Microsoft is the New Apple
A funny thing happened within the span of 24 hours:
Microsoft out “Apple’d” Apple.
For the first time in well, forever – I’m now seriously lusting after a Windows machine – namely the newly announced Microsoft Surface Studio.
The Surface Studio seems to be garnering favorable reviews – including one from a notable cartoonist who’s been in the comics-making game almost as long as I have. The Studio’s design seems elegant, beautiful and functional. Incidentally, the comparisons to the iMac seem ridiculous given what this device offers. This machine looks like the future, with its large interactive touch screen and the new Surface Dial (which offers direct control while you work).
The only sticking point for me is the price. The base Surface Studio model (1TB, i5, 8GB, dGPU) starts at $3000, which puts it a few hundred dollars above the top of the line Cintiq 27QHD. This is especially frustrating for me as I’m currently in the market for a new drawing device. I’m actually torn between the Cintiq 27 and the Surface Studio.
These days, I’m not as much of a died-in-the-wool Mac fan as I used to be. (I never thought I’d type those words.) Like others, I’m frustrated by Apple’s focus and obsession on tablets and phones at the expense of the Mac. Apple seems to have moved away from targeting professional designers with its Mac offerings. And the models that they do offer have limited options for expandability. Increasingly, it seems to me that Apple is more about novelty and beauty than it is about providing quality machines that can help people work more efficiently.
So, what keeps me on the Mac?
To be honest, it’s the outstanding quality of third party utilities (like Keyboard Maestro, Alfred, Divvy, and Fantastical). I was expecting more new hardware from today’s Apple keynote. I was disappointed with the announcement of the new MacBook Pro with its multi-touch strip. While macOS Sierra is stable (even on my custom-built Hackintosh), I don’t find any of the new features to be of any use to me. Furthermore, I have zero interest in using Apple’s iCloud to share my data, and could care less about wide-spread emoji support.
I’m not about to jump to Windows 10 yet. But as a creative professional, Microsoft is certainly swaying me. And I know I’m not alone.
-Krishna
Brian (Underfold Comics)
October 27, 2016 at 8:47 pmI’m not a Mac person, but I am liking that Microsoft’s hardware is coming into its own. I’ve worked with a Surface before and it’s pretty great. Haven’t gotten to use it for comics yet, but it’s a slick computer that is also a tablet.
graham
October 27, 2016 at 10:35 pmDivvy is on Windows, Fantastical seems like it’s selling feature is done by Cortana, and I’m sure there are alternatives to Alfred and Keyboard maestro that work well.
You’re already using a hackintosh. It might be worth it to try out Windows a little and see if you can set it up to your tastes. You should still be able to get a valid Windows 7 OEM license on Amazon for cheap then use the assistive devices loophole to get the free upgrade to Windows 10 – though you’re probably richer than me.
Krishna
October 27, 2016 at 10:42 pmThanks, Graham. I have Windows 10 on my Hackintosh. I’ll have to give it more of a fair shake to see what’s new out there in Windows land.
David Adams
October 28, 2016 at 11:34 amIt is beautiful, but I hate to drop that kind of money on an integrated device. When I spend a lot of money on a drawing tool, I expect it to last through a few computers… or at least a few graphic card iterations, and definitely a few hard drives as I burn through those things. I wish they sold the surface screen/hinge/etc with a copy of Windows 10 surface that you could then attach to the PC of your choice…
t3rminus
October 29, 2016 at 12:57 pmMicrosoft’s hardware is amazing. That’s an easy one.
Their software, on the other hand, still leaves a lot to be desired, as they are firmly stuck catering to corporate whims, and juggling ongoing security problems.
The reason I still can’t bring myself to get Microsoft hardware is Windows 10 is such a pain to use. It always seems to be installing an update, or asking for permission, or stealing your focus from the task at hand to do something else.
Microsoft needs to re-think the way Windows 10 handles tasks, and should consider whatever the user is currently working on as the most important. Full stop. Anything else — system services, updates, permissions requests, background dialogs — should all be secondary, and allow the user to deal with them in their own time.
This is the only thing keeping me on Apple products at the moment (and that isn’t much).
Yes, I could install Linux on Microsoft hardware, but then a lot of that really specialized hardware (like the surface dial) would have no support (and I hear the artist’s tools are still severely lacking compared to their Windows & Mac counterparts, so that’s even less an option for you).
At least, for now, Apple isn’t forcing you to use iCloud, or emoji, and the solid base is still there for professionals who want to work with their operating system, not against it.
Matt Strieby
October 31, 2016 at 11:52 amI have been a graphic designer and a Windows user for 16 years and I love the direction they are going with hardware. Seems like they are really thinking things through for a change and wooing design professionals away from Apple would be quite a coup. Not sure we’re there yet, but the fact that someone like Krishna is even entertaining switching to a Microsoft device is pretty telling. I do have to agree with David that it would be nice for a drawing device to last a couple of systems. So that’s why I’m looking into a Surface Pro. At 12.3″, it’s not nearly as large as a Cintiq, but I love the portability. I do a lot of my work at coffee shops, so It would be perfect. I still have my 19″ Yiynova tablet for big work.
As for Windows 10 being intrusive and annoying, a lot of notifications can be turned off in the Settings/Notifications & Actions menu. True, you can’t disable the OS update notifications, but you can defer the update time.