Tuesday, October 16th 2012
Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 RT Priced, Starts at $499
Microsoft put price tags on some of its most important upcoming products, Surface with Windows 8 RT. The prices were revealed by Microsoft Store US, and covers three models based on storage capacity and Touch Cover (cover with keyboard and trackpad). The lineup starts at US $499 with Surface 32 GB without Touch Cover. For $599, you get the same model, with the Touch Cover. Leading the pack is Surface 64 GB with Touch Cover, priced at $699. The store is accepting pre-orders for all available color options of Surface and Touch Cover. Orders will delivered as early as by October 26.
Source:
TechCrunch
113 Comments on Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 RT Priced, Starts at $499
The entry level iPad is also ~$500 USD however, that is the 16GB WiFI only model. In this case the Surface Windows RT model at that price is 32GB. There are other spec differences though,…
I’m not really interested in Windows RT though,…or perhaps I should say I prefer Windows 8 Pro.
Remind me again why I would want this?
Now... get that price down to $300, and then we can talk.
One thing I find difficult to visualize is Microsoft giving away a free OS upgrade without a new hardware purchase bolstering the license. Let alone making it an easy upgrade that is over the air.
As far as I am concerned, any Windows RT tablet (not just the Microsoft Surface Windows RT tablet) should be eligible for a free upgrade to the next version of Windows (Windows 9 for the sake of argument) and possibly the version after that as well. Still I just cant picture Microsoft doing it.
Microsoft giving away free OS upgrades (repeatedly) is like hell freezing over.
Also, I wouldnt ever pay for a mac operating system. I would however pay for a windows operating system.
BTW What is the difference between RT and 8? And why wouldnt they just release 8 instead?
8 / 8 pro / 8 enterprise -> x86 processors
RT wont run your x86 apps (both 32 bit and 64 bit)
That could be a huge pain in the ass for developers. The only real thing that differentiates the mobile operating systems is that app stores.
There is nothing pro about a casual operating system. Out company will not implement this. Ever.
Might have well stuck with home and mobile editions.
(From the great irony doctionary)
I was referring to iOS which is a mobile OS for ARM hardware. This is analogous to Windows RT for the ARM platform. iOS upgrades are typically free and one can expect two or maybe three free upgrades before Apple drops support for the hardware version.
Whether someone would buy Apple hardware or not isn’t the issue. The issue is one of comparability. Android ARM devises often receive free OS upgrades as well. For example, the original Asus Transformer Prime received a free upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich,…..eventually. Other versions of the Transformer line may have received a free upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich as well as a pending upgrade to Jellybean. Not really sure but it illustrates the point.
To be comparable, Microsoft would have to upgrade Windows RT tablet OSes for free to whatever its successor is and possibly the successor to that OS upgrade as well. It wuld also have to be an easy over the air upgrade (no cable connection to a PC).
Again I don’t see Microsoft doing this.
I suppose one could make the case that Microsoft’s 3yr OS upgrade cycle would impede the upgrade for any one device because 3yrs is enough to make the hardware antiquated. Point taken but that would disrupt the notion of comparability (something a pricing model may depend on) and leave customers with a device that may never see an OS update. Not ideal in my book.Not sure what you mean here since I was under the impression that the Metro interface would be the only GUI for Windows RT tablets and devices (IE no Windows classic desktop).