Work
The Surface that went on sale Oct. 26 comes with Windows RT, the slimmed-down version of Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows 8. While I understand the need for a slimmer OS to run on low-power chips that extend battery life, RT makes the device clearly not a PC.
Although the device has Microsoft's latest browser, Internet Explorer 10, third-party plug-ins that have helped power the Web for years don't work correctly. I couldn't get behind my company's firewall because a Juniper Networks plug-in couldn't be installed. IE 10 is meant to be plug-in free, but the Web hasn't caught up to it yet. Devices with the full version of Windows 8 won't have the same plug-in problem, Microsoft says. But a Surface with Windows 8 Pro isn't due out for a few months.
Surface gives you free copies of the Office programs Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, which is a big bonus. The RT versions of Office operate much like the full versions, but lack some meaningful conveniences such as the ability to email files as attachments with a couple of clicks. Microsoft says that's because Outlook isn't included in the package. Instead, Surface uses a program called Windows Mail, but it makes little sense to me why it can't be integrated with Office.
Still, in my testing I was able to save and access Word and OneNote documents on Microsoft's Internet-storage system, SkyDrive. As a result, I could access those files back on my office computer without the hassles of USB and other storage drives.
