Let's start this off by going through my experiences with the "new generation" of Windows starting at Windows 8. I was looking forward to Windows 8, so much in fact I was lucky enough to get a developer preview which later became a release candidate and was quite happy with how well it ran on a single core computer with just 2GB of ram. Eventually though, the push to make Windows 8 a touch-centric OS didn't make sense, especially since it was also designed to be run on laptops and desktops without touch screens. I quickly grew tired of Windows 8 and the various charms and full screen start menu.
Fast forward to Windows 10 announcements, again I started looking forward to the release. But again, I felt like it was too touch orientated. They definitely made huge improvements with usability for non-touch screen devices, but mix in privacy concerns and all that it made me just forgo it and stick with Windows 7.
Last week, my perception of Windows 10 changed. My neighbor who also happens to be a good friend decided to buy a second hand Surface 3. Long story short, it wasn't for him. But he let me borrow it for a few days if I could reset the computer for him for an eventual buyer. So here I sat, with a Surface 3 with Windows 10. For starters, I was never a fan of tablets, unless they had a detachable keyboard. Secondly, it's Windows 10. But the more I played around with it, the more I began to enjoy using it. Surprisingly, once I got to know my way around Windows 10 I started to "get" Windows 10. Windows 10 really shines on the Surface. He's got a touch cover for his, which was a bit weird to use. But going from a laptop-esque machine, to a tablet running full Windows was pretty handy.
It fills two needs, content consumption and content creation. You can now endlessly watch youtube videos in bed but attach a keyboard and write an office document on the same device without any fuss. I like the idea of a single machine replacing several. The Surface sure does attempt rather well to do just that.
Now, there are still things that Windows 10 needs to improve upon. For example, Windows 10 is touch centric. Yet, if you attempt to use the Surface with your finer and don't turn on the tablet mode, things are just too small to actually use. I've found myself constantly clicking on wrong menu items, or closing a window instead of maximizing it. This isn't a problem in tablet mode, as your apps / programs go full screen.
Another annoyance is how sometimes I get thrown back to Windows XP era windows screens from Metro styled windows. For example, some choices in the Metro settings app throws you over to the "classic" control panel. I'm sure this will get better and better, but it makes me feel that Windows 10 isn't completely finished.
I also do not like how Windows 10 has to collect every piece of information about you and what you're doing. From logging your keystrokes to your voice commands to Cortana, your location and how you use your apps... When is enough, enough? I get the reason behind the need for *some* of this, but Windows 10 goes above and beyond with phoning home.
With all that being said, I finally get Windows 10. It truly shines on a Surface tablet, I've even gone as far and installed Windows 10 on my laptop. And while I wish my laptop had a touch screen, I find that using Windows 10 with a keyboard and mouse only isn't half bad.
The real star of the Surface though, is it's Atom processor. I haven't toyed with Atom processors since their usages in Netbooks back in '08. Boy they left a bad taste in my mouth. They ran relatively OK on Windows XP based machines, could even play 720p movies as long as they were encoded correctly. So with that in mind, I wasn't really expecting much from the Surface. I kinda viewed it as a low tier tablet with Windows plastered on.
That couldn't be further from the truth. During my few days of usage, Atom snapped through Windows programs, 1080p Youtube videos ran smoothly. I even saw a video on Youtube where a guy used his tablet with multiple screens AND running relatively intensive apps at the same time - All on the Intel Atom processor.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share. Sorry for the long and poorly written wall of text.
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lol 