Surface Hub App Refresh Lets You Turn Off the Windows Button

An app specifically designed for the Surface Pro 3 released in October and brought a minimal number of configuration options for Microsoft's latest tablet. The only options included in the release centered around configuration for the Surface Pro 3 pen, allowing users to alter pressure sensitivity and choosing which version of OneNote (desktop or metro) opened when the pen's top button was tapped. With such a generic name, Surface Hub, you sort of expected more.

An update to the app overnight brought a couple new features.

First off, Surface Hub now allows you turn off the Windows Button that adorns the screen on the Surface Pro 3. I've rarely had a problem with accidentally tapping the button myself (which results in switching to the Windows 8.1 tiled desktop and between apps), but I've talked with some who say the button drives them completely batty. The button is particularly frustrating for left-handers who try to use the Surface pen to write on the screen when holding the tablet in landscape mode.

In addition to the Windows button option, a new section has been added called "User Education." Scrolling sideways you come upon this new section which contains links to various information topics on how to use the Surface Pro 3, how to configure the tablet, and how to work with the included apps.

Not a new feature, but a change in how it displays, the SKU has now been altered to better show the specific Surface type and model. Prior to the change the SKU would simply read: "Surface_Pro_3." With the update, the SKU now displays the specific Surface model. In my case, it now reads "Surface Pro 3 i5." As I stated when the Surface Hub app first released, Surface Pro 3 customers can use this information when contacting Microsoft for support, but the improved SKU inventory parameter means that Enterprise users can also better recognize the Surface Pro 3 models deployed throughout the organization. Applications like System Center Configuration Manager can use this information to better target software and updates.

The Surface Hub app is available from the Windows store: Surface Hub