Microsoft and Apple may not be the hostile enemies everyone used to make them out to be. Nothing is more apparent than the dozens of cross licensing agreements both companies have. With the Surface, Microsoft hopes to encroach on the iPad’s turf by opening up the possibilities of a tablet. Microsoft boasts some impressive features with the Surface, but can it deliver on those promises? Read on to find out. In this comparison we will skip the specs and instead focus on the real world use of both devices.
Design
Like Google, Amazon and many other tablet makers, Microsoft believes that a widescreen format is the perfect format for a tablet. The Surface comes with a 16:9 resolution. This makes the device an excellent choice for viewing movies, especially on its 1280 x 720 screen. However, it makes it awkward, to say the least, to use the device in portrait mode. The iPad although not the best for watching wide screen movies, has an edge. If you need to walk around with a tablet, the iPad is going to be your choice.
Productivity
Some things never change and the ability to be productive on a tablet is something that will always be constant. As of now, the iPad really isn’t designed to be a productive device. There is no way to have split screens for apps, or multitask, heck iOS is missing a built in file manager. On the other hand, Microsoft has included these and many other features in the Surface.
For instance, the Surface RT comes with Office right out of the box. Right there is a powerhouse that we all know and love very well. You can use apps in split screen with the Surface and it does have a file system which makes true productivity awesome. Not only that but with USB 2.0, you can attach a thumb drive or external hard drive and access all the files you want. Even if you don’t have a program to open the file with, unlike the iPad, you can still save it to your computer.
Apps
This is one that will unanimously go towards Apple. Apple has over 300,000 apps for the iPad alone, not to mention the iPhone. Although Microsoft haters would love to think so, Microsoft will be around for a few more years and undoubtedly the apps will come. However, as of now, the Windows 8 Store has a little over 100,000 apps. Many of them are not up to the quality of their iOS counterparts, but that will change soon.
Entertainment
Gaming is something that iOS has perfected and if you play any of the wide selection of games available for the iPad, you can see why people rave about it. That’s not the case with the Surface yet. Yes it has some great titles already but they are just beginning to trickle in. Thankfully you get the full experience of the web with the Surface and so far the web works a whole lot better on the Surface than the iPad which to a certain extent has locked it down. When it comes to movies, viewing photos and the likes, don’t even get us started, this is Surface territory.
Conclusion
If media, gaming and entertainment is your main reason for buying a tablet, there is no doubt that the iPad should be on the top of your list. However, many of us need something a bit more powerful and that is where the Surface comes in. It may not have everything as of yet, but with millions of Windows developers worldwide, we can only imagine that the amount of apps in Microsoft’s Windows 8 Store will only increase.
