The upcoming 32GB Microsoft Surface is unlikely to actually offer that much storage, thanks to a hefty operating system that could leave owners with only around 20GB of free space.
The dismaying news was revealed in a Reddit ask-me-anything session with the Surface team, BGR reports. One Ricardo Lopez, test manager for the tablet, wrote on the site that, "After the OS, OfficeRT and a bunch of apps, you will still have more than 20GB."
That's a fairly upbeat spin on news that Microsoft's own Windows RT software is likely to account for a large chunk of the Surface's total capacity. Microsoft's own guidelines for Windows 8 suggest you'll need 16GB of space for the 32-bit operating system, or 20GB for the 64-bit option.
It's possible that when Lopez talks about "a bunch of apps" that these are just a few downloadable goodies that the Surface team has been installing for fun, rather than obligatory Microsoft apps that will hog space. Losing roughly a third of a device's space to its operating system is still likely to rankle, however.
Unfortunately the Surface compares unfavourably with the iPad in this regard --Apple's tablet's operating system takes up about 1GB of space. This could be the reason Microsoft opted not to make a 16GB version of the Surface, as once Windows RT and its associated apps were in place, there would be hardly any room left for your movies, music and everything else.
Despite a chunky operating system, Surface still offers more gigabytes for your buck than Apple's alternative. The cheapest Surface and iPad both cost £399, but for that you get a 32GB Surface and only a 16GB iPad.
Does the notion of less storage space put you off Microsoft's gadget? Or is 20 or so gigabytes still plenty of space? Tell me in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
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Comments 9
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ElDiabloJuanCarl 18 October, 2012 12:24
I thought Surface supported SD cards as well? If so, well, that changes the dynamics of the arguement massively.
anonymous 18 October, 2012 12:56
I would have thought that sticking in a 32gb micro sd card, which cost little over a tenner these days, would resolve this nicely. Surface can take up to 64gb sd cards in fact. Plus anything you'd care to pop in the USB socket. Meh, hardly a deal breaker.
Dean Shepherd 18 October, 2012 16:19
I think its more a matter of principle for me as a deal breaker. I mean we are all aware that storage is never exactly what is said...I mean 16gb is really 14.2gb or there about after format....but this is a big drop and its not a physical format size thing, its Microsoft using it but I ask why still call it 32gb version as you can't use anywhere near that now.
anonymous 18 October, 2012 21:08
It's not a deal breaker for me because you have SDXC and a USB drive = Expandable storage. You also get 7GB or to some lucky ones 20GB free on Skydrive for your photos/documents and such. I'm content with the offering, waiting for SurfacePro myself though.
Mark Anderson 18 October, 2012 22:21
What's the iPads' expandable storage again, Luke?
*crickets chirp*
Alrighty.
anonymous 18 October, 2012 22:38
Don't forget that you'll also have SkyDrive storage to go with that 20GB. 20GB(built-in) + 64GB(SD Card) + 5GB(SkyDrive) + any other cloud storage system means that you should have enough storage space.
anonymous 19 October, 2012 00:23
Currys and PC World will be offering the KnowHow Cloud Services of 500GB or 1TB worth of cloud backup on this tablet as well. Problem Solved.
anonymous 19 October, 2012 08:37
I don't think that the RT version of the operating system will take up that much space. I imagine it will be alot less than 10gb. It will not have all the services that you find on Win7 or Win8 this should lower the foot print.
anonymous 19 October, 2012 09:27
Is that last post by a Win RT engineer? Are you disagreeing with -
"One Ricardo Lopez, test manager for the tablet, wrote on the site that, "After the OS, OfficeRT and a bunch of apps, you will still have more than 20GB."?
How on earth can you possibly know otherwise?