Interesting Review on Microsoft Surface Tablet RT


Recommended Posts

"Watch the Surface Reboxing" floating in the corner

All I needed to know to know that Chris did not approach this device with anything but contempt, then tried to spin it around later to be 'fair and balanced'.

  • Like 2

"Watch the Surface Reboxing" floating in the corner

All I needed to know to know that Chris did not approach this device with anything but contempt, then tried to spin it around later to be 'fair and balanced'.

The one thing that he said that is very disturbing is the fact that the 32GB model only has 16 GB of space left for the user because the rest is being sucked by the OS. That is not right and I think its a rip-off. No wonder this lawyer is suing Microsoft over that issue:

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_21997331/lawyer-sues-microsoft-over-surface-tablet-storage

Give me the TL:DW version?

The one thing that he said that is very disturbing is the fact that the 32GB model only has 16 GB of space left for the user because the rest is being sucked by the OS.

Even I had to double take when I read that article too. 50% of space gone with the preload, that's a bit excessive, surely?

Give me the TL:DW version?

Even I had to double take when I read that article too. 50% of space gone with the preload, that's a bit excessive, surely?

Yes it is. Imagine if you buy the 16GB model. What are you going to have left? 6 gigs?...LOL...That is a rip-off and I see more law suits coming. The 50% of what you are promised for space is gone to the OS....not good.

First of all, it's full blown Windows. What did they expect? Second, I've been saying for a while now, they should have stripped out the legacy baggage. There's no reason Win RT needs to include all the legacy baggage Windows still carries.

  • Like 3

First of all, it's full blown Windows. What did they expect? Second, I've been saying for a while now, they should have stripped out the legacy baggage. There's no reason Win RT needs to include all the legacy baggage Windows still carries.

Yes Dot, but do you honestly think the OS takes 16 gigs of space? I have Windows 8 on my test PC, clean, no apps, and it doesn't take 16 Gigs of space!!!!!!

There is something wrong there.

Yes Dot, but do you honestly think the OS takes 16 gigs of space? I have Windows 8 on my test PC, clean, no apps, and it doesn't take 16 Gigs of space!!!!!!

There is something wrong there.

It does come with Office installed.

I already have 60 GB easily taken up space on my Windows 8 installation with only a handful of apps installed.

It does come with Office installed.

I already have 60 GB easily taken up space on my Windows 8 installation with only a handful of apps installed.

Oh it has office? I must have missed that part. Well that explains it then. Still, people are going to be really ticked off that they are not getting the full 32 GB of space, or at least 80% of it. That probably explains why MS put an SD card slot on it for expansion.

By the way, did you see the prices for Skydrive expanded storage? Not bad at all. Compared to Apple. I got an extra 100GB of space for $50.00 a year. Apple wanted $100.00 for just 50GB of extra space and it doesn't have half the neat features that Skydrive does.

Wow, for the first time I have to say.... He is right.... And I wish it could have been good, the hardware is simply awesome, but WinRT.... Or maybe it's the Tegra 3 that is starting to feel slow? And Office 2013 DESKTOP inside a tablet, it's nice but pointless with a finger, you really need the keyboard to use it and navigate the interface.

And Surface Pro will not be $500... So it better be a GREAT tablet and a good laptop replacement for the price they are going to ask...

Yes it is. Imagine if you buy the 16GB model. What are you going to have left? 6 gigs?...LOL...That is a rip-off and I see more law suits coming. The 50% of what you are promised for space is gone to the OS....not good.

There is no 16GB model. They entry level model is 32GB.

There is no 16GB model. They entry level model is 32GB.

I know there isn't a 16GB model. I was just using that as an example (like what if there was) then you would be screwed with it. Just an example.

Oh it has office? I must have missed that part. Well that explains it then. Still, people are going to be really ticked off that they are not getting the full 32 GB of space, or at least 80% of it. That probably explains why MS put an SD card slot on it for expansion.

Yes, and it's a bit of an oddity... Because that space is going to be needed for updates. I saw this problem coming a mile away.

You do realise that the word exists outside of your country? And not all countries have super high speed internet where cloud storage is even an option?

Dude I understand that, believe me, I do, but these companies do not seem to understand it. Apple, Amazon, Samsung and now Microsoft. Everybody wants to use the damn Cloud for everything and they think that every country in the world, that every nation and everyone in the world has high speed internet or any internet at all and they are wrong. There are countries where Dial-up is still being used because there is no high speed internet access, so yes I do understand you, but unfortunately, these companies that make these tablets do not.

I agree with some points, disagree with others. Chris is an interesting character, some people may like that quality about him - I'm not one of those people. I find the points that mattered were quickly glazed over and the points that didn't matter (but were inherently negative) were talked about extensively. This does seem to border a bit on: "I didn't want to like it to begin with".

I'll stick with my Android tablet for the time being though as it's difficult to get a review of the Surface RT that I find has any merit at all. Maybe I'm just being biased and I'm waiting for the excuse to like it, and that excuse is never going to come.

I agree with Chris on letting users on an RT tablet access the desktop. From the MOMENT I heard they were going to let users do that on the ARM version of windows I said it was a HORRIBLE idea!!!

I agree with Chris on letting users on an RT tablet access the desktop. From the MOMENT I heard they were going to let users do that on the ARM version of windows I said it was a HORRIBLE idea!!!

You do know that Chris bought his Surface without a touch or type cover.

You do know that Chris bought the Surface without a touch or type cover.

I don't think that matters. it's an ARM based version of Windows. None of your regular apps run in on the windows 8 ARM desktop (Except office and whatever other regular windows apps it has). I just think the arm tablet should stay 100% Modern UI. When you drop back to the desktop on the ARM tablet it just looks TACKY!

