<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Surface 2 Review\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMicrosoft Surface 2 Box\nThe clean design starts with the box.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSurface 2 Unboxing\nThe box doesn't contain much besides the tablet.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSurface 2 in the Box\nUnder the tablet you'll find the power cable, instructions and coupons for SkyDrive storage and Skype Unlimited.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSurface 2 Power\nThis is the Surface 2's power cable and wall-wort. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMicrosoft Surface 2 Front\nMicrosoft Surface 2's face has a logo that double's as home button and a 3 MP front-facing camera.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMicrosoft Surface 2 Box\nThe packaging for the Surface 2 and the Touch Cover 2 is the picture of simplicity.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMicrosoft Surface 2\nMicrosoft Surface 2 on top of its box.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSurface 2 Side Edge\nThis edge has the volume control, audio out and speaker.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSurface 2 Other Side\nThe opposite edge includes the magnetic charging port, mini-display port, USB port and speaker.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSurface 2 and Touch Cover 2 Side View\nAnother look at how the two components look together.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMicrosoft Surface 2 Side View\nHere's a look a the Microsoft Surface 2's famous kick stand.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMicrosoft Surface 2 Kickstand\nMicrosoft Surface 2's kickstand has two settings.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMicrosoft Surface 2 Rear View\nMicrosoft Surface 2 rear view give you a good look at the stand, 5 MP camera and microphones.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSurface 2 with Touch Cover 2\nThe Touch Cover 2, which comes in a variety of colors, looks quite sharp with the  Surface 2.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMicrosoft Surface Touch Cover 2\nThe best part of this re-engineered, ultra-flat cover and keyboard is that it now has back lighting.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTouch Cover 2\nA better look at the Touch Cover 2, which snaps smartly into the Surface 2.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTouch Cover 2 is Thin\nIt's just a few millimeters thick, but very, very strong.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTouch Cover 2 Backlighting\nIt's quite bright.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Surface 2 is an attractive, solid, highly usable mobile device that remains, unfortunately, caught between two worlds. And that\u2019s not a place you want to put tablet consumers.      Arriving roughly a year after Microsoft\u2019s first major foray into the consumer tablet market, the Surface 2 delivers on most of its promises. It's marginally lighter and thinner than the original. It\u2019s faster, though it\u2019s hard to see that in action unless you play, say, a graphically intense game. It\u2019s got great battery life and has a brilliantly sharp screen with some of the lowest reflectance I\u2019ve seen on a tablet since the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7.      So why don\u2019t I love it?   \nIt took me a while to realize this, but the pass I gave them last year for keeping a traditional Windows desktop environment and even a second instance of Internet Explorer, just doesn\u2019t hold up for a second-generation product. I want Microsoft to figure this stuff out. In fact, I demand that they make the Surface 2 (not the Surface Pro that runs Intel, but the device running on an ARM Nvidia Tegra 4 processor) a consistently Windows Design (Metro) experience. I don\u2019t care if I am running the awesome Office 2013 suite on it \u2014 make that suite a part of the Windows Design experience.      I hate the jumpy feeling I get when I shift from Metro to the old-school Windows Desktop. On a traditional laptop, I can deal with the dissonance. In fact, I spend most of my time in desktop mode on my Windows 8 Acer laptop. On a tablet, make it a tablet experience. Oh, and stop calling my tablet a PC. It\u2019s a tablet! Embrace that fact, Microsoft.      \nHardware\n\nOkay, before I let a rant consume this review, let\u2019s back up a bit and talk about what we have here. The 1.5-pound, magnesium-bodied Surface 2 truly stands out among a field of, often, plastic or polycarbonate-bodied competitors. Where Apple has chosen aluminum for its iPad full and mini, Microsoft opted for magnesium. It feels cool and smooth to the touch, though there\u2019s enough texture for it to never feel slippery. The new generation even comes in something approaching white (though it\u2019s actually silver). It\u2019s a decent look.   The Surface 2 (like the Surface RT and Surface Pro) is an unusual size and shape for a tablet. It\u2019s 6.79 inches deep, 0.35 inches thick and nearly 11 inches wide. Why so wide? To help accommodate the full-sized keyboard Touch Cover 2 and Type Cover 2. My test unit came with the former. Just as in the commercials it snaps smartly into a channel along one edge of the Surface. Now, however, it features backlit keys \u2014 a real godsend for anyone working in a dark environment. The new Type Cover 2 gets a backlight, too.       