Windows Champions

This is the second year that I’ll be part of the Windows Champions program. I realized yesterday that there’s a very real need for me to disclose to y’all what exactly the Windows Champions program is since I don’t have a fancy sidebar widget.

At the beginning of the year long commitment the folks at Microsoft lend each of the bloggers a device to use and learn about through the year. Last year it was a laptop and this year it’s the Surface Tablet. With Windows 8 having launched and the Surface being introduced the expectation is that during the course of the year I will participate in monthly webinars to learn about the products and at least six times a year I will relay some of that information to y’all through this blog.

I’m not a great Windows Champion. I’m good with talking about the products on facebook and any blogger who has ever met me knows that there’s only one way to create a blog post and that’s with Live Writer. Well, there are other ways, but you’d be working too hard.

My friends talk about the Surface Tablet and try to compare it to an iPad. I have both devices (actually I have multiples of them) and I’d urge everyone to think about the Surface as less of a tablet and more of a Laptop replacement. iPads are wonderful for media consumption. I watched three or four seasons of Breaking Bad on mine. iPads are great if you’re looking to play games and answer emails too. They aren’t great if you have to work on a spreadsheet, browse the full web (not the mobile web) or work on an offline document.

I use my Surface daily to create content and I use it for a new web series I’m hosting (more on that later) because Windows 8 seamlessly integrates from phone to surface and I’m able to shoot a video on the phone and use Skydrive to share it with all my Windows devices. Again, you’ll see this on the web soon.

There is one thing that almost no one else will tell you about the Surface Tablet. It’s kind to your manicure. Stuff like this isn’t supposed to matter, but we all know it does. The padded keyboard means that your polish is under less attack and as shallow as that is I’m willing to admit that I love it.

I’m not compensated in any meaningful way for being a Windows Champion. I get to try out new devices and I have access to amazing tech support (okay… I’m totally compensated… tech support is like the holy grail of what a blogger can get).

 

Also I found some free tech support for y’all too. Sign up now and you’ll get a free Answer Desk Service at your local Microsoft Store. You’re welcome!