There has been a lot of hate heaped on top of the SurfaceRT. You have heard things like how its lack of apps is killing it, how it can’t run “legacy” programs. Some people are confused about it, don’t understand it, or think it’s something that it is not. I am not here to defend the RT, it is something that you either get or you don’t, and that’s fine. One of the nice things about Windows 8 is that it’s not really a one size fits all kind of OS. You should match up the product for what your needs are, and not for any other reason. If you need a full blown PC, then you need to get a full blown PC. There are many really great PC’s out there on the market right now, in all budget ranges, so you would not have to look to long and hard to find one that works for you.

That being said, I don’t use the RT to replace my current PC. I use it as a complimentary device to my PC. I use it for music and movie watching, browsing the web, running a few apps, and some very light office work. Anything more serious than that I would use my PC for. Would it be nice to run more traditional programs on it? Sure, why not, but the point is, I don’t find that necessary for my needs. Are there drawbacks to SurfaceRT? Sure, lots of them, but I was aware of them before I bought one by looking at reviews and understanding what I was getting. One can argue that possibly Microsoft was not as eloquent at explaining the differences between the RT and Windows 8 Pro, but seriously, in this day and age you Bing that up and look at the hundreds of reviews online about it. If you had any interest in the RT at all, you could easily find mountains of information on it by a quick web search that would have told you everything you needed to know about it. So I don’t really buy the entire song that MS failed to educate the consumer on the differences. Unless you are in the habit of just buying things on the fly before you know about them, in which case you get what you deserve.

So what are the drawbacks? Hardware wise the RT is really a good machine, though I find it to be a tad sluggish on occasion. This might be frustrating to some people that are used to the fluidity of their PC or another type of tablet, but it is not so noticeable that it becomes an actual problem. Apps seem to run fine, whether they be games or a weather app, but I do notice some take longer than I like to load up. I don’t think you can really chalk that up to the software so much, as more the CPU they used in the RT. I would imagine a tablet with beefier specs would really improve everything. Again, I don’t see it as a deal breaker.

Most of the other issues I have with the RT really are not specific to the RT, they are just amplified on the RT. Xbox music is a perfect example. While I really like Xbox Music for the most part, and I do subscribe to the service as well, the UI of the app is horrible! It’s so clunky to navigate, and has been a constant point of irritation for me since I installed Windows 8 on my PC. Does it work? Sure, it does, and I really love the idea of Xbox Music, they just need to completely rewrite the app and make it more user friendly. I have noticed issues to, where if I wish to play a song, it can sometimes take forever for the song to play if it is over the internet. Again, I love the idea that I can have all my music somewhere in the cloud, but still be able to access it anywhere, but that only works if the service works. When you click on a track, then click on play, and nothing happens for sixty seconds, or never at all, that becomes frustrating. This issue strangely is not limited to the RT, as my Windows 8 machine does the same thing sometimes. It just seems much more prevalent on my RT.

I have had thus far much better results from Xbox Video. Videos stream on my RT fast, and they look really good. A lot of people have knocked the Surface because it does not have the highest resolution on the planet, but you sure could not tell by looking at movies. They have good color, play smoothly, and look vibrant on the RT’s screen. It is for this reason probably more than any other that I have bought a lot of content over the last few months on Xbox Video, and have not regretted it yet. Plus being able to watch my movies and TV shows on the RT, my Win8 PC, and my Xbox is HUGE. I can watch when I want, where I want, as long as I have internet. I love that, as I don’t feel like I am tied down to a single device. I feel free to enjoy my content as I choose, and not be constrained just because a video I want to watch can only be viewed on one thing. Now if only movies worked on Windows Phone 8…

Internet Explorer is one of the most maligned pieces of software on the planet. And indeed, the version of IE on the RT needs some work. Overall though, it’s really a great browser and I don’t find that I have a lot of problems browsing websites with it. Browsers are a strange animal. People get emotionally attached to their preferred browser of choice. I really don’t care, I just want to look at web pages. IE works just fine, and Flash works…err… as well as Flash works… so that’s a good thing right? Seriously though, I have little trouble going to any of the websites that I frequent or anywhere else for that matter. IE’s problems on the RT can mostly be brought back to UI again. It looks good, but can be clunky on occasion. It is nice though to be able to have access to your favorites across devices. I favorite a site on my Windows 8 PC, that favorite shows up on my RT.

Apps are hit and miss. Some are incredibly good, like Snoo, Gleek!, and the News app, which I have fallen in love with. Others are just, there. I will be the first to admit I am not much of an app person, but whereas a lot of people complain about the number of apps, I am more concerned about the quality of apps. Some apps are amazingly good, while others are barely worth a second thought. My thoughts on this are simple. If an app is really good, I buy it, if the app sucks, I get rid of it and never look it over again. In this way I support the good devs that actually put quality out, and discourage the crapware that has inflicted PC’s and now tablets for the longest time. Another thing too. If an app is really good, not only will I buy it to support the maker of it, I will give it an honest rating and review. I hate seeing negative reviews on an app, where you can tell the person was just upset, or incorrect, or flat out making things up just to give an app a bad reputation. If you have a problem with the app, get into contact with the developer. If they cannot, or will not help you to your satisfaction, then by all means, complain as loud as possible. I believe though, that everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt at first, and maybe it’s just a small problem that can be addressed without creating a vendetta.

So why did I bother with the RT? Several things really pop into my mind about why I like it. First is I actually like the desktop. I like a real honest to goodness file menu that I can work with. I like that a lot of the Windows 8 functionality made it to the RT. For example, I was able to plug in a USB thumb drive into my RT, and format it and copy some files to it. Try doing that with your IPad. Certainly this might be something that most people would not care about, and I will give you that, but to me they are a huge bonus to a tablet. I also love how I can use most any peripheral that I already own for my PC, and it works with my RT. I have used USB mice and keyboards, headsets, both wired and wireless, external hard drives, most everything that I have for my Windows 8 machine works on my RT. I love that. It means I don’t have to buy a specific peripheral that was made to specifically work with my tablet.

Ok, this is running long so I am going to close this out. Just wanted to share some thoughts on why I went with an RT, and to let people know there are some of us out there that actually like what Microsoft has done with it.