Personally, I prefer the physical keys of the Type Cover 2 over the printed keys of the Touch Cover 2, but Microsoft has done some neat engineering tricks on the super-thin keyboard so that it\u2019s faster and far more accurate. My tests bore this out.      The Surface body is also unusual in the tablet space because it features a built-in kickstand. Surface 2 gets a second kick setting, something I appreciated as I worked with the it on my lap in a variety of settings: sometimes the more upright setting worked better and for others, the more laid-back one was just right. The second lower setting is also a lot more useful for counter viewing \u2014 if you're standing up.\n   While Microsoft moved some stuff around, like the position of the microSD slot for storage expansion, they didn\u2019t change much else about the Surface design. It still has a full-sized USB slot (great if you want to plug in a wireless USB mouse and have it simply work \u2014 a favorite feature of mine), an audio port, a Mini Display power (now version 1.2) and stereo speakers, which Microsoft updated \u2014 they're significantly larger \u2014 for improved sound quality. I found the audio sharp, clear and loud enough, though it can\u2019t fill a room.      Microsoft also upgraded the cameras. There\u2019s a 3.5-megapixel camera on the front and a 5MP camera on the back. Their low-light performance is as good as advertised and even the color verity is strong. The camera software includes an onscreen exposure control, though I do wish it had a button to snap it back to the pre-set level. Also, I would be somewhat less inclined to shoot photos or video with the Surface 2, as it\u2019s wider than any other consumer tablet on the market. Seriously, people already look silly enough taking pictures with their iPad. The Surface moves your two hands even further apart.      The 10.6-inch screen is now full 1080p resolution (1,920 x 1,080). Photos, video and the Windows Design interface look great. Some of the Window Desktop elements look a bit tiny, though. Also, the 1.7GHz Tegra 4 CPU is paired with a healthy 2GB of RAM. That's a lot of horsepower for a tablet and it shows in the performance. The model I tested came with 32GB of storage and I could add another 64GB in the micro SD slot. You get all this, not including the Touch Cover 2 ($129), for $449. The 64GB model will run you $549.       \nGetting Started\n \nOne of the things Microsoft gets right is the Surface 2 setup routine. It\u2019s easy, inviting and hard to mess up.  Even though I cringe when Microsoft calls the surface \u201Cyour PC,\u201D I still appreciate how simple it is to get started, especially if you already have a Microsoft account (Outlook or Hotmail).       The tablet now defaults to storing your files on SkyDrive. Like any cloud-based storage schemes, all you have to do is log in to access your files \u2014 anywhere. If you have multiple Windows 8 devices \u2014 as I do \u2014 it\u2019s even simpler. The system knows you, your preferences and where to find your files. This is similar to what Google does with your Google accounts across its myriad products and services. For the record, I\u2019ve grown to love the cloud.       Surface also comes loaded with a lot of stuff that would normally cost you hundreds of dollars. There\u2019s a full Microsoft Office 2013 suite of productivity tools. They work great, even if they are all in Desktop Land. You also get 200 GB of free SkyDrive storage for two years. (You do have to enter a code that comes on a small slip of paper in the minimalist Surface 2 packaging.)      Microsoft also throws in a Skype \u201CUnlimited World\u201D package, which means you can use Skype to call friends and family on any phone or landline in the world for one year. Nifty, though, not super exciting if you don\u2019t make a lot of international calls.      Setting up multiple email accounts is a snap and the Windows Design version of Internet Explorer is solid and clearly designed for the Surface environment. As with most other native Surface apps, you swipe up from just outside the bottom or top of the screen to access to access the URL bar (a tap on that brings up frequently visited sites) and open tabs. I do, however, prefer Apple iOS 7's new Safari tab views on the iPad.      As noted earlier, there's another Internet Explorer in the Windows Desktop environment. I only use this when a site isn\u2019t working in Windows Design's Internet Explorer or if I wanted to use an integrated extension like LastPass password manager. There is a Windows 8 LastPass app. It's kind of terrible. Usually I just end up logging into LastPass through the Windows Design IE \u2014 that's works pretty well.      \nInterface\n   \nMicrosoft\u2019s Windows Design screen, which is essentially like the \u201CStart\u201D button turned inside out, is inviting patchwork of colorful squares and rectangles. These boxes or \u201Ctiles\u201D represent apps and environments like Desktop. Some of them are \"Live Tiles\" that tell you what's going on in your email inbox, calendar, and people connected to you via your favorite social networks. Instead of filling the screen, they sit along a movable center rail, leaving lots of space above and below. Since you can add as many apps and tiles as you like, they scroll off the screen to the right. A left swipe takes you through them. If you want to see them all, you can pinch the screen to zoom out. This is all largely unchanged from the original Surface RT and is really a product of Windows 8 platform.      