Send anonymous email or SMS

Web site Sharpmail let's you send anonymous email and SMS messages to any recipient.

Sharpmail might come in handy in those delicate situations where you don't feel quite right about broaching a touchy subject with someone yourself. For example, say you write for a technology and productivity "weblog," and your boss keeps forwarding you videos of stupid dancing animals, but you don't have the heart to directly tell Gina your boss that you don't find them that funny. However, you might want to think long and hard about whether an anonymous email is the smartest plan of action, since it's likely to make the receiver a bit paranoid (or at least it would me).

On the other hand, you could use anonymous email for evil, but keep in mind that Sharpmail will give you up in a heartbeat if they feel you're violating any laws.

Anonymous SMS, Spoof SMS & How It Works

- Fake SMS from number	- Personal SMS outbox
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- Personal Address Book

Anonymous SMS is a mobile/cell phone text message that can be sent from any international number, or if you wish a name. Sharpmail allows you to send Anonymous SMS text messages to any global destination.

This unique addition is one of it's kind from Sharpmail, one of the first servive providers. All Anonymous SMS text messages are instantly delivered or delayed until a time and date you specify. Delivery Reports are updated in real time in your personal SMS outbox.

Sender information can contain up to 16 numeric digits or 11 alphanumeric characters. The maximum limit to the Anonymous SMS text message is the industry standard, 160 characters. We enable longer spoof sms messages using Concat SMS. We also support Unicode SMS (UCS2) to send messages in foreign characters. Unicode will reduce the limit of each Anonymous SMS text message to 70 characters. Sharpmail: The original solution to anonymous SMS.

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Sam Spade: The Swiss Army Knife of network analysis

 For a variety of network analysis and management functions, consider putting Sam Spade to work. As Jason Hiner explains, this free, downloadable utility offers a versatile suite of TCP/IP and internetworking tools

Every administrator’s computer contains a toolbox full of useful utilities for network management. These can include performance and diagnostic counters, network packet analyzers, remote control programs, administration modules for server software, and a variety of other tools. If your organization’s connected to the Internet 24/7, I would recommend that you consider adding Sam Spade to your toolbox. Sam Spade for Windows offers a suite of tools for protecting against spam on mail servers, analyzing and troubleshooting Web servers, and gathering information on Internet hosts.

Many of these utilities were previously available only on UNIX machines. Most are aimed at stopping and tracking down spammers. Nevertheless, you can also use Sam Spade to gather some great general information about your network. This information will help you identify areas where hackers can gather too much information about your hosts, in addition to helping you keep your mail servers protected from spam.

One of my favorite features of Sam Spade is that it’s free. If you’re a Windows user, simply go to their Web site and download the latest version. On the main page, you’ll also find online versions of many of these networking tools. These are helpful when you are away from your main workstation or at a computer connected to the Internet behind a very restrictive firewall. Otherwise, the Windows version of Sam Spade is preferable because of its fast and easy access to a variety of tools and because you can run a number of different inquiries simultaneously.

Configuration
Once you download Sam Spade and install it on your workstation, you’ll want to configure a few settings. First, open Sam Spade and click Edit | Options, as shown in Figure A. In the Basics tab, enter your default DNS server (or use DHCP), your e-mail address, so that you can do SMTP relay checking, and your ISP’s Web server, so that you can use the Awake feature to have Sam Spade send out periodic packets to keep a dial-up connection from being dropped.

Figure A

Basics tab of the Options dialog box

Using the tools
Sam Spade has a nice user interface, as shown in Figure B. It combines many of the traditional TCP/IP tools with some unique tools that give an administrator a great look at a network. Best of all, these tools are combined in one package. You’ll find versions of ping, nslookup, and traceroute. And the Sam Spade versions are intuitive and flexible, especially when compared to the Windows versions of these TCP/IP tools. For example, with the ping feature, you can set the number of echo requests you prefer on the toolbar; then, every time you use ping, it will use that setting. At the command line, you have to use a switch such as “ping -n 2” each time you want to set the echo number.

Figure B

Example of Sam Spade user interface

The traceroute feature is one of my favorites. You can do a fast traceroute or a slow traceroute. The fast traceroute gives you the quick list of hops your packet makes from your machine to a designated host. The slow traceroute is more like the traditional traceroute utility. However, both traceroute options provide a nice graph to accompany the information, as shown in Figure C.

