14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft Surface Pro is a device that runs the full version of Windows 8 and Redmond previously promoted it as a great mix of a traditional laptop and a new tablet which obviously provide the best combination of productivity and portability, respectively.
While it's indeed a hybrid that comes in handy to many, those who have purchased an Office 365 subscription were wondering if the Surface Pro counts either as a PC or as a tablet, given the fact that the cloud-based productivity suite comes with a limited number slots for devices configured to access the service.
Basically, it all started from Office 365 Personal. As compared to other versions of Office 365, the Personal package provides support for one PC or Mac and one tablet to be connected at the same time. Obviously, if the Surface Pro is considered a PC, the only other option to access the service is a tablet, while if the device counts in as a tablet, subscribers would need a PC to reach their documents.
Since the whole matter is a little bit complicated, Microsoft has decided to give users the power of choosing their own preferences, so everyone can configure whether the Surface Pro should count in as a tablet or as a PC, according to ZDNet.
“We understand that the convergence of device categories can make it difficult to define some devices, and as a result, we have built in some flexibility for subscription customers. For example, an Office 365 Personal subscriber can define their Surface Pro as either a PC or a tablet,” a company representative was quoted as saying.
The Surface Pro and Pro 2 are indeed two powerful productivity tablets as they run the full version of Windows 8 (which can be updated to 8.1 and then 8.1 Update) and thus can run traditional desktop applications and games. That clearly comes in handy for productivity on the go, as consumers don't have to stick to the Metro UI and use the touch environment exclusively.
The Surface Pro 2, however, remains very expensive, with the top-of-the-line model that features 512 GB of storage space and 8 GB of RAM being sold for no less than $1,700 (1,310 euros). Of course, there still are some cheaper alternatives out there, but there's no doubt that the Surface Pro 2 comes at the price of a really powerful laptop that offers at least comparable performance.