Microsoft Surface network printing

Today I needed to print something that is on the microSD card in the Surface and it struck me that I hadn't tested the printing. In fact. I've never had the opportunity or need to print from a tablet. I did try to get that working from my Windows Phone 7 with no luck. This is something I feel that Microsoft could excel at if they'd just do it. Productivity is the realm of the PC.

Anyway, I went to the control panel and to devices. I clicked on "add printer" and it immediately picked up my Brother 2170n. Next, ok, etc... print from Word 2013. Worked perfectly the first time.

I am a bit surprised. I don't know why this would be EASIER than in Windows 7, but it was. The only prompt I got was to use some sort of generic print driver (OK/Cancel).

Now granted, basic print drivers are pretty standardized... mostly the added features and benefits of OEM drivers are the extra stuff like ink level checking, etc. I have always hated the extras because they are generally buggy and bloated. So this tactic of using a simple, basic driver for "most" printers suits me just fine as long as the printed page looks like it should.

Before this simple network printer install, the default printer was OneNote. There is also an option for XPS in there. Neither of these options are good. I feel like XPS is a waste of time. We don't need another goofy format from Microsoft that will just go unsupported ASAP.

Surface RT firmware update #1

Office 2013 Home and Student final is out as of October 31 , 2012. 586MB!
I've been using Office 2013 several times a week since the Surface came out, and I like it. Not a huge update of 2010, but it works well.

The updates today (11/13/2012) didn't fix the mail issues I am still experiencing, and no use of POP mail either.

Here is the list:
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-delivers-operating-system-updates-for-surface-rt-7000007354/

Nice, but needing more.

Windows Live Mail IMAP problem on the Surface

I have several email accounts, and it looks like the non-standard accounts do not send email through IMAP from Windows 8 RT.

A day or two after I received the device there was a windows update that changed the email app. I noticed because the "Add New Account" screen looks different. There is a "POP3" option which simply tells us that POP3 is not supported at this time.

IMAP receives email, but does not send.
I tried this same account setup in Thunderbird, and I had to choose the outgoing mail server, port 587, and STARTTLS as the authentication type.

The Live Mail app does allow me to change the port, but the auth type cannot be changed. Maybe it's another issue. Regardless, Microsoft seems to know about it, and hopefully we will receive an update soon. Not being able to send mail from my primary email account is annoying.
 
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_rt-ecoms/cant-send-imap-mail/66d40d6d-2936-443d-8d21-350f88aa4637