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Comment by cezarywojcik | Hacker News Reader

I got a Surface Pro 3 almost exclusively for using OneNote on it. It's pretty great for that, but having Windows in the way was sometimes annoying. The Surface is capable of a lot more than I do with it, but I have my MacBook for everything that isn't handwriting. The iPad Pro is exactly what I wanted - a device for writing down notes, sketching designs, and doing so seamlessly without the "bloat" of a full OS in the way.

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Microsoft tried to make something for that market with their WinRT surface tablets, the market responded with chirping crickets.

True, but I think the problem was that the WinRT looked like ordinary Windows but couldn't run any of the applications that people put on them (x86 binaries). Plus, it was competing against another form of itself (the Pro) in a squashed market anyway (Android gazillion models + iPad), where people typically saw tablets as a consumption device (I could be wrong, but my dad still dislikes my mum's iPad and will go to his laptop to do anything any day).

So WinRT and SurfaceRT struggled. My sister bought one and liked it though.

X86 wasn't there then it is there now the non-Pro Surfaces don't run WindowsRT anymore and they are very cheap for what they offer and unless you actually run Photoshop then there's also very little reason to get the Pro these days.

I think this is the angle of attack that Apple is taking here. They want to catch up to the handwriting and sketching abilities of Surface, but they don't want a hybrid OS.

In a lot of ways the Surface is a laptop with a detachable keyboard and the OS and eco system is still based on that. Apple wants their eco system to develop from a clean touch OS base into productivity areas. Having said that, they are really lagging in this area and the momentum has shifted well away from iPads in the business world.

The Surface might beat the iPad pro, but I do wonder if the either will be the future of productivity compared with a laptop and a tablet.

> In a lot of ways the Surface is a laptop with a detachable keyboard

I picked one up on a curious whim, and often use this language to describe the Surface 3. It really does act like a laptop, all the way down to going to sleep while I'm playing music, and hibernating during periods of inactivity.

Out of interest, are Surfaces gaining in popularity in the business world?? I do not mix with sufficient business types (I associate with penny pinchers who scoff at buying cheap Windows laptops and gag when anything Apple comes along).

My brother-in-law will probably love this iPad Pro as he is a financial advisor and spends a lot of time getting quotes from websites, so he loves his iPad. He hates his MacBook Pro as he says "it keeps too many things open and doesn't shut them down properly" which is indicative of not understanding how apps close on OSX (or bothering to learn), and an interesting side-effect of the 'freeze-dried' app states on iOS for multitasking. I would have thought that OSX > iOS (I find using the iPad frustrating as it is like using a child's toy with no filesystem access) but for "real world" users it is obviously different. Enlightening to me anyway!

No filesystem access infuriates me.

Yes, Surfaces are especially popular for enterprises right now. I think most enterprises had started to embrace iPads because iPhones are the number one phone choice, but it's a pretty easy sell to get an enterprise back on Windows when they are so entrenched in the desktop.

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