What are the issues/peeves with Surface Go? Is this space (touch screen large form factor mobile computing devices) generally underwhelming or is this simply Apple doing UX RnD on my dime?
You get a very well built machine with the best aspect ratio (3:2), Win10 tablet mode is decent _and_ you can drop back to full Windows whenever you want. This is a double edged sword - if you get a good tablet interface for a program it's wonderful, but sometimes you're reduced to pecking at the screen for mouse targets in legacy Win32 apps (the pen or cover with trackpad is helpful here).
For me, the ability to run any software I want is worth the rough edges and inconsistency compared to an iPad. I have WSL for local dev with full Linux utilities, real Photoshop, alternate browsers, Steam games, etc. I can install whatever nifty little Windows utilities or tweaks I want, customize the machine exactly as I like it, and I feel like I have lot more ownership over the machine as a result. That flexibility definitely comes with a cost compared to the out-of-the-box experience with an iPad.
As for the Go itself, its a really cute little computer but somewhat underpowered compared to a Surface Pro or Surface Book. I know a couple of people using them as their main computers and the feedback is pretty positive, FWIW.
But that’s just actual pencil/stylus experience. Everything else is just a matter of taste and software availability.
* The base model has a woefully underpowered Pentium CPU
* The upgrade model has a more reasonable but still not great m3 that seems like it'd be a tad too underpowered for dev work, unfortunately - maybe this is my fault for being an IntelliJ user, though.
* The keyboard/trackpad cover is a separate purchase, and while it's not the eye-watering $350 that the newest iPad Pro keyboard/trackpad is, it's still an extra $100 or so.
* The keyboard/trackpad cover is a bit wobbly and too small to be comfortable for extended use.
The biggest issue is that the Go 2's upgrade version + keyboard cover is a total of around $720, which is the same cost as a lot of solid entry-level Windows laptops that have much more powerful processors.
Pricing is a constant problem with Surface hardware across the board, so this isn't that surprising, but was disappointing to me - the Pentium version sounds underpowered to the point of uselessness, but the upgrade variant is too expensive to justify as anything but my primary computer and far too underpowered for that.
Here's The Verge with more: https://www.theverge.com/21259805/microsoft-surface-go-2-rev...
That said I know there have already been some small sales during the Go 2 launch (e.g. Best Buy took $25 off the cover), so I'm kind of hopeful that within the next six months it'll somehow dip below $600 or so.