The new Windows 8.1 RT update that comes with Surface 2 adds the ability to see your full App list with a gesture. Just place your finger below the tiles and drag up. If the Surface goes to sleep on this screen, it will be the one you see when you wake it up.      Speaking of Apps, the list continues to grow. The new Facebook app is a very solid execution and works well in the wide-screen interface. Even the native Twitter app is starting to grow on me. There are still too few games, though I was pleased to see Angry Birds Star Wars (but where\u2019s version 2?).       As before, you can orient yourself in the Surface 2 tablet a couple of different ways. Charms, which were introduced with Windows 8 are still available via sweeping right to left from just outside the screen border, regardless of what app you\u2019re running.  Inside you\u2019ll find a Start button, The now more powerful Everywhere search that looks across Apps, files and the web, a contextual share option, Device control for printing, Playback on external devices and Project to a second screen.      You can also always hit the Windows icon just below the screen and you end up back home.       \nBugs 'R' Us\nThe Surface 2 was surprisingly buggy during my tests. Among the glitches I encountered:   It shut down all other running apps when I launched Netflix.    \nIt froze with only the Wall paper showing.   \nThe screen turned all blue when I launched another app.   \nWhen I wanted to check for a Windows RT update, the system told me some were available, but it would download them later. I couldn\u2019t force it to do an update. It finally updated on its own later that night.      \nDo More\n\nThese bugs were occasional and generally did not get in the way or overshadow what\u2019s great about Surface 2; things like all-day buttery life (11 hours), excellent productivity chops, gaming fun, music (Xbox music and radio), movies (Xbox video and the Netflix App).  Also, if you have an Xbox and Xbox live account, you can use the tablet to access the account and even control games via the second-screen Smart Glass App. Apple would do well to copy something like this with, someday, Games on Apple TV and controls on the iPhone or iPad.     There are other things that make Surface unusual among tablets.      Windows Surface is a true multi-tasker. Not only can you run multiple apps and sweep from just outside the right side of the screen to switch between them, you can run apps side-by-side. So instead of a quick sweep, you drag the app slowly in from the left until it\u2019s near the right side of the screen. Surface automatically switches into two panes and leaves the apps running side-by side. Some apps, like Netflix allow this, others like Asphalt 7, which looks quite good on the HD screen, insist on a full screen to continue running. Still it\u2019s a neat and, I\u2019d contend, useful trick and something not possible on the iPad.      I want to compare the Surface 2 to Apple\u2019s iPad and Amazon\u2019s Kindle Fire, but where those two products offer clear signals that they\u2019re designed for content consumption:  Both iOS and Kindle Fire OS start with Video and Music stuck on persistent home screen menus. The Surface 2 puts Video and Music tiles on the second set of apps, largely undifferentiated from anything else around them.      Don\u2019t get me wrong, a click into \u201CVideos\u201D takes you to the voluminous Xbox Video collection, which is chock-full of TV and movie rental and buying options. Similarly, Xbox Music is just as rich as anything Amazon and Apple offer. I just worry about how Microsoft is or isn\u2019t telegraphing its intentions with the Surface 2. The company is fixated on pitching the Surface as a do everything device with strong \u2014 very strong \u2014 connections to all things Windows. I don\u2019t think this is exciting consumers.  For as much as I like the Windows Design, it doesn\u2019t naturally lead me to movies, music, books or magazines.  It\u2019s really my hybrid tablet, equally effective at productivity and entertainment.       Put another way, the Surface is the Barack Obama of tablets, super serious, smart and occasionally fun guy/tablet you depend on to get things done. While the iPad and Kindle Fire HDX are the George Bush of tablets, more obviously fun, and certainly the ones you want to hang out with all the time.     \nThe Lowdown:\nThe Good:  \nExcellent construction.  \nSmart, Easy-to-Use OS  \nOffice Suite  \nSkyDrive\nGood value  The Bad:  \nBuggy  \nDesktop Mode  \nContent consumption not center stage.\nPrice does not include a TouchCover 2  Bottom Line:If you love Microsoft, Windows and, especially all things Windows 8, this is your ultimate do everything tablet. However, if you want a mobile device that is unabashedly a tablet, this is probably not the tablet you were looking for."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/10/21/microsoft-surface-2-review/>