Got mine at 1445 - but had a meeting so used the SP 128 for that (One Note gets a workout at these meetings). I just opened the box (rather quickly) and stuck it on charge without turning it on. What great discipline...or foolishness. Am back and have set up the SP 2 256 with the initial Office 2013 and loaded in the Skype and Skydrive stuff that came with the box. No problem. Then I went to register the machine by serial number but no go. The site only accepts Surface Pro, RT or accessories (KB, etc). Jeff, you may want to let your friends on the campus know they have a minor update to apply to the equipment registration website now that its the 22nd. It does show my SP 128 registered SN, but I don't want to deregister until I can register my new baby.
I think my SP2 is noticeably faster. However, whatever Panos may say about the color enhancements, I just don't see it. I know my eyes are old, but they have never failed a color test. The screen is as beautiful as ever but I see no discernable difference between the two screens side by side. It could be a guy thing.
I noticed there were separate interfaces for registering your devices with MS, and one login page ended up being a dead-end. Very confusing. Nor would the support login page work in my desktop IE10 for some reason, so I ended up registering through IE11 on my Surface 2. It took unnecessary effort! There should be an easier way, but this ended up working for me:
Register your Microsoft Surface product | Product registration
Copy that URL. Log in. It will take you to some general cover page. Paste the URL again. Now the drop-downs will work and shows both generations and accessories--don't forget to register your accessories, like keyboard.
Also, after registering, you will be able to buy the optional Microsoft Complete Extended Service which adds a year of insurance to the original warranty and covers accidental damage (with deductible). https://myservice.surface.com/en-US/pages/welcome.aspx (This is also the same page to un-register.)