I don't think that matters. it's an ARM based version of Windows. None of your regular apps run in on the windows 8 ARM desktop (Except office and whatever other regular windows apps it has). I just think the arm tablet should stay 100% Modern UI. When you drop back to the desktop on the ARM tablet it just looks TACKY!

Why does it look tacky on ARM and not on x86?

My belief btw is Microsoft will eventually extend the WinRT API to desktop apps too, and those apps will be portable between ARM and x86.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • So for the last few days, and excuse me if I'm not posting in the correct place... anyway, for the last few days I have been getting constant login approval requests from Microsoft Authenticator. I thought maybe someone was trying to get in so I changed my password and backup info... it did stop for a bit after, but now, it's back. I've had maybe 10 today alone. I check the history and there is nothing there.... under my recent activity it just lists my login to view the page, and my last login attempt which I signed into Outlook on my phone on June 18. What is going on? It's asking me to 'type in the code' that's displayed on my screen. I'm not doing it! Anyone else? Anything I should dig deeper into?
    • Hello police? I'd like to report a murder.
    • Ventoy 1.1.15 is out.
    • Win11Debloat 06.24.2026 by Razvan Serea Win11Debloat is a lightweight, easy to use PowerShell script that allows you to quickly declutter and customize your Windows experience. It can remove pre-installed bloatware apps, disable telemetry, remove intrusive interface elements and much more. The script also includes many features that system administrators and power users will enjoy. Such as a powerful command-line interface, support for Windows Audit mode and the option to make changes to other Windows users. All changes made by Win11Debloat can be easily reversed, and most removed apps can be restored via the Microsoft Store. A full guide on how to undo the changes is available here. Win11Debloat features: Below is an overview of the key features and functionality offered by Win11Debloat. Please refer to the wiki for more information about the default settings preset. Remove a wide variety of preinstalled apps. Click here for more info. Disable telemetry, diagnostic data, activity history, app-launch tracking & targeted ads. Disable tips, tricks, suggestions & ads across Windows. Disable Windows location services & app location access. Disable Find My Device location tracking. Disable 'Windows Spotlight' and tips & tricks on the lock screen. Disable 'Windows Spotlight' desktop background option. Disable ads, suggestions and the MSN news feed in Microsoft Edge. Hide Microsoft 365 ads on the Settings 'Home' page, or hide the 'Home' page entirely. Disable & remove Microsoft Copilot. Disable Windows Recall. Disable Click to Do, AI text & image analysis tool. Prevent AI service (WSAIFabricSvc) from starting automatically. Disable AI Features in Edge. Disable AI Features in Paint. Disable AI Features in Notepad. Disable the Drag Tray for sharing & moving files. Restore the old Windows 10 style context menu. Turn off Enhance Pointer Precision, also known as mouse acceleration. Disable the Sticky Keys keyboard shortcut. Disable Storage Sense automatic disk cleanup. Disable fast start-up to ensure a full shutdown. ...and more. Once you’ve downloaded the Win11Debloat file (Get.ps1), just follow these quick steps: Locate the Get.ps1 script file. Right-click the file and select Run with PowerShell from the context menu. If prompted by User Account Control (UAC), select Yes to grant the script the necessary administrative permissions. Win11Debloat 06.24.2026 changelog: With this release, the legacy app list generator and CustomAppsList file support is removed. This only affects users using legacy command-line methods. More info here: #664 Features & Improvements Clean up styling to better match Windows fluent design guidelines by @Raphire in #638 Add GPO override warning alert and WhatIf dry-run previews by @HetCreep in #611 Disable telemetry-related scheduled tasks under Microsoft\Windows by @HetCreep in #615 Guard against loading, saving & executing undefined features by @Raphire in #665 Simplify Window management & update minimum window sizes by @Raphire in #671 Update start menu backup/restore with timestamped filenames by @Raphire in #672 Clean up feature execution logic for readability by @Raphire in #641 Clean up & improve app removal methods, remove legacy CLI app removal methods by @Raphire in #662 Remove support for CustomAppsList file format, including -RemoveAppsCustom and -RunAppsListGenerator parameters Update CLI app removal to use newer app removal methods Drop support for sunset apps (Fitbit, Shazam, Twitter, Viber, Wunderlist, XING) and Plex Fix removal of Microsoft Copilot Fixes Fix: Replace P/Invoke dynamic DLL imports with WPF native methods to fix temp DLL access-denied errors by @Raphire in #661 Fix Start Menu apps not being set correctly for all users when running script for other user by @Raphire in #637 Fix store suggestions not getting disabled correctly for all users when running as other user by @Raphire in #642 Fix: Respect Feature min/max version for comboboxes by @Raphire in #639 Fix: Don't treat AllUsers/CurrentUser as a username at startup by @HetCreep in #647 Fix: treat dismissed unsafe-removal confirmation as decline by @HetCreep in #651 Fix: Surface runspace errors instead of swallowing them in GUI mode by @HetCreep in #655 Fix: Correct sub-key path matching in backup allow-list validation by @HetCreep in #645* Fix: Detect WinGet uninstall failures by exit code, not English text by @HetCreep in #658 Fix: Detect installed OneDrive in the "Only show installed" filter by @HetCreep in #656 Download: Win11Debloat 06.24.2026 | Open Source View: Win11Debloat Home Page | Screenshots 1| 2 Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
  • Recent Achievements

    • Grand Master
      Jaybonaut went up a rank
      Grand Master
    • One Year In
      Philsl earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Dedicated
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • First Post
      Tom Schmidt earned a badge
      First Post
    • One Month Later
      D0nn13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      416
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      173
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      125
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      77
    5. 5
      Xenon
      76
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!