We've been following the saga of two tech bloggers and their attempts to use Microsoft's Surface RT tablet as a work PC: ZDNet's James Kendrick and Ed Bott.
That's part of Microsoft's pitch for the Surface, after all—it runs Microsoft Office and is designed to work with snap-on keyboard covers, making it more of a productivity tool than a media-consumption device like other tablets.
But both of the bloggers say the Surface has frustrated them, and now Kendrick has officially given up on it.
Kendrick, who's been messing with his Surface for over a month, writes that "despite putting a lot of hours and effort I can't make the Surface work for me ... I am tired of constantly trying to get stuff done with my Surface, only to put it away after a few hours in sheer frustration."
His complaints includes a lack of good apps—they "lack features, waste screen space, and most importantly they insist on grabbing my attention when all I want to do is get things done"—and a dislike for Internet Explorer 10, the only browser Microsoft has allowed on the Surface RT.
Then there's Bott, who is known as a Windows enthusiast. He generally likes his Surface but admits that it's frustrating, too. Like Kendrick, he's particularly annoyed with IE 10.
Initially, I had hoped that the Surface could completely replace my notebook for work-related travel. That turned out to be an unrealistic expectation. The Surface is an excellent traveling companion on short trips where I simply need to stay in touch via email and crank out the occasional document in Word, but for business trips I still need a full-strength notebook.
The Surface RT is a Microsoft tablet that only runs apps designed for the newest version of Microsoft's operating system. It includes a home/student version of Office 2013.
Microsoft will soon begin selling another version, the Surface Pro, which is aimed more at business use. It will cost more and will also run older Windows 7 software but it's not available yet.
