

Microsoft's Sinofsky responds to complaint over Office 2013 on Surface RT - niggler
http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-sinofsky-responds-to-complaint-over-office-2013-on-surface-rt-7000006484/

======
Encosia
I had the same typing performance issue when using the preview version of
Office 2013 that shipped with my Surface RT, updated to the RTM version today,
and the typing performance is fine now. The characters even appear with a
quick reveal-from-left-to-right animation now, that keeps up with my fastest
typing speed.

~~~
chj
Good to know the problem is gone.

How does the animation feel like after an hour of use?

~~~
joenathan
It's the same thing on the x86 version, I found it strange at first, after a
couple of days its just faded into the background and I don't notice it.

Video of the effect here <http://youtu.be/ddwo-AN2SmU>

~~~
seanmcdirmid
I find it still messes up my rhythm a bit; the distraction might be slowing my
typing speed down during a burst. Is there an HCI principle going on in this
feature or is it just eye candy?

~~~
joenathan
From my searching I can't find any practical reasons for it other than eye
candy. It seems the only way to disable it is via a regedit

[http://www.winsupersite.com/article/office-2013-beta2/office...](http://www.winsupersite.com/article/office-2013-beta2/office-2013-tip-
disable-animations-143779)

------
jorts
It's ridiculous that a journalist writing technical blogs didn't even check
that his Surface was fully patched. That's the first thing you should do with
any system. I don't own a Surface so I don't know whether Microsoft told users
to update their Surface shortly after starting it up, but they definitely
should have so that these types of articles don't get published.

~~~
objclxt
I just bought a Surface from a Microsoft Store today, and the store assistant
not only told me there were updates available but showed me how to update it.
So they're definitely making a pro-active effort to encourage people to update
where possible.

~~~
jorts
I imagine that if it's anything like any version of Windows to come out since
XP, or possibly even earlier, that updates are one of the first things that
are presented to you post-install.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
It doesn't seem that this is the case this, its even obscured as an optional
update. See the linked article for more information.

~~~
fel0niousmonk
'Obscured' isn't the right word. It's business as usual for office (and other
non-system) updates to be under the 'Optional' category..

~~~
seanmcdirmid
One place to update apps on a system would be nice. I know windows as lots of
legacy, but how many apps are optional system updates on windows rt?

------
Mythbusters
Anybody who shares their opinion should consider these points:

1\. The office on surface is not the final version of software. It has RTM'ed
so it should get updated with the final version pretty soon.

2\. The fact that you have an ability to run a program like office on a tablet
class hardware and ARM architecture is in itself a feat of engineering and
Microsoft should get some credit for that here. I was dying to put this louis
CK piece in the comments: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpUNA2nutbk>

~~~
smegel
> The fact that you have an ability to run a program like office on a tablet
> class hardware

This is an extremely misleading statement. "Tablet class hardware" today is
vastly more powerful than PC's several years ago which were quite happily
running the Office of their day.

Furthermore, there is plenty of Office-like equivalents happily running on
Android and iOS tablets today so the suggestion that "Office on a tablet" is
some kind of revolution seems to lack substance.

~~~
Mythbusters
I was referring to ARM as the architecture. Should have been clearer

~~~
smegel
Sorry, but I still dont understand your point. Dual/Quad-core ARM chips of
today running at 1.5Ghz blow away x86 based PC's from several years ago (I
don't know exactly at what point) that ran Office XP quite happily.

To give you an idea, the system requirements of Office XP was "a Pentium
processor with a clock speed of at least 133 megahertz (MHz)".

Besides, tablets are doing amazing things today, are we really saying an
Office suite represents the pinnacle of computing power?

~~~
Mythbusters
In case you are not trolling, time to educate yourself with the difference
between these two architectures:
[http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/107133....](http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/107133.aspx)

Surprise, if you copy an old mac app on your iPhone it won't run!

~~~
smegel
No, please, why don't _you_ educate us all as to the deficiencies in ARM over
x86 that make porting an x86 application to ARM some incredible achievement?

------
ari_elle
Error in the article:

 _Too bad, because he had already fallen in love with the software, going so
far as to opine that the Surface RT "doesn’t just compete with the iPad – it
bypasses the iPad in many ways that are significant and valuable for me."_

Nitpick: He fell in love with the hardware, the software is the part he didn't
like. That was his complaint.

And: No matter if an update was available on the first day. For a major
release like that it shouldn't have come to this in the first place.

Note: Is HN being mentioned and linked on ZDNet such a big thing that it
should be the title of the entry rather than what it's about? _- > (referring
to old title - title has been changed)_

~~~
kenjackson
_And: No matter if an update was available on the first day. For a major
release like that it shouldn't have come to this in the first place._

I'm somewhat confused by this statement. I've rarely heard it applied to other
companies. Siri being in Beta at launch was largely forgiven on HN. Even a
substantial portion of HN made excuses for the new Apple Maps (which if it
wasn't listed as a beta, clearly was).

Google's second most popular product, GMail, came out of beta in just
mid-2009.

Lets be real. The update was available on the FIRST day. The freakin' first
day and you're complaining that it shouldn't have come to this?

On a site where the near pillar of virtually every company is to ship
something that, for all intents and purposes, is barely usable on day one and
iterate like crazy, it seems like an odd statement.

I have to admit that I'm probably an odd beast in that when I get a new
device, I actually install the latest software. Whether its a BluRay player or
a computer. I get that most mainstream users won't do that, and I get that it
was likely a mainstream blog, but I'd expect better of HN readers.

In fact I'd argue if you buy a device and it does not update out the box
that's probably NOT a good sign of active development on it.

~~~
ari_elle
First of all:

My comment does not necessarily reflect the opinion of all individuals that
gather here on HN.

Therefore:

Yes, i was a critic of Siri when it first came out and also of Apple Maps.

Additionally:

You might, and things like this happen with written text, over emphasize my
statement. It was by no means meant as harsh criticism, but you can't deny the
fact that it _shouldn't have happened_ and that was basically all i said.

-) why do updates not appear for some users (it was not just him)

-) when it's being marketed with running Office and then comes along in this condition, then it certainly isn't perfect

AND:

When also keeping in mind, that:

-) the Hardware seems to be astonishing

-) Design, Input methods, everything gets positive reviews

-) this a big milestone for Microsoft, showing off not only a Microsoft branded device (not just some device where their OS is running), but also a completely new direction in which they are heading

then this was not at all a perfect start, no matter how you put it.

------
niels_olson
Kudos to the journalist for linking back to the comments.

------
chj
Very few loves writing documents on a tablet. Most love games, musics, books,
videos. If MS focus on selling office on RT, it will be a disaster for the
product, and for the company. For long documents it's going to be slow no
matter how they optimize it -- we all know word is not that fast even in a
desktop computer, and now they even have issues with a two-page document.

