Cisco Small Business RV Series Routers: Overview

8.1 features Microsoft removed from Windows 8.1

Forget about the desktop improvements and Bing Smart Search: Windows 8.1’s biggest draw may be the sheer volume of new and hidden features. Seriously—it’s jam-packed.

But apparently Microsoft needed to clear room for all the fresh ideas. Windows 8.1 shaves away many of Windows 8’s auxiliary features. Some of the removals are blatant once they’re pointed out, while others are more obscure, but all are off the table in Windows 8.1.

1. Messaging app

Windows 8’s IM capabilities were handled by the aptly named Messaging, one of the core apps shining front and center on the live-tiled Start screen. No more: Microsoft has kicked Messaging to the curb less than a year after the app’s arrival, replacing the Windows 8 native with Skype.

As high-profile as the swap is, it’s no great loss. Messaging was pretty lackluster and largely overlapped Skype’s core functionality. Meanwhile, Skype’s communication services are also being baked into the Xbox One and Outlook.com (but not Windows Phone). One bummer: Messaging supported Facebook Chat, while Skype does not.

2. Windows Experience Index

Ever since the Vista days, Windows provided a “Windows Experience Index” score in your My Computer properties. The WEI score was supposed to be a numerical indicator of your PC’s brawn. Powerful PCs received higher scores, and so on.

Unfortunately, the WEI’s scoring criteria weren’t well known, and it placed odd, seemingly artificial caps on the highest possible scores. (Windows 7’s cap was 7.9, while Vista’s was 5.9.) Whether for these or other reasons, the WEI never seemed to catch on, and it’s nowhere to be found in Windows 8.1.

3. Facebook and Flickr in the Photos app

Regrettably, Windows 8.1’s Photos app no longer supports Facebook and Flickr image integration.

“In Windows 8, we wanted to provide a way for folks to view their photos on other services, knowing there would be few (if any) apps in the store at launch that would do so,” a Microsoft representative said. “Now there are many apps in the store that offer ways to view photos on other services.”

A Facebook app launched in the Windows Store the same day as Windows 8.1, but its image-management and sharing capabilities aren’t as flexible as those in Windows 8’s Photos app. And despite Flickr’s sudden disappearance from the Photos app, an official app for that service has yet to appear in the Windows Store.

4. Libraries?

Your Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos libraries aren’t visible by default in Windows 8.1—but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. Activating them is easy, as shown in the single screenshot below.

Some websites are reporting, though, that Windows 8.1’s libraries ditch Public folders. Our experiences are a bit more hit-and-miss: Public folders appeared in my Windows 8.1 libraries after I upgraded from Windows 8, but they were a no-show in the libraries of another PCWorld editor.

Don’t let that bring you down! After reenabling libraries using the method outlined above, just right-click a library and select Properties > Add… to toss additional folders into the mix.

5. Windows 7 File Recovery, kind of

Ominous portents swirled when the Windows 8.1 Preview pushed out without the ‘Windows 7 File Recovery’ image-backup option found in Windows 8, especially since Microsoft has clearly stated that the tool is being deprecated in favor of Windows 8’s File History. And yes, it’s still missing in Windows 8.1.

But fear not! Though Windows 7 File Recovery is dead in name, it lives on in spirit as ‘System Image Backup’. Just head to Control Panel > System & Security > File History, and then look in the lower-left corner.

6. Apps splashed on the Start screen

In Windows 8, all newly installed apps and desktop programs automatically received a tile on the modern Start screen. That isn’t the case in Windows 8.1: Now, you have to dive into the All Apps screen and manually pin new software to the Start screen.

That’s a big win in my book, since installing desktop programs often plopped tiles for dozens of auxiliary executables, languages, and other options on the Start screen alongside the link to the base program, resulting in a distressing amount of clutter. Less-seasoned computer users may become confused when installed apps fail to appear on the Start screen by default, however—especially since the returned Start button’s behavior trains you to consider the Start screen as a “modern”-day Start-menu replacement. Steel yourself for the support call from family and friends.

7. My Computer

Yes, the nearly 20-year-old ‘My Computer’ moniker has retired, giving way to the more cloud- and cross-platform-friendly ‘This PC’. Desktop fallout from the focus on “One Microsoft” continues—though this is an admittedly trivial change.

