Microsoft drops ‘RT’ moniker from original Surface, hides desktop mode on new RT tablets
Microsoft is altering its Surface RT name to just Surface today. After dropping the RT moniker for its Surface 2 tablet, the software maker is removing the RT branding on the Surface entirely.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had already cut the Surface RT's starting price in July, signaling pressure on the original model before this naming change. By September, Dell's XPS 10 exit had left Microsoft as the sole Windows RT hardware backer in the corpus.
The move also follows Microsoft's earlier retirement of the Metro brand, making it part of a broader effort to simplify product terminology. Surface RT and Surface Pro had been introduced four months apart, leaving Microsoft to explain two closely related Surface experiences.
First-order effects
- Microsoft removes the RT label from the original Surface while steering users of new RT tablets away from desktop mode.
- Surface buyers face a less explicit product name, increasing the importance of Microsoft's own messaging to distinguish the original Surface from Surface Pro.
Second-order effects
- With Dell no longer selling an XPS 10, Microsoft bears more of the burden of sustaining buyer confidence in the Windows RT category and its Surface identity.
- The July price cut and the brand simplification put Surface's proposition ahead of the RT platform name, concentrating product positioning in Microsoft's hardware business.
Third-order effects
- If Microsoft continues to suppress platform labels and desktop-facing cues, Windows RT risks becoming a Surface-specific product distinction rather than a hardware ecosystem that outside PC makers promote.
- The pattern points to tablet competition shifting toward clearer device-family branding, as software-platform names become liabilities when they complicate buyer expectations.
The trend: Microsoft is consolidating the Surface brand as the primary customer-facing identity while reducing emphasis on the Windows RT label.