On October 6 Microsoft took its fall hardware collection to New York, raising many eyebrows with its first laptop ever—the Surface Book. The long-awaited device (so long, that many believed it would never happen) bears the genes of the Surface family with its 2-in-1 mobile experience. Yet, it adds something the previous models lack: a stiff hinge. The Surface Book is still a tablet with a separate keyboard, but there’s no kickstand. The Dynamic Fulcrum hinge (which resembles a tiny metal gauntlet) holds the screen up and allows positioning it at any angle. The screen is firmly anchored into the keyboard/battery base; it can be ejected either through the physical eject button or through the one included in the software. The result is an incredibly thin but generous 13.5-inch, 3000×2000 screen, a standalone tablet. And this is not all—the screen can be reattached backwards to the laptop base, allowing to fold the tablet over the keyboard. It is what Microsoft calls the “drawing mode”. The look of the Surface Book will be divisive: the dynamic fulcrum hinge doesn’t completely close, the screen isn’t flush against the keyboard—look from the side and there is a gap. This might be unpleasant for some, despite the rest of the polished features. By far, this is the most beautiful Windows laptop ever made; it feels solid, well-engineered and designed, even though some might make a wry face when seeing its unadorned, almost industrial look. Microsoft’s newest star has an angular silver magnesium casing adorned with just two physical buttons—for volume and power. It measures 12.30” x 9.14” x 0.51 – 0.90” and weighs 3.34 pounds, including the keyboard. The screen sports 6 million pixels, 267 per inch, surpassing MacBook Pro’s 227ppi and making colors pop. The Surface Book...