Big Kahuna
Member
I just stopped by the Microsoft kiosk in my local mall and got to talking with an associate. He told me the Pro will not come with MS Office installed. That didn't name sense. Especially at the premium price they're charging.
Surface Pro Doesn't Include Office?!
- Thread starter Big Kahuna
- Start date
TeknoBlast
Active Member
Yeah, but your getting the full version of Windows though. So its a trade off. Yes, I would like Office to be included, but w cat have it off.
J515OP
Super Moderator
I have to disagree. The thinking is that users of the Surface Pro will need full Office not Home and Student. MS has made it very clear that the Home and Student license is not for business use. They want people and business to buy Office in particular. MS isn't about to kill the golden goose for supper, they know what they are doing.
Of course us casual users would like that but for power users and business the cost of Office is trivial for what they need it for.
Russ
Active Member
My assessment exactly. As mentioned before, I will be evaluating the Pro as a laptop replacement for my Ladyfriend's travels -- particularly her China trips. I will be moving her Office license from the laptop to the Pro. Plus, at one point I quibbled about some minor cost, and she gave me a benign smile, then asked, "Do you know how much it costs for a six-week trip to China?" Well; yeah; I did. Her point was well made. If the Pro does all that I hope it will, the tablet and its software will be cheap. However, if she is in Hwangyen on a Sunday, and it doesn't do what she needs to do -- it becomes a very expensive machine.
For whatever it's worth.
Take care,
Russ
J515OP
Super Moderator
Tens-of-thousands+ Pro tablets will be purchased by folks who could care less about using it for business. Maybe Office Home and Business....
That could be the case and if it is, maybe they should have opted for the less expensive Surface RT if they don't need the power of full Windows 8 and full Office on Surface Pro. Let's not forget Surface Pro will be able to install anything you can already install on your Windows machines. So if you have various copies of software lying around, like oh say any version of Office you have ever purchased in the past, then you can simply install it at will. Will it be the latest greatest version of Office? No, but I'd be more than happy moving my Office 2007 copy over to a Surface Pro tablet.
Surface RT simply can't do that so they had to include some version of Office for you if it was to be a feature on the device. I would also expect some Windows 8 devices to come with some basics like Word. Maybe even Surface Pro. The vast majority of Windows devices never ship with with Office, though sometimes back to school special devices may include Home and Student. Not sure of any reason MS has to include any flavor of Office on Surface Pro.
J515OP
Super Moderator
A quick search of Best Buy Win 8 PCs shows you either get a trial version of Office or Office Starter 2010 (not sure what the difference is) and an offer for $20 off either Home & Business or Home & Student. I'm sure the Surface Pro will carry the same kind of offers. So you aren't dead in the water but they do want you to buy some sort of Office if you don't already have it. This has been the MS strategy with PCs for a very long time.
What premium price? It's priced very competitively to other Ultrabooks on the market that also don't include Office.
Sin
Active Member
While I can't imagine anyone that was not hoping to get a better deal on the Surface, I do not feel like I paid too much. The Surface is comparably priced to an iPad, but has more capability. It was never going to compete with an Android tablet, which are not in the same league in terms of build quality. Each has there place and not everyone will agree, which is way choices are great.
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