Figure C

Graph using the fast traceroute function

Sam Spade also includes some traditional UNIX tools, such as whois and finger. Whois is actually the default tool. If you simply enter a domain such as techrepublic.com in the Sam Spade toolbar hostname field and press [Enter], Sam Spade will return the whois information on who owns the domain name, as well as other registration information, such as the technical contact for the domain.

In addition to nslookup, Sam Spade offers a more advanced DNS querying tool called dig, which requests all the DNS records for an individual host and/or a domain. An advanced whois tool, called “IP block whois,” tries to find who owns a block of IP addresses.

Spam is its specialty
The core of Sam Spade is in its spam tools:

• SMTP VRFY: Checks to see whether an e-mail address is a true address or if it is being forwarded.
• SMTP relay check: Measures the security of a mail server. It attempts to relay mail externally. If it is successful, the mail server is vulnerable to being exploited by spammers looking for a third-party machine to relay their mail.
• E-mail header analysis: Allows you to paste an e-mail address from your mail client into the Sam Spade toolbar and analyze it with all of the standard tools.
• Blacklist lookups and Abuse.net query: Both allow you to interact with Web sites (and organizations) that track down and report known spammers.

In addition to these anti-spamming tools, Sam Spade’s help files contain some good tutorials on tracking down spammers. See Spam-tracking 101 through Spam-tracking 104 in the Manuals and Tutorials category of the help files.

Useful Web site tools
The Sam Spade suite also provides some useful Web site tools. The Crawl Web tool, shown in Figure D, allows you to search a Web site based on specific query parameters you set. It also enables you to download all the documents of an entire Web site. The program includes a Web browser that offers a raw source-code view of a Web site rather than a graphical view. The browser doesn’t send any identifying information to the host Web server. In addition, it doesn’t support any plug-ins, scripting languages, or other browser add-ons, and it doesn’t actually render the HTML into a graphical format. As a result, it allows you to see meta fields, hidden form fields, white-on-white text, and other developer tricks for disguising information.

Figure D

Crawl Web tool

Sam Spade also includes some security tools that could send up some red flags if you decide to use them to look at information on other companies, especially large multinational organizations. These tools include a port scanner, a DNS zone transfer tool, and the SMTP relay checker. The port scanner in Sam Spade is fairly basic, as you can see in Figure E, but it’s functional. For a better port scanner, go to the Eeye Web site, which offers a freeware port scanner for Windows NT and a commercial port scanner for serious hacker prevention. If you use the port scanner on another network, be aware that you can set off hacker detection programs.

Figure E

Port scanner

The SMTP relay checker we discussed above can also set off alerts for companies that carefully guard against spamming. In order to use port scanning, SMTP relay checking, and zone transfers, you have to go to Edit | Options and then click on the Advanced tab, shown in Figure F. Here, you can select any of these tools you want to use.

Figure F

Selecting security tools in the Advanced tab

Zone transfers are extremely useful for testing your own domain to make sure hackers can’t gather valuable information about your systems architecture. Once you have enabled zone transfers, go to the fields at the top of the Sam Spade toolbar and enter your fully qualified domain name in the hostname field (on the left side) and enter the IP address of one of your DNS servers in the name server field (on the right side). Then click Tools | Zone Transfer. If you see Query refused, you’re in good shape. However, if you discover that Zone Transfer has provided a list of your DNS entries, your network is vulnerable. You’ll need to disable zone transfers on your DNS servers if you are managing your own name servers, or you’ll need to call your ISP and request that it disable zone transfers if it’s doing DNS for your Internet servers.

The Taliban’s Letter to Malala Yousafzai - Must Read

Miss Malala Yousafzai,

I am writing to you in my personal capacity this may not be the opinion or policy of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or other ****** faction or group.

I heard about you through BBC Urdu service for the first time, when I was in bannu prison, at that time I wanted to write to you, to advise you to refrain from anti-Taliban activities you were involved in. but I could not find your address and I was thinking how to approach you with real or pseudo name, my all emotions were brotherly for you because we belong to same Yousafzai tribe. Meanwhile the prison brake happened and I was supposed to be in hiding. when you were attacked it was shocking for me I wished it would never happened and I had advised you before.

