Windows 8 on the Road - Final Report (for now)

Looking back on my recent Disney World trip and my experience with Windows 8 I must say that for the most part I am happy with my smartphone and tablet. However if you read my previous 3 posts straight from Orlando you will also know that all was not peaches & cream with me & Microsoft.

Microsoft Surface Pro Tablet

The only problem here was using the tablet in very crowded places. The flight into Orlando was especially tough. I was sitting in the middle of three seats and the passenger on my right (not the wife) was crowding me. The Surface tablet is much heaver and bulkier then a IPAD and it was difficult to really get comfortable with it on the flight. However once arriving in Florida the Surface tablet was a delight to use. Each morning I was able to actually get a little work done, read the newspapers (just like my IPAD) using the Press Display app. There are still some much needed apps like Zite & Flipboard missing but I will give Microsoft a little more time to get these. I could also easily write blog articles, browse Facebook as well as the internet in general. Doing all of these tasks on an IPAD would be difficult at best.

Windows 8 Phone

First and foremost. For the most part my Nokia Lumia 822 worked just fine. As I have been reporting Microsoft Office, Lync, SharePoint & SkyDrive integration cannot be over valued, that is, if your goal is to get work done no matter where you are.

The main problem I experienced was the phone losing connectivity to the internet. From time to time I would have to restart the phone to get it to connect to the internet. This occurred about 4-6 times and I must admit I was a little flustered by this. I had status updates to do after all! This was very strange indeed because with the 2 months I have been using this phone the only time this problem occurred was during my trip. No problems with this, before or since. I will keep an eye on this particularly.

My Photo Tile

It also took a little practice to get used to the 8mp camera but once I did it was fine. Pictures can be setup to immediately upload to your SkyDrive account which is really a great feature. It's also very cool to have a live "Pictures" tile (pictured right) displaying your camera roll.

I am a music lover. If you enter my office you will probably hear Classic Vinyl, Classic Rewind or Deep Tracks playing. If you are an honored guest at my home there will probably be music playing. If I am outside working (hurry up Spring) I am giving my ear buds a work out. Here is another area where the Windows Phone 8 OS is weak. The music player and interrogation is worlds behind Apple. So I did no expect anything here and in fact brought my IPOD for music.

All in all I will be continuing to use my Windows 8 Phone while watching closely for continued updates and enhancements from Microsoft.

Both of these devices offer hope for those us wanting the best of both worlds. Devices that truly integrate home and work life.  Only time will tell if Microsoft can improve where necessary while keeping their eye on the prize.