A few months ago, Microsoft spilled the beans on everything we needed to know about the second-generation Surface Tablets intended to right the many wrongs of the first round.
Cold comfort can be taken from the fact that it would be difficult for any slate to fair worse than the Surface RT and Pro did over the course of the year. However, the more Microsoft talked up the new-generation versions, the more we began thinking they had a fighting chance…which they do.
It’s an impressive tale of huge improvements to performance, advanced hardware and an all-new name for the Surface RT – now known simply as the Surface 2.
Which poses the rather pressing question at this crucial time – given the fact that the Surface 2 is by rights a Windows RT device, what was Redmond’s motivation for ditching the ‘RT’ branding?
After all, you’d be forgiven for putting it all down to shame and embarrassment associated with the OS, which doesn’t exactly bode well for a new device running RT once again.
So, what gives?
Well, Microsoft has tried its very best to clarify the matter, though to be frank it’s still about as clear as mud. Jack Cowett from Microsoft’s marketing team had a word with ARN this week in an attempt to set the record straight,
According to Cowett, there was “some confusion in the market last year on the difference between Surface RT and Surface Pro.”
So, as a means to make sure there’s no such confusion this time around, the Surface RT has been reborn as the Surface 2 and there’s no ‘RT’ handle in sight anywhere.
Anyone else not convinced?
First of all, it was far easier to work out the difference between the Surface RT and the Surface Pro than it would be for a newcomer seeing the Surface 2 and Pro 2 monikers for the first time. After all, there was technically speaking no Surface 1 in the first place.
The difference between the Surface 2 and Pro 2 really is night and day – we can’t help but feel they’re only making the problem worse by naming two such different products so similarly.
And as mentioned earlier, the fact that the ‘RT’ branding has been ditched entirely suggests to some extent that Microsoft is trying to sweep its struggling OS under the rug and out of sight.