Think of Microsoft some ten years or so ago and your mind’s eye will picture a software giant chugging along with its globe conquering Windows operating system and almost ubiquitous Office productivity suite.
But times have changed and the Redmond giant is increasingly being challenged by competition on the software front form the likes of Apple with macOS and even Google with its ChromeOS.
And then there’s the mobile world where operating systems on smartphones are very capable platforms with access to all manner of productivity tools; iOS 11 on the new iPad Pro is aiming squarely at the working world with features normally seen on Mac laptops and desktops.
As such, Microsoft has had to react, pushing Office into the cloud and adding a bevvy of features from smart tools like Delve to virtual assistant integration with Cortana.
With its expanded Surface range, Microsoft looks to be making a big play to make Windows devices more diverse and exciting again in the face of slick designed laptops and desktops from Apple.
For London Tech Week, Microsoft invited Silicon to take a closer look at its Surface portfolio, including the recently announced Surface Laptop and the refreshed fifth-generation Surface hybrid, simply dubbed the Surface Pro.
The Surface range now consists of four halo devices; the Surface Pro, Surface Book, Surface Laptop, and the Surface Studio.
The new Surface Pro is also lighter than its predecessor and has minor external tweaks such as smaller vents on the top of the tablet, as well as a new hinge to allow for the tablet to be laid nearly flat when used with its keyboard accessory.
However, we were a little disappointed that Microsoft when with GPUs based on Nvidia’s Maxwell architecture rather than its latest more powerful Pascal GPUs, which can offer near-desktop level performance in chips suitable for laptops.
The Surface Laptop looks to upset that trend; announced back in May, the laptop has a slim wedge-like design, a vibrant, high-resolution display, clever cooling, and a keyboard decked out in alcantara micro-fibre material.
With a slimmed-down operating system in the form of Windows 10 S, there is an argument that the Surface Laptop is hobbled a bit with a limited OS.
People wanting the full-fat Windows 10 experience can upgrade to the OS for £50.
The Surface Laptop is arguably one of the best Windows devices avaiable and more than challenges the MacBook Air for the corwn of quality ultraportable laptops.
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