Microsoft’s button placement on the Surface Pro 3 isn’t just a cosmetic issue – it also causes problems for graphic artists.
Penny Arcade’s Mike “Gabe” Krahulik, illustrator of the online comic, found that the Windows button’s move to the right side of the device in landscape mode causes interference from his palm when drawing with a pen. Microsoft told Krahulik that a solution would be to deactivate the button in the device manager settings.
“Sometimes, depending on how I touch it, the button simply provides its haptic buzz to the side of my hand,” Krahulik wrote. “Other times, it will actually activate and throw me back out to the desktop. It’s either simply annoying or actually disruptive.”
An eventual solution to the problem for Microsoft could be to move the Windows button back to its original placement and deactivate it when a cover is attached. Given that the Surface keyboards all have a Windows key, the button wouldn’t be necessary when they’re in use. Microsoft almost certainly won’t make any change until the next iteration of the device, however, as it’s now in mass production for a June release.
In addition to the button placement, Krahulik said the speed of the configuration he was sent – a Surface Pro 3 with Intel Core i5 processor – caused significant slowdowns in Photoshop and Magna Studio. Cursor lag became apparent in either application when using the pen to select menu items, though he noted drawing with the pen in either application caused no such issues.
Overall, however, Krahulik liked the Surface Pro 3, but the problems with the button placement and speed made him “frustrated with the device.” Microsoft is listening to his feedback, he said, and using him as a “sort of guinea pig” to diagnose and remedy problems for graphical artists.
Source: Penny Arcade