Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tips

You know, I'm not really a fan of tablets. I didn't see the reason in having one of those.

But I knew the time would come, where I have to adapt to the technology of now. Having an ordinary tablet wasn't enough though, because I need something that I could use for studying too.

And that's the story on how I got a Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

Holy cow on a pogo stick! This thing is utterly expensive, but it's a major improvement compared to my laptop in terms of portability and energy consume.

Windows 8.1
I've never used Windows 8 before and I was frustrated with it at first.
But you will get used to it after awhile.
My major complaint is the resolution or display or whatever.
Many older programs have graphical issues, like showing the labels in buttons incorrectly.
Turning the DPI-Scaling off sometimes does the trick though, but you'll get a font for ants.
But I also fixed that by lowering the resolution.

Here are some of things that I've done with my Surface Pro 3. It might me useful for others.

Custom resolution
If you want to set your own resolution, then this guide will surely help you out. Originally from Reddit, so thanks to the guy (blugamer44) for the trouble.
I recommend you to close everything before doing this.

1. Go to https://downloadcenter.intel.com/
2. For "Select a product family", select "Graphics Drivers"
3. For "Select a product line", select "Laptop graphics drivers"
4. For "Select a product name", depending on your model.
• i3 model select "4th Generation ... Graphics 4200"
• i5 model select "4th Generation ... Graphics 4400"
• i7 model select "4th Generation ... Graphics 5000"
5. Click Find and download the 64bit version (ZIP) (Not EXE)
6. Extract the ZIP somewhere and open "Device Manager"
7. Expand "Display Adapters"
8. Right-click "Intel(R) HD Graphics Family"
9. Click "Update Driver Software..."
10. Click "Browse my computer for driver software"
11. Click "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
12. Click "Have Disk"
13. Click "Browse" and find ZIP folder
14. Open the "Graphics" sub-folder
15. Select the "kit64ics.inf" file and click "Open" and "Ok"
16. Click Next and the driver should begin installing Reboot after install and presto

Right-click on your desktop and you will see new settings for your display

Custom Desktop
If you want to spice up your desktop screen or simply do something new with it, then these programs are perfect for you.
Check out Rainmeter and ObjectDocks. They are incredible tools for desktop customization. Too bad, that ObjectDocks isn't for free. You can also use these in Windows 7 too.
With a combination of Rainmeter and ObjectDocks, you will get something like these.

Change Start screen/Metro background
Sure, you can change the start screen background by changing the desktop wallpaper, but what if you want individual backgrounds?
Windows 8 Start Screen Customizer does exactly what the name implies.
The background can also be a GIF animation with this nifty application, so go creative.

Re-enable/change startup music
I gave up on changing the startup music, because there were too many risks involved with it.
I actually tried a method on a virtual machine first and it worked. But the result was the same as this guy's.

Surface Pen Update
I found out that there's an update for Surface Pen, so I went ahead and installed that.
Driver link can be found here
Just choose "Microsoft" as manufacturer and the rest is self-explanatory.

Checking some Metro Apps out
I haven't spent so much time in trying many apps out, because they seems pretty redundant.
Here are a few apps, that I occasionally use.

• Facebook and Twitter

They work alright. Video chat and such stuff = no idea. The most basic stuff are working and that's all I care.

• Skype

I'm using the Desktop version instead, because the Metro version requires a Hotmail account.
So, no. I don't know how good it is.

• Flipboard

It's a news board app, where you can choose from different categories and you'll receive daily news from the selected categories. I like to check once and awhile.

• Nonogram

I'm a big fan of Nintendo's Picross series. It's a puzzle game series and the rules are simple. You get a grid and you have to select cells according to numbers at the side of the grid to reveal a hidden picture.
It's hard to get the gameplay via explaining, so check this video out.

Title: SNES Mario's Super Picross
Uploaded by: ShiryuGL

• Hyper for Youtube

I have no idea, why I got this one. It's YouTube with a black interface. Maybe because the GUI is very appealing.

• Asparion Clock

The start screen/Metro lacks a clock, which is unfortunate. So I went ahead and got this thing.

•  One Calender

I didn't like the calender, that came with the OS. This one has a better looking interface.
Not much to say here.

So that's it for now. Next time I'll write about what I think of Flash CC or generally Adobe products on the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, but for now here's a video that makes you want to play Streets of Rage again.

Title: Black Box vs Streets of Rage - Everybody Everybody(Wave 131 remix)
Uploaded by: DJYuzoboy




=========================
Post Date: 11th March 2015