Same reason they don't have an Office Suite that actually works for mouse + keyboard reliably. Last version i tried, fired up base, create a new blank DB, create table, add field, primary key. Crash.

That's why. Clean install of Debian stable (i.e., presumably the version you would want to run in production, as recommended by the Debian team) from last year.

So you're saying that when I am running a classic app, I should bring up the virtual keyboard, hit windows key and ... oh wait, that's the button on the front which brings up the start screen (there's no windows key on the virtual keyboard)...

You don't know what you're talking about and clearly haven't actually used a Surface Pro to do any work, as a touch-only device.

$300 android or even $1000 android tablet does not/can not compete in this space because it doesn't run x86/x64 based Windows. That's the Surface Pro's party trick - it runs Win32, whilst still offering the other tablet benefits. win32 compatibility for this box is everything. Without win32 compatibility, you have the Surface RT. Just look how well that sold.

You are assuming that keeping data in sync, running updates, paying for software licenses, etc. on two different devices come for free. A small laptop is not really a competitor - the cheap ones have really shitty screens, really shitty CPUs in them, no SSD, and crappy battery life.

The price for the hardware in a surface pro is in the ball-park. If your needs will fit the device (and I think you'd be surprised at just how many people in the business world are covered by this sort of device), then it is decent value. The vast majority of desktop machines sold to businesses run Word, Excel, Outlook and maybe project and a couple of legacy Windows apps from ~2000 or earlier. Maybe a terminal session.

An iPad has enough CPU power to cover that easily, but it isn't x86/x64 Windows so the apps won't run on it.

Comparing specs for most people is largely irrelevant now in terms of processor, expansion, GPU, etc. In the business world you're looking for a decent amount of memory, maybe SSD and a display that doesn't suck. Bases which the Surface Pro easily covers. Trading the additional portability benefits for some higher-on-paper spec or marginally cheaper machine (say $200-300, depreciated over 3-5 years - or a real world business cost of say 30c per day) is just not worth it.

TLDR: rather than migrate the Windows desktop to an OpenGL/D3d surface, and scale it to whatever size is required on user demand, they've decided to half-ass it. I've used Windows 8 and 8.1 scaling, and it sucks. Old legacy apps are the major reason people want Windows tablets.

People buy x64 based WINDOWS tablets so they have the ability to run WINDOWS applications. if i was willing to give up the ability to run win32 apps, i wouldn't bother with a surface pro. Being able to run win32 is the Surface Pro's major selling point. The fact that I can run win32 desktop apps better using VMware view on an iPad or Android tablet (or a Surface, if i was to run View client on it) is a major problem.

Wasn't expecting them to be designed for touch. But using non-touch apps on a Windows tablet is the major selling point of a Windows tablet. And, i've run Windows apps on an iPad via VMware view. It is less annoying due to having pinch to zoom enabled, which Windows classic desktop running natively on a Windows 8 machine does not have. And no, loading up magnifier every time i want to zoom in to click a widget is not comparable to pinch-zooming...

If I'm happy to forego legacy win32 app capability, there's no reason to bother with a Surface Pro - it's overpriced, overweight and has comparatively little software available.

This is why it is a flop, thus far.

It doesn't work with most of the apps I have tried. Resolution independence in Windows is abysmal.

Well, yes. There's no other selling point to buy a Surface Pro over any other tablet for the average joe. The major selling point is that you can use your existing windows apps.

Thats the theory. In reality (and yes, I've tried it both ways), assuming you have network connectivity, VMWare View on an iPad kicks the shit out of trying to run win32 applications natively on a Surface Pro. Because you can zoom.

I'm well aware of the macbook pricing, i own one. I said reasonable because it is in the ballpark for a high-res screen, 12" form factor and core i series CPU. I consider reasonable to be within say 10-15% either way. The Surface runs Windows natively so if you need windows that is a plus the Macbook does not have going for it. A windows license is extra. Surface RT, now that pricing was taking the piss. No native win32, inferior hardware to ipad, more expensive...

Why? Because if you go on a trip, you don't want to be carrying around 2 sets of cables, chargers, etc. You'll have to sync data between devices, two data plans (unless you tether one to the other, which is a crap way of working also). The whole selling point of the device is that you can do away with all that crap. The convenience over 3 years of ownership is surely worth a few hundred bucks if it comes down to price.

And comes with OS X instead of Windows 8.

Pretty much that. 8 GB is enough to run a couple of VMs anyway - but if you want to run much more than that you'll likely run out of storage, kill your battery, etc. Get a server, and just use the tablet for what it is good at - displaying content processed elsewhere on the network.

It should have been out 2-5 years ago (Windows 7 was originally touted as being touch friendly also, prior to release).