Taliban attacked you, was it islamically correct or wrong, or you were deserved to be killed or not, I will not go in this argument now, let’s we leave it to Allah All mighty, He is the best judge. Here I want to advise you as I am already late, I wish I would have advised u in my prison time and this accident would never happened. First of all please mind that Taliban never attacked you because of going to school or you were education lover, also please mind that Taliban or Mujahideen are not against the education of any men or women or girl. Taliban believe that you were intentionally writing against them and running a smearing campaign to malign their efforts to establish Islamic system in swat and your writings were provocative.

You have said in your speech yesterday that pen is mightier than sword, so they attacked you for your sword not for your books or school. There were thousands of girls who were going to school and college before and after the Taliban insurgency in swat, would you explain why were only you on their hit list???

Now to explain you the second point, why Taliban are blowing up schools? The answer to this questions in that not only Taliban in KPK or FATA are blowing up the schools but Pakistan Army and Frontier Constabulary is equally involved in this issue. The reason for this action is common between them that is turning of schools into hide outs and transit camps once it comes under control of either party Pakistan Army or Taliban.

In 2004 I was in Swat, I was researching on the causes of failure of the first revolution attempt by Sufi Muhammad. I came to know that FC was stationed in the schools of swat in tehsil Matta and FC was using schools as their transit camps and hid outs. Now tell me who to blame???

Dozens of schools and colleges are being used by Pakistan Army and FC as their barracks in FATA, you can find out easily if you like. So when something sacred is turned lethal it needs to be eliminated this is the policy of Taliban.

Blowing up schools when they are not using strategically is not the Taliban job, some black sheep of local administration may be involved to extract more and more funds in the name of schools to fill their bank accounts.

it was shocking for me I wished it would never happened

Now I come to the main point that is EDUCATION, it is amazing that you are Shouting for education, you and the UNO is pretending that as you were shot due to education, although this is not the reason, be honest, not the education but your propaganda was the issue and what you are doing now, you are using your tongue on the behest of the others and you must know that if the pen is mightier than the sword then tongue is sharper and the injury of sword can be hailed but the injury of the tongue never hails and in the wars tongue is more destructive than any weapon.

I would like to share with you that Indian sub-continent was highly educated and almost every citizen was able to read or write before British invasion. Locals used to teach British officers Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and Persian. Almost every mosque was acting as school too and Muslim emperors used to spend a huge sum of money on education. Muslim India was rich in farming, silk, and jute and from textile industry to ship building. No poverty, no crises and no clashes of civilization or religion. Because the education system was based on noble thoughts and noble curriculum.

I want to draw your attention to an extract from the minute written by Sir T.B Macaulay to British parliament dated 2nd February 1835 about what type of education system is required in Indian sub-continent to replace the Muslim education system. He stated “We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, –a class of persons Indian in blood and color, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect” This was and this is the plan and mission of this so called education system for which you are ready to die, for which UNO takes you to their office to produce more and more Asians in blood but English in taste, to produce more and more Africans in color but English in opinion, to produce more and more non English people but English in morale. This so called education made Obama, the mass murder, your ideal. isn’t it?

Why they want to make all human beings English? because Englishmen are the staunch supporters and slaves of Jews. Do you know Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the founder and symbol of English education in India was a freemasons.

You say a teacher, a pen and a book can change the world, yes I agree with, but which teacher which pen and which book? It is to be specified, Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him said I am sent as a teacher, and the book He sent to teach is Quran. So a noble and pious teacher with prophetic curriculum can change the world not with satanic or secular curriculum.

You have given the example that once a journalist asked a student that why a talib afraid of this education he replied a talib didn’t know what was in this book. The same I say to you and through you to whole world that why they afraid from the book of Allah because they don’t know what is in it. Taliban want to implement what is in the book of ALLAH and UNO want to implement what they have in man-made books. We want to connect the world to their creator through the book of Allah and UNO want to enslave the world to few evil creatures.


You have talk about justice and equality from the stage of and unjust institution, the place where you were standing uttering for justice and equality, all the nations are not equal there, only five wicked states have the veto power and rest of them are powerless, dozens of time when all the world untied against the Israel only one veto was enough to press the throat of justice.

The place you were speaking to the world is heading towards new world order, I want to know what is wrong the old world order? They want to establish global education, global economy, global army, global trade, global government and finally global religion. I want to know is there any space for the prophetic guidance in all above global plans? Is there any space for Islamic sharia or Islamic law to which UN call inhumane and barbaric? You have talk about attack on polio team, would you explain why the then American foreign secretary of state Henry Kissinger, a Jew, said in 1973 to reduce the third world population by 80%. Why the sterilization and eugenics programs are running in different countries in one way or another under the umbrella of UNO. More than 1 million Muslim women have been sterilized in Uzbekistan forcibly without their consent. Bertrand Russell writes in his book the impact of science on society, “diet, injections and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character and sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable and any serious criticism of power that be will become psychologically impossible”. This is why we have the reservation on so called polio vaccination program.