8. SkyDrive desktop program

Keen-eyed SkyDrive users will note that jumping to Windows 8.1 erases the discrete (and optional) SkyDrive desktop software that served to keep local files in sync with the cloud. And that makes sense: Microsoft’s cloud service weaves itself tightly into Windows 8.1, and the desktop program’s functionality has largely been replaced by the update’s native SkyDrive support.

8.1. SkyDrive desktop-program functionality

Continuing with that theme, some of the more obscure yet helpful functions of the SkyDrive desktop program haven’t been replicated by Windows 8.1’s native features. For one thing, upgrading to Windows 8.1 kills SkyDrive’s remote Fetch feature.

Also be aware that unlike the desktop program, SkyDrive in Windows 8.1 relies on symbolic links to point to cloud-stored files in File Explorer, even though everything appears to be saved locally at first glance. This “smart files” functionality can save a lot of space on tablets and other storage-restricted devices, but if you’d like to keep local copies of your stuff, right-click the SkyDrive icon in File Explorer and select Make available offline.

You can also right-click individual files and folders and choose to make them online-only or available offline.

Still worth the upgrade

Don’t let these little omissions dissuade you: Windows 8.1 is superior to Windows 8 in virtually every way. It represents a much less jarring version of Microsoft’s grand vision of a cross-platform future—though it still won’t win over folks whose lips instinctively curl at the merest mention of the word “Metro.” Check out PCWorld’s definitive review of Windows 8.1 for all the juicy details. (And if you’re one of those desktop diehards, you might want to check out our guide to banishing the modern UI from your Windows 8.1 PC.)

Brad Chacos Senior Writer, PCWorld

How to turn on WiFi hotspot internet sharing for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone

Summary: Turning your phone in to a WiFi hotspot can be incredibly useful. Pushing wireless to a tablet from a phone is much cheaper than forking out for a second data plan.

Turning your phone in to a WiFi hotspot can be incredibly useful. Pushing wireless to a tablet from a phone is much cheaper than forking out for a second data plan.

Activating and connecting to a WiFi hotspot is a little different for every device, though it’s a feature found in almost all new smartphones. You do have to keep an eye on your data use though, as smashing past your data allowance will result in some pretty offensive excess charges.

iPhone 5 (iOS 6)

Go to settings and tap General.

Your phone will have one of the two following options: Cellular or Mobile Data. Tap whichever your device has and select Set Up Personal Hotspot.

You will only need to configure the password. The hotspot itself will be named after whatever you called your device.

Android

Android devices often differ in their user interfaces. If this particular information isn’t correct for your device it still may be close. Have a play around and see if you have similarly-named options.

Go to the main system settings and find the option under Wireless Networks labelled Tethering and Portable Hotspot and then hit the toggle next to Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot to activate it.

Once activated, tap on the text to the left of the toggle and you’ll be taken to the mobile tethering section.

Tap on the Configure button in the bottom right. Here you can set the name, password and protection-type of your WiFi hotspot. The name and password are obviously up to you.

By default the protection-type should be WPA2 PSK. If this is not the case then select it for the best level of security.

Windows Phone 8

Go to Settings and make sure you are in the System tab (not Applications). Select Internet Sharing and then turn it on by tapping the toggle.

More options should appear on the screen after you’ve switched this one. Hit Setup and set your password and Broadcast Name.

Dangers

Using your phone as a WiFi hotspot can be risky. Many providers offer concessions to services like Facebook, Twitter and even occasionally YouTube for on-phone usage. Once you push that connection out to another device, however, those concessions disappear and you start eating directly in to your monthly cap.

Another risk is simply the extra usage. Suddenly spreading your cap out over two or three gadgets instead of just one can have a marked impact.

Devices like laptops and tablets have much easier interfaces with which to surf the web. As such it’s easier to go through online content at a much faster speed than you otherwise might on a phone.

This is made even more dangerous by the fact that you’re unlikely to be accustomed to watching your internet usage while on a larger device. It’s easy to get stuck in old habits and start streaming HD video. This can be devastating to a standard mobile data cap.

Make sure you know how much data you’re working with each month as well as how much of it you tend to have spare before engaging in regular hotspot usage.

Why Tablets Represent the Future of Computing

Article by Ben Bajarin for Time Tech.

Where is personal computing headed?

