Microsoft Dropped "RT" From Surface to Avoid Confusion
Microsoft explains the "RT" drop in Surface 2 label.
Microsoft's product marketing manager for Surface, Jack Cowett, recently admitted that Microsoft dropped the "RT" from its latest ARM-based Surface tablet to reduce customer confusion. Microsoft reportedly blamed "customer confusion" for the lack of sales of its first-generation Surface RT model, which ended up costing the company $900 million in fiscal Q4 2013. Removing the "RT" will supposedly help alleviate that confusion even though Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 use two different architectures.
"We think that there was some confusion in the market last year on the difference between Surface RT and Surface Pro," Cowett said. "We want to help make it easier for people, and these are two different products designed for two different people."
The new Surface 2 will feature a 10.6 inch ClearType 5-point screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, powered by Nvidia's Tegra 4 SoC, 2 GB of RAM and Windows RT 8.1. Other features will include a 3.5MP camera on the front, a 5MP camera on the back, an SD card reader, Wireless N and Bluetooth connectivity, HDMI output, 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage, and more. It will also have a new two-stage kickstand based on customer feedback from the previous model.
"We got quite a lot of really good feedback from the original Surface Pro, but one thing people said to us was, 'hey if you really want us to use this thing on your lap, you need to make it easier to use as a laptop'," he said. "We've added a second angle for the kickstand, so it's much more comfortable to use on your lap. It's a tiny change but it makes a huge difference."
The problem Microsoft will face, whether it uses "RT" in the device name or not, is that customers purchasing the Surface 2 won't be able to install their favorite x86-based desktop apps. Granted, Microsoft made a bad choice in offering Surface RT exclusively in Microsoft Stores and Microsoft's website until the end of 2012. Surface Pro's faring better (even though it costs a bit more) shows what customers seemingly want in a Windows device. Yanking the "RT" out of the device name could be seen as a little deceptive to customers who don't know the difference between ARM and x86-based architecture.
Recently, there's been a lot of talk about Microsoft moving to one storefront and eventually merging Windows Phone and Windows RT. The Windows team is even shooting for one silicon interface, one cloud service, one set of APIs and one marketplace spanning both architectures. A big push in this direction is supposedly beginning in Spring 2014, but we'll see.
Back on October 2, the Surface blog was updated with news that pre-order stock of the Surface 2 (64 GB) and Surface Pro 2 (256 GB and 512 GB) were close to selling out, even at Microsoft Stores. How many units were actually available to pre-purchase is unknown, as Microsoft will likely avoid the same overstocking misstep it took with the original Surface RT.
However, the Register reports that Microsoft only shipped a total of 2,000 Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 units to nine resellers in the UK, 1500 of which were Surface 2 models. That said, Microsoft may be "selling out" of Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 pre-purchase stock, but this stock could be highly limited in numbers.

Classic M$, just decieve the customers.
Classic M$, just decieve the customers.
poor attempt to cheat people.
Should have kept the RT, the confusion was with what Windows RT was not the naming scheme on the product. In fact the naming scheme was the part that made perfect sense, put RT on the product running windows RT to stop the confusion. They just failed at telling people what Windows RT was.
if I didn't know better I'd assume Suface 2 ran windows home addition and the 'pro' ran professional...
It wasn't customer confusion but Microsoft confusion that caused the problem. Poor compatibility and a new confusing interface didn't help. That has to be fixed before they can really sell these things.
Classic M$, just decieve the customers.
No, what we have here is classic mindless MS hate. The people who were confused and buying the wrong tablet were confused. Get it? They didn't know what Windows RT was in the first place so having it on their was of no help to them. At least this way uninformed people can look at the two and have a clear idea as to which one is better instead of trying to guess between RT and Pro.
There really isn't much MS can do to stop stupid people who buy something without looking into it. I've lost track of how many times my girlfriend came home complaining that another customer brought back a Samsung (or whatever) tablet thinking it was an ipad... All MS can try and do is cater to the lowest common denominator and get rid of a second, nondescript name.
While I agree with that for the most part, MS is cheating its' customers by not correctly marketing this tablet as a PC running Windows. There are tablets out there that will run full Windows - like the Dell Venue - and they are much less expensive than iPads. If MS would show that it actually a tablet OS and not a PC OS running on a tablet, then I think that customers would be far less confused. Of course dropping Windows RT is only going to make things worse.
Dry
Dry
I don't understand why people are so quick to jump on the Ms hate over this one issue.
The main problem with Surface is that MS thinks Office RT is worth something (it isn't) and priced it at an insane level.
Since the price reduction, the original Surface is probably the best tablet to buy out there... but the damage is already done.
BTW surface RT can join a Windows network and use also remote desktop. If you use Windows as your primary OS, you're a mutton head for picking an iPad over a Surface after the price reduction. (before price reduction, there was a compelling argument about the insane price of Surface Rt)
Same kind of deal for the Surface. Folks who didn't know better weren't being helped by the RT tag but if they vaguely remember a friend or family member telling them to get the better one (be honest, mom won't remember "don't get the RT") then they would have a better chance of snagging the Pro. Or visa verse.
Dry
It is not just the consulting firm. This whole issue has MS senior management blessing on it. The root cause is obviously apparent and I am sure plenty of MS staff and managers can see that, but none dare to say anything due to decisions from senior management.