You say Malala day is not your day it is the day of every person who has raised voice for their rights, I ask you why such a day in not assigned to Rachel Corrie, only because the bulldozer was Israeli? Why such a day in not assigned to AffiaSiddique because the buyers are Americans? Why such day is not assigned to Faizan and Faheem because the killer was Raymond Davis? Why such a day in not assigned to those16 innocent afghan women and children who were shot dead by an American Robert Belas because he was not a talib. I ask you and be honest in reply, if you were shot but Americans in a drone attack, would world have ever heard updates on your medical status? Would you be called ‘daughter of the nation? Would the media make a fuss about you? Would General Kiyani have come to visit you and would the world media be constantly reporting on you? Would you were called to UN? Would a Malala day be announced?

More than 300 innocent women and children have been killed in drones attacks but who cares because attackers are highly educated, non-violent, peaceful Americans.

I wish, the compassion you learnt from Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him should be learnt by Pakistan Army so they could stop shedding of Muslim blood in FATA and Baluchistan. I wish, the compassion you learnt from Prophet Jesus should be learnt by USA and NATO so they should stop shedding blood of innocent Muslims across the world and I wish the same for followers of Buddha to stop killing of innocent unarmed Muslims in Burma, and Sri Lanka and wish the same for Indian army to follow Gandhi jee and stop genocide in Kashmir, And yes, The followers of bacha khan, the ANP has an example of non-violence in their five years regime in KPK province, for example Swat, where a single shot was not fired and we witnessed the followers of bacha khan implemented the philosophy of nonviolence in its true soul, with support of jets, tanks and gunships.

At the end I advise you to come back home, adopt the Islamic and pushtoon culture, join any female Islamic madrassa near your home town, study and learn the book of Allah, use your pen for Islam and plight of Muslim ummah and reveal the conspiracy of tiny elite who want to enslave the whole humanity for their evil agendas in the name of new world order.



All praises to Allah the creator of the Universe.



July 15, 2013. SOURCE

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/social-issues-current-events/282495-taliban-s-letter-malala-yousafzai-must-read.html#ixzz2hY2eeJnX

Windows RT explained: Microsoft finally gets tablet computing right

Windows RT is a version of Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system that has been tailored specifically for tablets and notebooks powered by ARM processors. The new OS represents a massive shift for the Redmond-based company, as it is both the first version to support ARM SoCs and the first iteration to enable interaction on a tablet as enjoyable as a mouse and keyboard are on the desktop version of the OS.
Until recently, Microsoft has seen tablets as a niche hardware, and has focused most of its development efforts on running Windows on traditional desktop and laptop computers. Tablets are no longer solely used in vertical markets and by graphic designers, however. Thanks to relatively low-priced ARM hardware running Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating system, tablets are used by millions of consumers as a secondary media consumption device — or in some cases in place of a traditional computer all together.
Thankfully, Microsoft has recognized the importance of supporting the growing tablet market and has put together a purpose-built OS that not only blows away Microsoft’s previous tablet “support” strategy of bolting on touchscreen and digitizer support to the traditional Windows desktop UI, but rivals the user interfaces of iOS and Android.
While the familiar Windows desktop is still present, it is merely one of many applications available on a brand new operating system featuring a touch-friendly user interface. The Modern UI (formerly Metro) Start screen is essentially the new desktop of Windows RT, and it has drawn inspiration from Microsoft’s Windows Phone mobile OS to bring live tiles, gestures, multitouch, cloud syncing, and an app store to Windows users.

The software

Windows has traditionally been a versatile operating system that is extremely customizable, but one trait that makes tablets like the iPad and Nexus 7 attractive devices is an intuitive interface that makes the computer easier to use. Surely, that is not of much concern to power users (who are likely the majority of the ET audience), but for most people it is of supreme importance.
Windows RT goes against Windows tradition by limiting customization to smaller aesthetic tweaks (think customized lock screen photo, Start screen background), and presents a screen of live tiles much like Windows Phone. From there, you can launch, switch, and close applications with touch gestures. You can re-size the live tiles and reorder them, but that is the extent of customization allowed on what is essentially the new Windows RT desktop.
Microsoft has further embraced multitouch and gestures to navigate around the operating system. Swipe gestures in particular are used throughout the OS, and if you have used a smartphone or tablet before, after a couple of minutes playing around with Windows RT you will be right at home.