As a technology industry analyst I get asked this question quite often. My  answer, although it’s hard to wrap our brains around now, is that we are moving  away from a keyboard- and mouse-centric computing experience to a touch  computing experience. Tablets represent the beginning of that shift and are the  devices that will usher in the touch computing era.

Just to put the astonishing growth of tablets into perspective: This year  alone tablets will see 255% unit growth to about 55-58 million units  respectfully. By 2015, tablets will have seen 750% shipment growth. During the  same timeframe laptops will only see 83% growth.

Although tablets are compelling devices on their own, it is my opinion that  the touch computing element they bring is the cause of this incredible  growth.

Why Touch Computing?

Touch computing represents a much  more expansive opportunity for computing in the post-PC era primarily because it  fits into the category called “Natural User Interface,” which basically means  it’s a more natural way to interact with electronics. Speech is another example  of natural user interface we will see more deeply integrated into  next-generation devices but that is still at least another 3-5 years out.

Devices that have little or no learning curve for all demographics break down  barriers that typically exist when adopting new technologies.

A good example of this is how the iPad has been gaining traction with older  adults and younger children. For kids, the iPad delivers an easier and more  natural experience using a touch computing device, like an iPhone or iPad, than  a PC does. And with older adults, we have found in our research that they are  much more comfortable using touch as a computer interface than they are with  using a mouse.

Learning to use a mouse and a keyboard takes some time to master. Both my  kids—who are six and eight—still have issues using a PC, but they have no issues  whatsoever when using my iPad.

To further emphasize my point, consider this: 41 of the top 50 education apps  in the iTunes app store are for kids under the age of 10. Furthermore, 32 of  those 41 apps are for kids under the age of six. We are finding that especially  with children, the touch interface has no learning curve and they adapt to it  very quickly.

But the learning curve barriers that get broken down with touch computing are  not just limited to kids or older adults.

What about the billions of people on the planet who have had little to no PC  experience at all? The touch computing platform that exists on tablets can bring  computing to entire generations of new consumers where the PC could not. Because  of this we will likely see the adoption cycles of these devices happen much  quicker.

If you add all of that up you begin to see that touch and speech will become  the predominant ways we interact with devices in the future. To do this,  however, there is a tremendous amount of technological innovation still needed.  Innovations in hardware and software, specifically, are still needed to bring  touch computing to its full potential.

Next Generation Software

Over the past 30 years the  software industry has written software for devices with a mouse and keyboard;  imagine what the next 30 years will bring for touch computing platforms.

Also, think about the reach of the PC as we know it today. Industries were  created, transformed, and many are still transforming.

Touch computing and the next-generation software that gets created will even  further transform industries like health, education, entertainment, media,  agriculture, government, business and more.

We are already seeing iPads being used by doctors, educators, students and  field researchers in amazing ways, all made possible by touch computing.

The point can be made that the PC as we know it today can technically do all  the things a tablet can do. Although true, the tablet is a better suited form  factor for touch computing because of its design and portability.

We will see a range of form factor innovations around tablets, too—for  example, designs like the Asus Transformer, which has a tablet dock with a  keyboard. We are seeing designs of tablets with slide out keyboards, similar to  mobile phones with slide out or flip out keyboards.

For those still skeptical, touch computing is coming to traditional PCs as  well via the trackpad.

Apple has been integrating multi-touch gestures into the Mac operating system  for several years now and with its next release—OS X Lion—there will be even  more. New and exciting software for the Mac operating system that utilizes touch  computing is just around the corner.

For the Windows consumers, Synaptics, a leading provider of trackpad  technology, is developing new innovations aimed at bringing mutli-touch and  touch computing gestures to the traditional PC.

These innovations and more are what will lead touch computing to be used on a  range of different devices—which will lead to a wider range of consumer choice  in form factors built around touch computing.

What’s encouraging to me as a life long student of the technology industry is  that we are only half way through our computing journey. The last 30 years  brought some of the most amazing innovations ever created. However the next 30  years worth of innovations will truly change the world.

Ben Bajarin is the Director of Consumer Technology Analysis and Research  at Creative Strategies, Inc, a  technology industry analysis and market intelligence firm located in Silicon  Valley.

Client virtualization is the future.

Are reducing costs and security risks at the top of your priority list? We can help. Remote workers need anytime, anywhere access to their desktops—seamlessly. You need to make sure your data is secure and your updates are easy and seamless. By moving the workload from a PC to a server, all these things are simple. It’s easier than ever to adapt your technology to your quickly changing business needs with thin computing.

