Microsoft's Surface Pro will launch on Feb. 9, but contrary to recent reports the Redmond-based company will not ship the device with a full version of Office 2013 onboard.
The Surface Twitter page smothered speculation on the bundle when it published a statement which reads, "Microsoft Office does not come included with surface Windows 8 Pro, but is available separately. Have a nice day!" Notably, the scaled-back Surface RT, which launched last fall, offers Home and Student Office to consumers for free.
CRN explains that the Surface Pro targets business owners, the largest revenue stream for the company's Office suites. Such a strategy would slash profit margins for Microsoft and simply doesn't make sense from a business perspective.
As for the Surface Pro's specs, the tablet-laptop hybrid features a multi-touch 10.6-inch screen with a 1920x1080 resolution, Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, USB 3.0, an integrated Intel GPU, up to 128GB of memory, and a new pressure sensitive pen tailored for graphic artists and image editing software. The Pro comes in both 64GB and 128GB flavors, priced respectively at $899 and $999.
The Pro's little brother, the RT, sports a 10.6-inch screen, but only displays at a 1366x768 resolution. A quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 2GB of RAM fill out both 32GB and 64GB versions of the device.
On the Microsoft Office 2013 front, the company looks to transition most users to a subscription model. For starters, the traditional Office Standard will cost $369, while Office Professional Plus 2013 is priced at $499. Undergrads and doctoral students may want to check out Office Home & Student 2013 for $139.99. Meanwhile, Home and Business is priced at $219.99, and Office Professional 2013 runs $399.99. As for Office 365 Home Premium, consumers can nab the software bundle for $8.33/month. Office 365 Small Business Premium will be priced at $12.50/month, 365 University at $3.30/month, 365 Midsize Business at $15/month, and 365 Enterprise & Government at $20/month.
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