Easily switch apps by swiping in from the left of the screen.

The user interface of Windows RT is designed to work well on high-pixel-density displays. The full-screen nature of the Start Screen and all of the applications also ensures that precious screen real estate on mobile devices is not wasted by taskbars, window borders, file menus, and other features of previous Windows versions. Instead Microsoft has tucked away menus behind an overlay that can be brought up by swiping up from the bottom of the touchscreen.
While it will vary from tablet to tablet, Windows RT feels surprisingly snappy, despite the wimpy ARM SoC powering it, and the interface in general is really quite joyous to use. Buttons are larger, and there are extremely few areas in the Metro UI where you run the risk of your finger(s) not being accurate enough to select the thing you want. The Office 2013 applications running on the desktop will have a touch mode where the buttons will be spread further apart to make it easier to select items in the ribbon as well.
Users can run up to two applications at a time side-by-side, but for the most part Windows RT encourages you to focus on one app at a time. Applications in the background are put to sleep to conserve battery life. The limited multitasking is also well-suited to ARM hardware where you do not have the same level of computing power and memory as an x86 desktop or laptop.

Next  Application,Security:

Galaxy note review- Samsungs latest android phablet is a top performer with a brilliant display

The Galaxy Note 3 is a high-quality portable device, offering unsurpassed performance, a stunning screen and nice build quality. Here's Tech Advisor's Galaxy Note 3 review. (For comparison, see our Sony Xperia Z1 review.)

An Android smartphone that doubles as a pocket tablet. If you have use for a 6in display you could do a lot worse than check out the Galaxy Note 3. We like it.

Battery life is up there with the best handsets on the market, and the Note 3 has a 5.7in AMOLED display with 16M colours and a 24-bit colour depth. That's a lot of colour and it shows. If a vibrant and deep hue is something you like in your display you need look no further. Resolution is resolutely sharp, with a pixel density of 386ppi. The touchscreen is snappy and sensitive, although prone to picking up finger smears.

Galaxy Note 3: specifications

The Note 3 pairs a new quad-core chip with a whopping three gigabytes of memory - and it shows. Synthetic benchmarks shouldn't be relied upon when making a purchasing decision, but if they were the Note 3 would be a must buy. In use the Note 3 feels slick and zippy. It's a truly fast phone.

The Galaxy Note 3 has two cameras, a front-facing camera for selfies and video calling, and a rear-facing snapper for more serious photography and video capture. The latter is a serious piece of compact camera kit, offering such features as auto focus, image stabilisation, LED flash and zero shutter lag.

Storage wise the options are thirty-two gigabytes and sixty four gigabytes, and there's an SD card expansion slot for up to another sixty four gigs of storage. You can also install and purchase apps and media from Samsung's own store, which is in some ways confusing but does at least offer you the opportunity to compare and choose based on price. See also: hands on with the Galaxy S4 Zoom

What is the point of Windows Surface RT? 5 reasons why windows surface RT is failure

I want to like Windows RT, but it's just not fit for purpose. The Surface RT is simply no use: here are five reasons the Surface 2 will suck (and one of them is it's not the Surface Pro).
Microsoft, and Microsoft alone, is persisting with Windows RT. As other hardware manufacturers have shamefacedly dumped Microsoft's ARM-based OS, making their excuses about it 'being them and not it', Microsoft hasn't got the memo and is persisting with Windows RT. Pride can be an expensive thing.
I need to make a couple of things clear here. I wish Windows RT was great, I like Windows 8, and I think the Surface Pro *is* great.
An ARM-based version of Windows would be a truly game-changing innovation for reasons of battery life alone, but Windows RT is not that. We're stuck with Intel for now, and Intel is making such strides on battery life that it is soon to become a moot point. Meanwhile Windows 8 is stable and fast and offers additional features and functions that can simply be ignored by those who want plain old Windows. And the Surface Pro is the most portable power PC you will ever own. You can't compute with it on your lap, but surfaces for the Surface are not exactly in short supply, in my experience. See also: Windows 8 smartwatch: what you need to know about the Surface smartwatch.
The Surface RT is not in short supply either. It's portable, but hobbled with the less useful half of an OS it is not useful. And the Surface 2 will not solve that or the lack of popularity, despite impressive hardware.
The biggest upgrade on the Surface 2 tablet is its new 1080p display. With a resolution of 1920x1080, it's a significant upgrade over the original Surface RT's 1366x768 screen. Not that the Surface RT's screen was ever the problem.
Microsoft says the panel itself is optically bonded to the surface of the screen, aiming to improve sunlight legibility outdoors. The 10.6in, 1080p screen should also mean a significant improvement in displaying crisp and clear text, a major criticism of the original Surface - but not a problem for me.
Microsoft has also improved the kick stand, a hardware design almost Apple-like in its simplicity and elegant usefulness. That should be a good thing but, again, it doesn't stop the Surface 2 from sucking. Here's why:

5 reasons Surface 2 will suck

1. It's not Windows, but you might think it is

Let's leave all pretence aside: Windows RT is not Windows. It looks like Windows, and has some of Windows capabilities, but it's not what your average punter would expect from Windows. And that is a problem. Unlike many I have no problem with the Modern UI and Windows apps. But that's becuase they are an additional skin to the Windows OS on which I run all the software I need.
Something that looks like Windows but on which I can run exactly none of my Windows software is next to useless. Actually, it's worse than that, because many people will consider RT devices without realising the full implications.

2. No-one will write software for it, sell media on it, make third-party hardware for it

Of course you get a 'full' version of Microsoft Office 2013 RT. But that is not entirely a full version of Office, and it is about the only useful software you can find. As for hardware accessories the Touch and Type covers are amazing, but they are expensive and you won't find the price coming down any time soon.
Unfortunately, they are all there is. Third party hard- and software makers are just not interested in a niche that is getting more nichey by the day.
The Windows Store remains resolutely bereft of great apps and games, and it's not the best place from which a UK consumer can source music and movies.
Without third-party support, or the ability to run traditional X86 software Windows RT is just a pretty environment within which to web browse and send emails.

3. It's not even Windows Phone...

So you have a slab on which you can do, well, not a lot. The least you would expect would be that it could connect you to the web all the time so you can get on with your hobbled web browsing and emailing. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The Surface 2 will lack cellular connectivity. It requires Wi-Fi to get online.
Windows Phone may not have great third-party support, but it does portable connectivity well. Windows RT can't even help you check your email on your commute.

4. So it should be cheaper

Kudos to Microsoft for recognising in its pricing that Surface 2 will not be a challenger to the best Android and iPad tablets with their rich app- and media support, or the best Windows tablets with their access to proper software. But even at this price a device that doesn't do anything is not cheap enough.
The Surface 2 starts at £359. That puts it in the mid rank of tablets. It's too expensive because the hardware is no better than - say - a Nexus or even Tesco Hudl tablet, and it doesn't offer access to either Google Play or Apple iTunes and App Store.

5. It's not the Surface Pro 2

The Surface Pro 2 will set you back at least £719 inc VAT, but in my view is well worth looking at. It has all the benefits of Surface 2 and those of a full Windows PC. Indeed, if the performance has improved from the original Surface Pro it will be the best portable power PC you'll ever own.
A device on which you can run any Windows program with performance that you would expect from a £700 PC or laptop. With a keyboard and display it could easily be your home- and/or office PC. And presuming that the battery life is up to snuff it could also be your daily traveling companion, used as either tablet or laptop.
At half the price the Surface 2 will have almost none of the usefulness, and that makes it worth next to nothing and bound to suck.
- See more at: http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/opinion/tablets/5-reasons-surface-2-will-suck/#sthash.ErOCxdUp.dpuf

I want to like Windows RT, but it's just not fit for purpose. The Surface RT is simply no use: here are five reasons the Surface 2 will suck (and one of them is it's not the Surface Pro).

Microsoft, and Microsoft alone, is persisting with Windows RT. As other hardware manufacturers have shamefacedly dumped Microsoft's ARM-based OS, making their excuses about it 'being them and not it', Microsoft hasn't got the memo and is persisting with Windows RT. Pride can be an expensive thing.

I need to make a couple of things clear here. I wish Windows RT was great, I like Windows 8, and I think the Surface Pro *is* great.