Why Thin Client?

Times are tough. Users are demanding anytime, anywhere access to data. And you need to keep your data secure. All while keeping costs down. Thin clients—the ideal solution for your operation if you’re concerned about the cost of PC replacement, data access and security. And keeping everyone happy with software support on all kinds of hardware.

• Reliable and Energy Efficient

  In the unlikely event of a natural disaster or emergency, thin clients can keep your business moving. And we’ve proven it by making sure that our thin clients undergo 115,000 hours of testing for quality and reliability. With no hard drive or other moving parts, they last longer—a longer lifespan than standard computers. They even offer significant savings in power usage over traditional desktops—for lower energy costs and lower cooling costs than heat-generating PCs!

• Lower TCO = Big Savings

  Greater security. Real reliability. Easy management. And longer lifespan. It adds up to a lower cost of ownership. In fact, a recent Gartner study measured thin client TCO annual savings as high as:

  • 79% downtime cost-per-user
  • 16% capital cost savings
  • 34% less in maintenance
  • 19% less to operate
  • 48% overall lower TCO

Sorry? Is a US report recommending ransomware to target copyright thieves?

by John Hawes on May 30, 2013 | 6 Comments

Your Business Is Never Too Small For A Cyber Attack, Here’s How To Protect Yourself

This article is by George Westerman, a research scientist in the MIT Sloan School of Management’s Center for Digital Business. He is co-author of IT Risk: Turning Business Threats Into Competitive Advantage.

A few years ago I was working with a small consulting firm, and one of our up and coming salespeople left for a competitor. No big deal. It happens. But several months later, the management team noticed a disturbing trend. The company kept losing bids for new business to this very same competitor. It had happened four times in a row when finally we realized that we’d forgotten to turn off the former employee’s network access. He had been logging into our network, stealing our information, and then undercutting us.

As cybercrime reporting goes, this may be small potatoes.  But it wasn’t small to this company. It illustrates a problem that plagues many small and medium-size businesses: When it comes to Internet security, a lot of people aren’t paying attention. They think they’re too small to be the target of a cyber threat.

They’re wrong. According to a recent study cited by the U.S. House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology, nearly 20% of all cyber attacks hit small businesses with 250 or fewer employees. Roughly 60% of small businesses close within six months of a cyber attack. 

The fact is, if you’re in business, you’re a target. If you’re on the Internet, you’re already under attack. Companies today face what’s known as an advanced persistent threat, a category of cybercrime that involves Internet-enabled espionage directed at corporate and political targets. Hackers are not just nerdy teenage kids fooling around in their basements; they are sophisticated criminals trained to identify and exploit Internet vulnerabilities. Hackers try to make money any way they can. They look for information on your accounts and finances. They look for information about your employees and your customers—Social Security numbers, addresses, credit cards, and other personally identifiable information. They try to use you as a tunnel into the systems of your suppliers and customers.

Internet security is not just a technology problem; it’s a people problem. According to CyberFactors, in-house employees commit about 40% of reported breaches. Some are disgruntled workers or ex-workers; some are serious bad guys. But often it’s people doing things they don’t even know are unsafe.

As a manager, how can you better protect your company? Here are three guidelines.

First, train employees on IT risk. People who are risk-aware do fewer risky things. They do not need to know every threat or technical detail, but they should know the basics. Teach them how hackers operate: Explain how hackers constantly run scripts across the Internet to find unprotected computers and then use tool kits to launch massive attacks on those weaknesses. Teach them how to recognize scams and phishing schemes—emails or phone calls from purportedly trustworthy groups that try to get access to your credit cards and financial accounts. Use vivid examples so they get it. In 2011, for instance, Condé Nast received an email that appeared to have been sent by its printer requesting that payment be sent to a different account. The magazine publisher lost nearly $8 million before learning that its printer had never changed its banking information and hadn’t received any of the money.

Make sure employees understand how to protect the data on their PCs, tablets, smartphones, and other devices. Educate them on the dangers of putting personally identifiable information on the Internet that can be used to acquire passwords or run scams. Make sure the data on their PCs is encrypted. Tell them how they can protect themselves when they’re traveling and accessing sensitive company information from a foreign network. Help them make smart choices.

