And they've never 'locked down' Windows to prevent you from using non-MS products.

About the worst thing they did was make it so you couldn't remove IE from your computer, but it didn't prevent you from using other browsers. They were sued by numerous entities for that, just because it gave IE an 'unfair advantage' in terms of adoption by users.

They'd NEVER try to pull what this kid is saying.

Some people ... really aren't that bright.

The Surface Book 3 is pretty amazing. It is a terrific laptop if you do visual work. It is what the MacBook Pro should have been.

an Ipad type of deal. Never really looked at them. I see now I was mistaken.

Anyways ... I have to imagine that even on a Surface ... they're not 'locking them down'. Let alone locking down Windows on non-MS machines (I know they don't do that).

Photoshop, CAD apps, and lots more.

Has absolutely nothing to do with 'brands'

I am using Macbook Pro from quite a long time. Got bored. Is surface book really worth buying?

Some of the choice is what software you need to run, some of it is ergonomics, some of it is budget.

I do a lot of design work. I like Surface Books because they have good pen interfaces, allowing me to draw/paint in Photoshop. They also have dedicated graphics cards, making my 3D programs run smoother. In terms of quality, they're very well built.

Best Buy usually has Surface Books. Take a look at one and decide for yourself.

Thanks

https://www.howtogeek.com/354057/what-is-windows-10-in-s-mode/

You can turn it off if you want - it doesn't cost anything to disable it.

He said Bill Gates was hauled in front of Congress and made to stop. The son set up Firefox and something else on this new laptop, so I don't think it is locked.

Gates stopped being CEO twenty years ago. He's not even on the board of directors anymore. He couldn't "make them stop" if he wanted.

And no, Microsoft products are not "locked". You can install pretty much whatever you want. The simple fact that the son installed Firefox is proof that non-Microsoft products can be installed.

When my husband was alive, he would try to help my friend with her computer troubles. He usually came back shaking his head. I feel the same way when I try to help her. I don't like her son, but I am relieved if he takes care of her computer for her.

I appreciate the information such as about Surface, about Bill Gates not being involved with MS, about S Mode. I'll bring that up with her another day.

She called me right after I posted, and was upset because the picture quality is horrible. I started out with the obvious, spending 5 minutes trying to explain to her how to find her camera lens on the laptop frame, to see if there was any packing material on the screen or on the lens. The next 10 minutes was talking about how bad the quality was then helping her find the camera in settings> (I bought a laptop that unfortunately doesn't have a camera, so I wasn't really able to refer to anything at this point) She found the camera, then found the settings. She got up and noticed when she was further away from the laptop, the picture was better, not as fuzzy. So I think it might be a resolution problem. It was a half hour call, ending when her phone battery was dying. I am exhausted. lol

She just has to tell the camera what to focus on.
Sometimes you can do this manually.
Sometimes you can use the camera software to select the object to focus on.
If the system has a face-focus mode, give that a try.
By default, auto-focus systems prefer objects with straight lines, which often results in the back wall being in focus.

Thank you!

She is returning the HP laptop and getting an iPad. I haven't had much experience with them, so she'll have to have her daughter set it up