An ARM-based version of Windows would be a truly game-changing innovation for reasons of battery life alone, but Windows RT is not that. We're stuck with Intel for now, and Intel is making such strides on battery life that it is soon to become a moot point. Meanwhile Windows 8 is stable and fast and offers additional features and functions that can simply be ignored by those who want plain old Windows. And the Surface Pro is the most portable power PC you will ever own. You can't compute with it on your lap, but surfaces for the Surface are not exactly in short supply, in my experience. See also: Windows 8 smartwatch: what you need to know about the Surface smartwatch.

The Surface RT is not in short supply either. It's portable, but hobbled with the less useful half of an OS it is not useful. And the Surface 2 will not solve that or the lack of popularity, despite impressive hardware.

The biggest upgrade on the Surface 2 tablet is its new 1080p display. With a resolution of 1920x1080, it's a significant upgrade over the original Surface RT's 1366x768 screen. Not that the Surface RT's screen was ever the problem.

Microsoft says the panel itself is optically bonded to the surface of the screen, aiming to improve sunlight legibility outdoors. The 10.6in, 1080p screen should also mean a significant improvement in displaying crisp and clear text, a major criticism of the original Surface - but not a problem for me.

Microsoft has also improved the kick stand, a hardware design almost Apple-like in its simplicity and elegant usefulness. That should be a good thing but, again, it doesn't stop the Surface 2 from sucking. Here's why:

5 reasons Surface 2 will suck

1. It's not Windows, but you might think it is

Let's leave all pretence aside: Windows RT is not Windows. It looks like Windows, and has some of Windows capabilities, but it's not what your average punter would expect from Windows. And that is a problem. Unlike many I have no problem with the Modern UI and Windows apps. But that's becuase they are an additional skin to the Windows OS on which I run all the software I need.

Something that looks like Windows but on which I can run exactly none of my Windows software is next to useless. Actually, it's worse than that, because many people will consider RT devices without realising the full implications.

2. No-one will write software for it, sell media on it, make third-party hardware for it

Of course you get a 'full' version of Microsoft Office 2013 RT. But that is not entirely a full version of Office, and it is about the only useful software you can find. As for hardware accessories the Touch and Type covers are amazing, but they are expensive and you won't find the price coming down any time soon.

Unfortunately, they are all there is. Third party hard- and software makers are just not interested in a niche that is getting more nichey by the day.

The Windows Store remains resolutely bereft of great apps and games, and it's not the best place from which a UK consumer can source music and movies.

Without third-party support, or the ability to run traditional X86 software Windows RT is just a pretty environment within which to web browse and send emails.

3. It's not even Windows Phone...

So you have a slab on which you can do, well, not a lot. The least you would expect would be that it could connect you to the web all the time so you can get on with your hobbled web browsing and emailing. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The Surface 2 will lack cellular connectivity. It requires Wi-Fi to get online.

Windows Phone may not have great third-party support, but it does portable connectivity well. Windows RT can't even help you check your email on your commute.

4. So it should be cheaper

Kudos to Microsoft for recognising in its pricing that Surface 2 will not be a challenger to the best Android and iPad tablets with their rich app- and media support, or the best Windows tablets with their access to proper software. But even at this price a device that doesn't do anything is not cheap enough.

The Surface 2 starts at £359. That puts it in the mid rank of tablets. It's too expensive because the hardware is no better than - say - a Nexus or even Tesco Hudl tablet, and it doesn't offer access to either Google Play or Apple iTunes and App Store.

5. It's not the Surface Pro 2

The Surface Pro 2 will set you back at least £719 inc VAT, but in my view is well worth looking at. It has all the benefits of Surface 2 and those of a full Windows PC. Indeed, if the performance has improved from the original Surface Pro it will be the best portable power PC you'll ever own.

A device on which you can run any Windows program with performance that you would expect from a £700 PC or laptop. With a keyboard and display it could easily be your home- and/or office PC. And presuming that the battery life is up to snuff it could also be your daily traveling companion, used as either tablet or laptop.

At half the price the Surface 2 will have almost none of the usefulness, and that makes it worth next to nothing and bound to suck.

