Sunday, June 02, 2013

Microsoft Surface Pro

I was asked to configure a Microsoft Surface Pro for office use.  The Microsoft Surface Pro running Windows 8 Pro is powered by 3rd generation of Intel i5 processor.  It weighs about 900g which is about 240g heavier than the Dell Latitude 10.  The dockable keyboard sold separately is an useful accessory to have.  There is no SIM slot for Microsoft Surface Pro so WIFI is needed to get on to Internet.  The maximum configuration comes with 128GB storage which is double of Dell Latitude 10 maximum configuration.  It is quite a nice tablet but it will be good if it can “slim” down reduces in weight.

As part of the setup, I joined the Microsoft Surface Pro to our Active Directory domain.  After joining to the domain, the swipe up to get to the logon screen was disabled.  There is a message on the upper left corner which read “Press and hold the Windows button, and then press the power button to sign in.”.  This is different from Dell Latitude 10 which is a combination of volume up button plus power button.

Windows 8 logon

With the keyboard attached, I can still get to the logon screen by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del on the keyboard.  Now, I tried to hold down Windows key on the keyboard and then press on the power button, the tablet went into “sleep” mode so I thought it is not working.

IMG-20130528-00682

Then I removed the dockable keyboard and wondered how to get to the logon screen.  This is when I noticed the Windows logo located at the lower center of the tablet.  It is actually a soft button and it is the Windows button that I need to press together with the power button to get the logon screen.  It is quite embarrassing but I found out I am not the only one who missed it especially with the keyboard attached.

IMG-20130528-00683

Hopefully, there will be a better way to call out the logon screen after joining to AD domain and avoid having to press the power button.

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