As much as I hate Windows 8.1, one thing they have done right is greatly reduced the memory load.
Windows Vista 64-bit took about 2GB RAM, you basically had to have 3GB+ to run anything.
Windows 7 64-bit took about 1GB RAM, or practical tests 0.8GB, you basically had to have 2GB+ to run anything.
Windows 8/8.1 takes a whole 0.28GB RAM, you basically need 1GB+ to run anything.
The Surface 3 is made for word processing, browsing the web, watching video, taking notes, or simpler tasks like that. 2GB will work well for this role.
Sorry but I can't agree. I've never seen Windows 8.1 EVER run with that low of a memory load, and that's the first thing I checked when I bought a Surface Pro 3 fresh out of the box because I was worried that 4GB wasn't going to be enough. Admittedly I do photography which is why I was worried about 4GB, and really I was right. It is a battle to get any software to provision more than 2GB of memory. Windows 8.1 booted up out of the box consuming just over 1GB. These days it boots to about 1.5GB with Chrome, Dropbox, and generic odds and ends installed. Firing up word, opening a 3 page document, and having Outlook open at the same time will consume around about 500MB of RAM by itself.
So no. I do not agree that 2GB is enough on a modern system. I do not agree that 2GB is enough on a modern system that only runs Office, let alone one that will have Onenote and other things open in the background.
I love the Surface 3 Pro. It's been a real pleasure to use since I bought it and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with enough budget and the desire to have one device act as a tablet and a laptop. But I won't EVER suggest to anyone these days that they can get away with a full Windows PC that only has 2GB of RAM.