Surface Studio: After tablets and laptops, Microsoft wants to take over your creative workspace

Microsoft unveiled a premium all-in-one in the form of the **Surface Studio PC** at its Surface Event in New York on 26 October. The 28-inch PixelSense touch-sensitive display sporting all in one, comes with one of the thinnest displays and has a 3:2 aspect ratio. It comes fully kitted out with a high-end Intel Core i7 processor, 2TB hard drive, 32GB RAM, Nvidia 980M GPU, four USB 3.0 ports which are present inside a small box at the base. This box connects to the display via the hinge. It also comes with a special controller in the form of Surface Dial. [caption id=“attachment_343746” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image Credits: Microsoft[/caption] Unlike most static all-in-one’s we have seen so far, the Microsoft Surface Studio, offers a zero-gravity hinge mechanism. The hinge comprises two chrome arms attached to the base. It can go from keeping the display upright, to going almost flat without much resistance. It does not go completely flat, but has a slight angular approach. This resembles the angles at which drafting boards are in studios, which allow the artist to have a better angle to sketch or draw. Pair the 20-inch display which has a 192 PPI pixel density with a Surface Pen (similar to the one seen with Surface Book and **Surface Pro** 4) and the Surface Dial and you could optimise your workflow vis-a-vis the physical counterparts, as was demoed on stage by Madefire founder Ben Wolstenholme. Telling partners how it’s done Microsoft has been working with its PC partners for many years now. But that did not stop it from releasing the Surface Pro tablet in 2013 and last year we saw the release of the Surface Book laptop. Note that Microsoft partners are making products in these categories for years. This year with the Surface Studio PC, Microsoft is getting into the all in one space. Again, this is a category where players such as Lenovo, Asus, HP, Dell and others have been working for years. [caption id=“attachment_343741” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image Credits: Microsoft[/caption] Microsoft Windows operating system may be riddled with issues. But when Microsoft releases hardware such as the Surface Pro, the Surface Book and now, the Surface Studio all in one – we are left impressed. It makes us wonder, why aren’t the partners thinking of these design languages before Microsoft itself? It feels as if Microsoft is laying out the reference design, in a way, which partners need to emulate. With the Surface Studio, Microsoft is continuing that trend in the all in one space. Focus on Creators If there was one word that was constantly heard in the Surface event, it was Creators. Microsoft ensured that every announcement had something or the other to do with content creators. It kind of reminded one of Lenovo’s ‘Do’ campaign. Right from releasing the Windows Creators Edition, to the revamp of Microsoft Paint, to showing off the Surface Studio, it looked like Microsoft was addressing only one community of users - creative professionals. A lot of these, for better or worse, are Mac users. [caption id=“attachment_343730” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image Credits: Microsoft[/caption] This Quora thread gives a good idea why designers prefer a Mac over a Windows system for professional work. According to Guy Kawasaki, it was desktop publishing which saved Apple thanks to its original page-layout program Aldus Pagemaker. At the high end of things, as far as all in ones go, the **iMac 5K** does not really have a Windows equivalent. Even in terms of design, the iMacs with Retina displays are still considered gold standards for all in one systems. Long story short - Windows never had an iMac all in one equivalent. And just like it did with the Surface Pro and Surface Book, Microsoft decided that it had to lead the way in this department as well. Surface Dial really adds value [caption id=“attachment_343740” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image Credits: Microsoft[/caption] Microsoft has been teasing a large screen touch display for ages now. Surface Table, anyone? Back when I had seen it, that moment when the menus pop out once you place the phone on the table, was pretty impressive. With the Surface Dial, Microsoft is trying to do just that. Off the display, it works as a scroller or a jog dial. Place it on the display and it opens up contextual menus based on application you are in. In the demos shown, you see a designer engrossed with painting on the display. She then places the Dial on the display and out comes the colour picker. Considering the 28-inch display size, it would certainly be inconvenient to constantly be going back to the colour picker which may be on either edge of the display to change colours. With more developers adding contextual menus to the Dial, it will get more convenient to use it over say just a mouse / trackpad / Wacom pen tablets. Penny Arcade’s Gabe who has been using the Surface Studio for a week has this to say about the Dial. “The Dial has built in haptics so each step backwards or forwards is accompanied by a “click” I can feel in the device. It can also be pushed like a button or pushed and held to bring up a customizeable radial menu. This menu is customizable so I can easily make that same motion zoom in and out or control the volume of my music. While you are working you can hold it in whatever position is comfortable.” What does it mean for India? Going by the release cycles of Microsoft’s past hardware products, nothing really. It took ages for Microsoft to release the Surface Pro 3 and later the Surface Pro 4 in India. The Surface Book never made it to the Indian shores. And looking at the starting price of $2,399 (approx Rs 1,61,000), it is doubtful we are going to see this in India any time soon. That leaves the field open for Microsoft’s partners to come up with something along the lines of Surface Studio for India. But then looking at the  declining PC sales, and adding in the fact that the Surface Studio and its ilk address a super niche market, I wonder how much of a dent that will make. [caption id=“attachment_343848” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Source: IDC[/caption] Professionals are known to invest in machines that will last them for years. Surface Studio is a great looking product and brings in a true competitor to the iMac 5K in the Windows PC space. Will other partners follow suit, or will it be Microsoft leading this segment in the Windows PC? Only time will tell. Which ever way this pans out, one thing is for sure. For a company which relies on software for its bread and butter, Microsoft has been pulling off some really aspirational hardware over the years.