Second, create clear and simple company policies regarding technology. Make sure your employees understand how and when they’re allowed to use personal devices on company networks. Make sure any changes to the network are reported or automatically logged. I once consulted for a semiconductor firm that, naturally, had very strong Internet security and a powerful firewall. However, one of its engineers added a wi-fi card to his desktop computer so he could access the network from other parts of the building. Unfortunately, this wi-fi card also allowed hackers to access the network from the parking lot.

Make sure your employees have passwords that are strong and are changed on a regular basis. Tell them the danger of using the names of their kids or their dogs (these details are easily found out on social networks); do not use “12345″ or the word “password.” Make sure employees know they should not leave passwords on sticky notes on their desks. (I’ve seen this too many times. Hiding something under your keyboard does not make it safe.) Create a protocol for how to deal with a lost or stolen device.

Then follow through.  Routinely check to ensure that policies are being followed. Run low-cost phishing experiments—it’s amazing how many people still click on URLs in emails purporting to be from the email administrator, the CFO, or their bank. Occasionally audit computers and network log-ins for suspicious activity. Check peoples’ desks for passwords and other sensitive information. Establish consequences, and hold people accountable for failing to follow the policies.

Third, put somebody in charge of security. Big companies have armies of security specialists who work full-time on these issues and protect their company’s information. Obviously this is harder to pull off when you’re a smaller company without vast resources. But even small companies must give someone clear responsibility for security.

Leading security doesn’t have to be a full-time job, but it must be part of someone’s. You may need to invest in training or hire part-time consultants to help your security person get up to speed. Then be sure you give them attention and support when they want to make a change. Without focus and attention, security will suffer. And so may your company.

When it comes to security, being small is not a protection. It doesn’t take a lot of investment to put basic protections in place. But it does take attention and effort. Start now to protect your company, your employees, and your customers.

Why Investing In A More Mobile Workforce Makes Sense

The digital revolution has radically transformed what the traditional office looks like. Acres of beige or putty-colored cubicles, like the herds of buffalo that ranged across the American west, are long-gone, replaced by a mobile, distributed workforce who is no longer tethered to a central location.

“Work,” said Matt Kaplan, Vice President of Products at LogMeIn, ”is no longer a place you go to. Rather, the workplace is defined by the tools you use, wherever you are.”

This distribution of digital labor is no mere trend; it is the future of work in an increasingly knowledge-based economy, and those companies currently investing in it are at the vanguard of the changing landscape of work.

At the core of this change is a fundamental shift in what work and productivity ultimately means.

Indeed, the rise of mobile technology has brought the very notion of work back to an almost pre-Industrial Revolution paradigm. Before factories rose and blackened city skies across Europe, the cottage industry dominated working life; weaving, spinning, sewing, and smithing were all done at home. In short, the distributed workforce is nothing new, but what is new is the degree to which companies the world over are embracing it.

Early in the 21st century, a few forward-thinking companies began to question the reasoning behind centralized office work. What, they asked, is the value of having everyone in one place when such a thing is no longer necessitated by technology? What was once a trickle became a flood, and now companies large and small are embracing the concept of a mobile, distributed workforce.

In simplest terms, a mobile workforce lowers overhead. No more sprawling offices. No more vast IT infrastructures. Gone too is the need to settle for local talent that might not measure up to the task. This last point is perhaps the biggest selling point for companies today: when the need for a specific skill set arises, there’s no need to truck someone in from elsewhere. If your New York-based company needs a copywriter, a UX designer, or an AJAX developer with a very narrow, very specific skill set, that person can work just as well from Birmingham or Kansas City or Seattle. No relocation costs, no stress, no adjustment time. Employers can add new talent to their workforce with a simple exchange of emails.

That, of course, is the macro version. In the more immediate sense, a mobile workforce is one empowered with the benefits of mobile technology. The simplest examples of this are managers who spend little of their time sitting at a desk. Instead, they ping-pong between meetings or checking up on employees. Their mobile device — likely a smartphone — is glued to their hand throughout the day, and the ability to be productive with that device is key to increasing their productivity and giving them time back throughout the day.

This ability to perform small tasks during bits of downtime is a major selling point in the concept of a mobile workforce.

“A complex task is simply a large set of simple tasks that must take place in some order,” wrote Wyatt Jenkins, Vice President of Product at Shutterstock. “If you add ‘found time’ to this, users will divide complex tasks on a PC and tasks that can be moved to other portable devices for efficiency.”

