taskbar…
To add to this, I believe Windows 11 is not ready to be released. It has too many inconsistencies – from interfaces that first showed up in Windows 95, to not rendering the rounded corners of the taskbar properly, to even having the lock screen bug out when rotating the device. From what I have seen, Windows 11 is not fixing Windows 10, but only adding more problems. I understand Microsoft wanted this to be Windows 10X (which was discontinued with the pandemic-induced lockdowns), but slapping it on top of Windows 10 is not the direction I would have taken. I could go on, but by now I think you get the gist. Honestly, I think Windows 11 is not ready for prime time and certainly not ready for tablets.
And so, with Windows 11, my dream of a Windows Tablet appears to be dead. I will run Windows 11 on my desktop PC, my laptops and even my servers in the form of Windows Server 20-something. But as for tablets and touch-first… It’s clear to me that it’s time to move on. Touch-first is now touch-enabled. No longer is touch a primary method for interfacing in Windows 11, it’s been actively made worse.
Which brings me to the whole point of this post. I have been using my Surface Pro 4 for over 5 years now. In that time, it has been my digital notebook, my e-reader, my mobile web browser, my Windows Insider tester and so much more. When I have gone away on holiday, it’s come with me so I can take notes, write up potential blog posts, and surf the web. I’ve taken countless notes, done countless doodles and watched countless hours of YouTube on it. Now, it’s time has come.
I’ll be retiring my Surface and moving to an iPad. At this stage, I am unsure which iPad exactly. I like the iPad Pro because of the large screen and the M1 chip. That is definitely something I want to show my support for. It also helps that M1 is currently the best chip in this market. But I also like the iPad Mini. It’s small enough to just pick up and go anywhere. With the Apple Pencil on both, they’ll both be great OneNote machines. The Mini will be an excellent e-reader, but the Pro would be better for comics. And the Pro could even be my new blogging machine with the keyboard support. But the Mini is cheaper and easier to wander around with…
I have a lot to think about at this stage. And I want to be able to physically hold both the Mini and the Pro before I make my final choice. At this stage, I am trying to figure out if the iPad Pro could even become my laptop and daily desktop replacement. There are options to make that happen, but most may seem like compromises. And, after all, I am looking for tablet replacement, not a computer. With all the updates coming to iPadOS, it seems Apple is adding more and computer-like stuff, but at the core, it remains tablet first. Something I wish the Surface line had an option of doing.
For a while, using my Surface has felt like fighting uphill just to keep using it as a tablet. So why fight? Use the tool that best for the job. Unfortunately for what I want to do, the Surface is just not it.
Maybe Windows 12 will fix it.
