The Opposite of a Blank Slate
Like recipes being passed down through generations in a family, Microsoft is determined to continue to confuse the shit of out consumers:
Upcoming Windows 8 devices with small displays (under 10 inches) will come bundled with Office 2013 Home & Student, a version of Office that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. If you walk into a store later this month and purchase Acer’s 8-inch Windows 8 device you’ll get the free version of Office, but if you opt for a 10-inch Windows 8 Acer tablet you won’t. Alternatively, if you opt for a 10-inch Windows RT device, like the Surface RT, you will get a copy of Office that also includes Outlook RT. If you purchase a 7- or 8-inch Windows RT device when they’re available you’ll also get a free version of Office. If it all sounds confusing, that’s because it is.
I was naively optimistic to see Microsoft start fresh with Surface and Windows 8.
Oh well.