For most of the past month, I've been traveling with a Microsoft Surface RT tablet. I find myself liking a lot about the device, though there are a number of shortcomings, namely the lack of applications.

While lots of devices running Windows 8 or Windows RT have been called "hybrids," this really applies to the Surface RT. It is as thin and light as an iPad, and the Touch Cover is about the same size as an iPad cover. Thus, you can run it with your fingers through the new interface, running tablet-style applications. You can also go into a "desktop mode" and start typing on the cover, and have nearly full versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.  

That "split personality" between the new Windows UI and the classic desktop has been quite controversial, and I'll write more about it over the next week or so as I expand on my time living with Windows 8. (Here are some earlier posts I did on Windows 8, the new user interface, and the release version of the OS.) With Windows RT, the desktop is limited to the system utilities and the four Office applications; other classic Windows (x86) applications don't work. That's a challenge in the business market, but I've been waiting to see how it would work for consumers.

So far, the basic concept has been more appealing than I first thought. I like having a thin tablet that's more portable than a laptop. I'm a writer, so having a full version of Word is another big benefit.  I have found note-taking and writing on the Surface to be a far better experience than on an iPad or Android tablet. That's partly because the Touch Cover is convenient to carry (much lighter and thinner than the add-on keyboards I've seen for other tablets), but mostly because Word is far superior to other word processors available for most tablets.  I took a Surface to the Techonomy conference last week and wrote a couple of posts there (as well as this post) on the device.  

Typing on the Touch Cover, which is almost completely flat, does take a little getting used to, but it is much better than using an on-screen keyboard. (The bigger Type Cover would be better to type on, but of course, it is bulkier.) I often leave the sound on so I have an audible click when I type, but that isn't strictly necessary. In general, I found the Surface fine to type on when I could put it down on a flat surface (like a desk or a table), but found that the keyboard and kickstand combination was too awkward to use on my lap. Also, I note that after a month of use, the Touch Cover is getting worn out, which makes me wonder about its long-term durability. Still, it is certainly thin and convenient, and generally works quite well, both with Word and with Internet applications.

The other included parts of Office seem fine. OneNote and PowerPoint both are able to open files created with the x86 versions without problems, and Excel seems to work fine on basic spreadsheets, though it doesn't work with macros and the system (which only has 2GB of DRAM) was very slow on big spreadsheets. One thing I like very much is how you can set up Office 2013 to store your files automatically on SkyDrive and then access them from multiple systems. If you want an enterprise-class version of Office (including Outlook), Windows RT and Surface RT are not the system for you, but consumers and students should find this good enough.

Of course, the real point of using the system, especially in tablet mode, is to run the new Windows applications, and that's where Surface looks like a work in progress. (I have noticed several applications that are available in the new interface on Windows 8 aren't on Windows RT at this point, so the selection is even more limited.)

Most of the included applications seem to provide only very basic capabilities. Mail, for instance, works with multiple accounts, but isn't yet at the level of the tools on an iPad or Android tablet. The included Photos application does a good job of opening photos from multiple sites, including SkyDrive, Facebook, and Flickr but lacks most editing tools. Traditional desktop Windows applications such as Photoshop and Picasa don't work, and I didn't see any of the well-known photo editing tools in the Windows store. Instead, I've lately been using Photo Studio free, which is basic and a bit quirky, but does the job surprisingly well.  

It's strange to have two browsers—one in the new interface and one in the desktop—but in general, they seem to work fine for me. The new version is a bit more limited but easier to control by touch (and still does about as much as the browsers on competing tablets), while the desktop one is essentially a full browser, but without most of the add-ons available for the full  Windows version.

The third-party applications are the biggest concern, however. The new Windows version of The New York Times is actually quite nice, really taking the Windows design cues—such as the way it scrolls—to heart, though I'd like more indication on when it has finished downloading material. The Wall Street Journal app works fine online, but doesn't seem to download issues for later reading (unlike the iPad version). Most of the magazines I read just aren't available yet. So, as someone who often uses his iPad for reading newspapers and magazines while disconnected, these are major limitations. 

The issue isn't just newspapers and magazines; in general, you won't find the selection you'd see on iOS or Android. For instance, while there's Xbox Music and iHeartRadio, you won't find Pandora, Spotify, Rhapsody, iTunes (of course), or Amazon cloud server. You'll see Netflix—which runs fine—and HuluPlus, but not IMDB, Fandango, or apps from the big networks. In many cases, you can use these through the browser, but they usually don't work so well with touch and you'll miss tablet-specific apps. These are the kind of things that will be fixed if or when new applications are available, but for now, it's a big issue. Overall, the hardware seems well-built, and both the magnetic charger and the keyboard snap in nicely. 

One nice difference between the Surface and most other tablets is its expandability and hardware compatibility. The unit I've been using has 64GB of internal flash storage, with about 48GB available for user files, but also has a microSD card slot for adding extra storage. In addition, it has a USB port, support for most printers on the market, and works fine with all the standard USB flash drives I've tried. However, because it runs RT and not regular Windows, the encrypted USB drives I tried did not work.

So overall, I like the concept of the Surface RT a lot, and find a lot to like, especially the ability to carry around a tablet-sized device that works with the basic Office applications. Being able to use it as a tablet or as a small laptop is a great feature. I found myself, however, really missing a variety of applications that just aren't available now. So for now, I can only recommend Surface to people who need a more portable version of the Office apps but are satisfied with the current set of tools.