In sum, small, quick tasks like answering emails or performing administrative duties can be done on the fly from a mobile device, enabling the user to reclaim time and mobility by unchaining them from their desk.

Adding mobile workers to your company doesn’t have to be difficult. Advanced planning is key when making the transition. First, prepare your existing employees for the shift. Communicate the advantages and enlist their input when developing a mobile management structure. Set clear, measurable goals with employees so they always know what is expected of them. Finally, invest in the right tools so employees always feel connected to you even if they don’t have their own office at the company’s headquarters. Some examples: Skype offers videoconferencing, low-cost internet calls and screen-sharing. Basecamp helps teams manage scheduling, to-dos, and file-sharing over the Web.

For workers and employers alike, the mobile revolution represents a sea change in productivity and the very nature of work itself. Work can be performed from anywhere, freeing workers from the tethers of a commute or finding day care for their children. Employers benefit from lower overhead, greater productivity, and heightened morale from a labor force that no longer sees work as a mere place to go, but as an integral part of a life lived on their terms.

Cloud Computing And The Integration Quagmire

While cloud computing’s popularity as a powerful and transformational business tool is soaring, some companies have been frustrated with cloud apps procured from multiple vendors requiring extensive integration that has dragged out time to value, stunted innovation initiatives, and reinforced the very silos those cloud apps were intended to break down, a new survey has found.

Called Cloud for Business Managers: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, the report reveals that a fragmented approach to cloud apps has led many companies into their very own troughs of disillusionment, in which the hoped-for increased business agility, nimbleness, and optimized decision-making continue to remain beyond their reach.

The irony, of course, is that many of those companies turned to the cloud precisely to get beyond those limitations. What they found, however, is that by deploying the new promise of cloud computing within the old IT framework of integrating lots of disparate pieces, those benefits have been diluted and delayed.

In theory, that approach sounds great: buy point-solution apps from a variety of cloud-application vendors in the hopes of obtaining attractive pricing along with perhaps some best of breed technologies. But that’s turned out to be something of a milkshake-and-two-doughnuts snack: looked real good up front, but feels pretty awful afterward.

The study was conducted by independent research firm Dynamic Markets across 1,355 business managers worldwide (Oracle ORCL -0.33% funded the study). And note how many of these findings mesh with the growing frustration among business customers that are growing weary of the tech industry’s inside-baseball debates, which I described in a recent column called The New and Dangerous Threat to Cloud Computing. Here are some highlights from the survey:

• 54% of respondents said they’d experienced staff downtime in the past 6 months due to integration problems with their cloud apps;
• 52% said they had missed business deadlines because of poor integration of disparate cloud apps from multiple vendors;
• 75% said their innovation initiatives were stunted by integration problems as cloud apps and related workflows were disconnected from essential and related business functions; and,
• A stunning 64% said they were unable to integrate their cloud apps with other enterprise apps.

In a press release announcing the survey findings, Oracle VP of product marketing Rex Wang said, “Cloud applications have the power to dramatically improve business performance while reducing costs, but only if they can work across the business. For example: sales managers need to have their territory planning and quota-management tools integrated with the Human Resource and Compensation applications in order to better drive behavior and achieve sales goals.”

The key to achieving true business value, Wang added, lies in the ability of a company to exploit its cloud apps not just within a narrow departmental silo but across functional units enterprise-wide.

“Subscribing to a cloud-based service may be relatively straightforward, but how this application fits in with the rest of the enterprise, including on-premise systems and other cloud applications, must be thought through,” said Wang.

For more information on the survey, click here.

Is Microsoft’s Surface Pro Tablet a Game Changer?

Does integration with the Office suite and easy security tools give Microsoft the edge over Apple in the tablet wars?

What if your laptop was a tablet? Imagine — something sleek and easy to carry that still runs all of the software you need, such as Microsoft’s Word and Outlook, as well as your favorite document management software, redlining tools, and templates.