I want to like Windows RT, but it's just not fit for purpose. The Surface RT is simply no use: here are five reasons the Surface 2 will suck (and one of them is it's not the Surface Pro).
Microsoft, and Microsoft alone, is persisting with Windows RT. As other hardware manufacturers have shamefacedly dumped Microsoft's ARM-based OS, making their excuses about it 'being them and not it', Microsoft hasn't got the memo and is persisting with Windows RT. Pride can be an expensive thing.
I need to make a couple of things clear here. I wish Windows RT was great, I like Windows 8, and I think the Surface Pro *is* great.
An ARM-based version of Windows would be a truly game-changing innovation for reasons of battery life alone, but Windows RT is not that. We're stuck with Intel for now, and Intel is making such strides on battery life that it is soon to become a moot point. Meanwhile Windows 8 is stable and fast and offers additional features and functions that can simply be ignored by those who want plain old Windows. And the Surface Pro is the most portable power PC you will ever own. You can't compute with it on your lap, but surfaces for the Surface are not exactly in short supply, in my experience. See also: Windows 8 smartwatch: what you need to know about the Surface smartwatch.
The Surface RT is not in short supply either. It's portable, but hobbled with the less useful half of an OS it is not useful. And the Surface 2 will not solve that or the lack of popularity, despite impressive hardware.
The biggest upgrade on the Surface 2 tablet is its new 1080p display. With a resolution of 1920x1080, it's a significant upgrade over the original Surface RT's 1366x768 screen. Not that the Surface RT's screen was ever the problem.
Microsoft says the panel itself is optically bonded to the surface of the screen, aiming to improve sunlight legibility outdoors. The 10.6in, 1080p screen should also mean a significant improvement in displaying crisp and clear text, a major criticism of the original Surface - but not a problem for me.
Microsoft has also improved the kick stand, a hardware design almost Apple-like in its simplicity and elegant usefulness. That should be a good thing but, again, it doesn't stop the Surface 2 from sucking. Here's why:

5 reasons Surface 2 will suck

1. It's not Windows, but you might think it is

Let's leave all pretence aside: Windows RT is not Windows. It looks like Windows, and has some of Windows capabilities, but it's not what your average punter would expect from Windows. And that is a problem. Unlike many I have no problem with the Modern UI and Windows apps. But that's becuase they are an additional skin to the Windows OS on which I run all the software I need.
Something that looks like Windows but on which I can run exactly none of my Windows software is next to useless. Actually, it's worse than that, because many people will consider RT devices without realising the full implications.

2. No-one will write software for it, sell media on it, make third-party hardware for it

Of course you get a 'full' version of Microsoft Office 2013 RT. But that is not entirely a full version of Office, and it is about the only useful software you can find. As for hardware accessories the Touch and Type covers are amazing, but they are expensive and you won't find the price coming down any time soon.
Unfortunately, they are all there is. Third party hard- and software makers are just not interested in a niche that is getting more nichey by the day.
The Windows Store remains resolutely bereft of great apps and games, and it's not the best place from which a UK consumer can source music and movies.
Without third-party support, or the ability to run traditional X86 software Windows RT is just a pretty environment within which to web browse and send emails.

3. It's not even Windows Phone...

So you have a slab on which you can do, well, not a lot. The least you would expect would be that it could connect you to the web all the time so you can get on with your hobbled web browsing and emailing. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The Surface 2 will lack cellular connectivity. It requires Wi-Fi to get online.
Windows Phone may not have great third-party support, but it does portable connectivity well. Windows RT can't even help you check your email on your commute.

4. So it should be cheaper

Kudos to Microsoft for recognising in its pricing that Surface 2 will not be a challenger to the best Android and iPad tablets with their rich app- and media support, or the best Windows tablets with their access to proper software. But even at this price a device that doesn't do anything is not cheap enough.
The Surface 2 starts at £359. That puts it in the mid rank of tablets. It's too expensive because the hardware is no better than - say - a Nexus or even Tesco Hudl tablet, and it doesn't offer access to either Google Play or Apple iTunes and App Store.

5. It's not the Surface Pro 2

The Surface Pro 2 will set you back at least £719 inc VAT, but in my view is well worth looking at. It has all the benefits of Surface 2 and those of a full Windows PC. Indeed, if the performance has improved from the original Surface Pro it will be the best portable power PC you'll ever own.
A device on which you can run any Windows program with performance that you would expect from a £700 PC or laptop. With a keyboard and display it could easily be your home- and/or office PC. And presuming that the battery life is up to snuff it could also be your daily traveling companion, used as either tablet or laptop.
At half the price the Surface 2 will have almost none of the usefulness, and that makes it worth next to nothing and bound to suck.
- See more at: http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/opinion/tablets/5-reasons-surface-2-will-suck/#sthash.ErOCxdUp.dpuf