Surface RT Annoyances

I've had my Surface RT for a little over a week now. While I have generally been impressed with the device, enough to take it solo on a business trip, I have also discovered a few rough edges. Nothing that I would consider a fatal flaw, but things that bug me nonetheless.
  1. Inserting a flash drive does not pop-up a message or take me to the desktop automatically. While the system acknowledges the drive with a USB device attached sound, I am used to Windows either taking me to the drive window or popping up a "what do you want to do" window. Unless I am already at the desktop, I need to switch to see the device activities. Of course you don't need to go to the desktop in order to use a device - if you are using the Photos app and insert a USB drive with photos, it can be accessed without going to the desktop first.
  2. Some games act up when playing offline. This is not a Microsoft issue per se - it really depends on the particular game. Actually, most MS games worked fine offline, but their startup process was a little slower while the game checked for a connection to XBox Live. One game, Taptiles, worked OK offline until I completed an achievement - then it froze up while trying to save the achievement offline. Another game would download new levels as you access them, rather than have them included in the game, so I could only play levels that I had used prior to going offline.
  3. The interface has occasionally stopped working, requiring a reboot. There have been a few times where the interface, or aspects of it, have stopped working the way they should. In some cases, swipes from the sides don't work as expected... they are either ignored or don't complete. In one case, touch just stopped working for my login and I had to ctrl-alt-del and sign out to reboot. This has only happened a couple of times, and I don't think it is the OS per se - rather it seems like an app goes wonky and messes it up.
  4. When Modern apps crash they just drop you to the startscreen. I have the same issue with iPad... when an app crashes, I don't just want to be dumped back to the start screen, I would rather the system tell me that something has happened. At least my Android phone will tell me that an app has stopped responding and needs to close - why can't my tablets do the same?
  5. No battery monitor with percentage unless you go to the desktop. I don't mind that the Modern UI lacks a status bar - bringing up the Charms menu also shows a status window with the time, wireless strength, and a battery indicator - but it would be nice of said indicator would show the percentage left in the battery when it appears. Currently, I need to go to the desktop if I want to see the actual percent of battery left.
  6. Windows Desktop is not touch optimized. By that I mean that while touch works for all functions, many elements are too small for my fingers to accurately hit, and the desktop doesn't zoom like a metro app. When I try to pinch-zoom on the desktop, it invokes the active window's zoom - so a Word document zooms in, or the icon sizes in an explorer window switch from "details" to "list". It would be nice if a pinch-zoom would magnify the desktop so I could tap on options easier. This isn't too big of an issue for me since I have a touch cover and can use the touchpad to navigate, but it makes me feel that the touch cover (or type cover) is a necessary accessory. Interestingly, Office apps have an option - space commands for touch - that makes them work well for touch. This should be someting they add to the OS.
  7. There doesn't seem to be a way to change the zoom in the video app. I used Nero Recode to make a bunch of DVDs into MP4s so I could watch them on the plane. One of the movies was what I call "old school" widescreen - rather than being anamorphic, it was letterboxed in the DVD. When I watched it, I tried to figure out how I could get the video app to zoom in, like I do on my PC or TV for similar videos, but I could not find an option. If it exists, it is not easy to find. If I am just an idiot who has missed the obvious, please let me know in the comments...and tell me what to do.
  8. Send Document to E-mail Recipient is not an option in Office 2013 RT. This is due to the fact that Office programs need a MAPI client (i.e. Outlook) in order to send documents from within the program. It is also something that I use a lot at the office and miss on the Surface. Right now, I have to either save the document to my SkyDrive and share it that way, or save it to the Surface and attach it to a message manually. It would be nice if they figure out a way to have the Office program save the file and then attach it to a message in the e-mail app in future releases of Office 2013 RT.
  9. Sometimes I need to zoom in on a Web page to tap a link. I don't mean to tap the right link, as sometimes happens to me on the iPad, I mean that the tap doesn't seem to register on a link when  I am at 100% zoom. My guess is that my touch is too wide so IE 10 doesn't want to register a false click, but it's weird. This doesn't happen too often, so it isn't that big of an issue.
That's about it for now... a few annoyances but nothing that makes me regret taking it along as my only computing device on my trip. I hope Microsoft updates some of these at some point - number 8 especially. I'll update the post if I find work-arounds, solutions, or just how to do something that I can't figure out yet.
 

Comments

  1. Since you are an early adopter and are especially interested in new user interfaces for general computing and gaming I thought I'd mention a new product that is supposed to be generally available early 2013 (SDK's are shipping now): Leap Motion is a virtual touch screen interface that could bridge mouse/keyboard bound personal PC's by making them touch/glide compatible.

    This Web Link: http://leapmotion.com - describes a device that connects by USB port to any Windows PC and which runs software that converts finger and hand motions in an 8-cubic foot space over the device into 2-D and 3-D motion equivalents on your PC's display.

    It sounds like a device similar in intent to the MS Connect gaming device. The inventors however claim an order of magnitude or more sensitivity. It will retail for around $70.

    This will be an interface evolution enabler if it works and if it catches on with the public at large.

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    Replies
    1. I would be very interested in seeing this. Especially since, if they do it right, it will eliminate the need for an expensive touchscreen monitor for desktops... $70 is a lot better than $350 or more.

      I have a Kinect sensor and it is a very impressive control for a gaming system - some games implement it better than others, but when it works well, it makes me think that the "Minority Report" computer systems are closer than we think.

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