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When Microsoft unveiled its first-generation Surface slates, they comprised of a Windows RT Surface tablet and one running Windows 8. The ‘RT’ branding apparently caused a lot of confusion and Microsoft has now decided to stop using ‘RT’ in the name of any further Surface slates.

The second crop of Surface slates that Microsoft has ousted are simply branded as ‘Surface 2’ and ‘Surface 2 Pro.’ In explaining this decision of changing names, the company had this to say, “To stay consistent with the naming structure of our new offerings, Surface RT is now referred to as ‘Surface.”

While the name change is sure to bring more coherence in Microsoft’s Surface branding, the company has also made a rather significant decision for the RT devices. In the recent Windows RT 8.1 update, Microsoft has removed the desktop tile from the Start Screen.

This essentially means that when trying to go to the desktop mode, users will now have to face quite a hassle. For now, this change is limited only to Windows RT 8.1 devices, including the Surface tablets running the updated version of the OS.

The move can be viewed in context of Microsoft’s larger strategy of phasing out the desktop mode altogether from its RT devices. However, Microsoft still needs to offer a range of touch-friendly apps which will run perfectly without the need of a desktop mode, before the company can make such a radical decision.

Source: Microsoft Surface

Courtesy: The Verge

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