PC manufacturers have been trying this for years, but usually come up with plastic-clad behemoths neither easy to hold nor pleasant to use. It took Apple to show the computer industry what a tablet should look like. Now, Microsoft demonstrates what a tablet should do.
The Surface Pro brings Windows compatibility to a sleek, modern tablet. Debuted in February, it runs the full spectrum of Windows software, giving it a range of abilities unavailable on the iPad. This benefits both the lawyers who use tablets and the IT staff who manage and support the devices. Though not always the best of both worlds, the Surface Pro combines strengths of laptops and tablets, making it a compelling new option for users who value mobility.
The Surface Pro’s ability to run any Windows program makes it easier to use and more reliable than other tablets. Many lawyers rely on specialized, proprietary software that exists only for Microsoft Windows. On tablets, lawyers have to seek out iPad- or Android-friendly replacements that might not work the same as — or even connect with — desktop programs.

Imagine a colleague emails you a document, but sends you a link to your document management system instead of the file itself. Can you open that link on an iPad? Can you edit the document on an Android tablet? Sure, some systems have tablet-friendly apps, but can they provide the same experience and tools as a desktop PC? The Surface Pro is intended to do exactly this. You can assume that if it works on a PC, it will work on the Surface Pro.

SECURITY AND MANAGEMENT

The Surface Pro also benefits from security features that are well-known on PCs but less common on tablets. For instance, Windows 8 Pro’s built-in BitLocker feature can encrypt the Surface Pro’s hard drive. If the device is lost or stolen, encryption greatly reduces the chance of someone extracting sensitive data.
The Surface Pro also works with centrally-managed security utilities such as virus scanners, metadata cleaners, and data management apps that integrate with Outlook. Many of these tools are incompatible with iOS and Android, which forces iPad users and their IT departments to seek out replacements. By contrast, with Windows 8, firms can secure tablets with the same tools and policies they already use for Windows desktops.
Windows 8 tablets, like the Surface Pro, are easier to administer than iPads and Androids because they are compatible with the PC management tools IT departments typically use. Firms can deploy security and software updates to the tablets via tools like Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager. IT administrators can also use Active Directory and Group Policy to manage settings for tablet users and grant them permission to access particular applications and files. The upshot is that a Surface Pro can be secured and managed with as much IT attention as a desktop and far less than an iPad.

COMPETITORS

The Surface Pro’s security and compatibility strengths owe to its Windows 8 Pro operating system, and while other tablets can run Windows few are as well-reviewed. The Surface Pro is easily confused with the Surface RT, which is less expensive and less powerful. The RT comes with a stripped-down version of Microsoft Office, missing Outlook. It is also unable to run the add-ins that connect Office with document management systems and metadata cleaning utilities, making the RT unappealing for most attorneys.
Other Windows 8 Pro tablets exist from makers like Lenovo and Dell, but they tend to be clunkier than the Surface Pro. The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 and the Dell XPS 12 both weigh about 3.4 pounds versus two pounds for the Surface Pro, making them less appealing for mobile users. The Surface Pro also won favorable comparisons with these devices regarding design. C|net declared it “the best high-end Windows 8 tablet,” citing “its compact form and excellent little Type Cover.” (Its keyboard doubles as a screen protector.)

CONVERGENCE OR COMPROMISE?
As with any new gadget, the Surface Pro is by no means perfect. Poor battery life has been a common complaint. The New York Times‘ David Pogue reported that his machine lasted 3.5 hours on battery power — a reasonable lifespan for a laptop but much less than expected for a tablet.  The discrepancy arises from the fact that Windows 8 tablets require stronger, more power-hungry processors than the less feature-rich iOS and Android operating systems. Nonetheless, this limitation could prove irksome to former iPad and Android tablet users.
Former iPad and Android users may also miss using their old apps. Though a new tablet user will likely appreciate using the same apps on tablet and desktop, lawyers already using the iPad, say, have probably adapted to its quirks. Different tablet platforms are not compatible with each other’s apps, so a former iPad user may have to re-download, or even repurchase, familiar apps for the Surface Pro.

Moreover, the Windows Store, a source for Windows 8 apps, is relatively new and does not offer as many recreational apps as Apple’s App Store does, meaning that many iOS apps will not have exact Windows 8 equivalents. This limitation should be mitigated, though, by the Surface Pro’s ability to run standard Windows programs, of which there are many.

THE BOTTOM LINE
In spite of its limited battery life, Microsoft’s Surface Pro offers features that are missing in the mainstream tablet market. Being able to run familiar desktop programs on a tablet-sized device gives users the option of replacing two devices, the tablet and the laptop, with one. This is a convenience worth considering, and law firms that value mobility should investigate whether the Surface Pro meets their needs.