I can edit a text file on the Surface, and it’s automatically waiting on my desktop. Having your files backed up provides peace of mind, but it also becomes useful if you’re moving between multiple devices. Whether it’s a photo editing app you got from the Windows Store or an alternative document editor like OpenOffice, SkyDrive becomes the default save location for documents, text files, photos and videos. What I realized with Windows 8.1 is that SkyDrive saves don’t merely apply to one kind of file or app, but to every single piece of software you have. I didn’t get why this was a big deal at first, because Microsoft Office 2013 already does the exact same thing. When the first wave of Windows 8.1 reviews hit, there was a lot of hubbub about SkyDrive integration, which can automatically save your documents to Microsoft’s online storage service. My only complaint: The Surface Pro 2 only supports two Snapped apps at the same time, presumably due to screen size, but I think there’s room for three. Most modern-style apps will automatically resize their content to make the best possible use of the screen, which isn’t always true for windowed desktop apps. It’s smart enough to fill all available screen space without making you fiddle with individual borders, and you can swap apps in and out with just a couple flicks. Snap View, in many ways, is a better windowing system than the traditional Windows one. It’s useful for referencing a web page while composing a document, or for keeping a close eye on Twitter while news breaks. But when I want to, I can use Snap view to run two apps side-by-side. When it’s time to concentrate on writing, they help tune out distractions like e-mail and Twitter. I disagree with the sentiment that Windows’ new full-screen apps are useless in laptop settings. The experience has been better than I expected. I’m still using the desktop for certain things, like Hipchat and Office, but it’s been more of a fallback, even in laptop mode. For research and writing in WordPress, I used the modern-style Internet Explorer 11. I ditched Gmail’s website for the built-in Mail app, Google Keep for Code Writer and Pixlr for Fotor. So instead of using Chrome and its web apps, I surrendered myself to the “ Metro” interface of Windows 8.1, whenever possible. A lot of desktop apps still have blurry text, but the other problems in Chrome were getting in the way of work. Jerky pinch-to-zoom behavior and inconsistent two-finger scrolling on the Type Cover 2 didn’t help. Chrome has a hidden setting to toggle high-DPI display support, but flipping the switch caused another problem: Chrome apps such as Google Keep and Write Space wouldn’t display properly (hence the setting being hidden, I suppose). By default, Chrome isn’t optimized for small, high-resolution displays, so text looks blurry and tabs get unnecessarily squished together. One of the first things I did with the Surface Pro 2 was install Google Chrome, my go-to desktop browser, expecting to lean on my favorite Chrome apps for writing and research. Going in, I assumed that working with the Surface Pro 2 wouldn’t be drastically different from my Windows 7 desktop workflow. This isn’t meant to be a thorough review, just some thoughts on what’s come up for me so far: Surrendering to Metro In the meantime, using Windows 8.1 has been an eye-opening experience. I’m still debating what to do about the Surface Pro 2 that I bought last week, though the experience has been good enough for me to lean toward keeping it. The Surface Pro 2, with its ability to transform from a tablet to a laptop, seems like it was tailor-made for Windows 8.1. Follow Microsoft believes Windows 8.1 is equally at home on a tablet, laptop or desktop, nothing’s more fitting for the hybrid operating system than a device that blurs the lines.
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