The notebooks that replaced desktops over the 2000s did so by being able to work as both notebooks or desktops. Microsoft’s strategy with Surface Pro mimicked the market transition we saw years earlier. Instead, Surface Pro offered the promise of a tablet that could potentially replace your notebook and desktop as well. While Surface RT suffered a lot from being a new platform that lacked the support of decades of Windows applications, Surface Pro had no such issue. Despite sharing a lot of the same DNA, the response to Surface Pro was much better than what we saw with Surface RT.
Surface RT showed up first, then four months later Surface Pro went on sale. When Microsoft introduced its first Surface devices last year, it did so in a staggered fashion.
