Microsoft Surface Pro: Storage a Major Problem

According to a new report, Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet, which costs almost $900 and is due for release on February 9, 2013, suffers from some serious disk space problems. Specifically, the software that ships with the device leaves precious little room for a user's own software.

In a new report, CNET says that, out of the box, the $899 64GB edition of the Surface Pro provides users with only 23GB of available storage space. CNET says it learned that information from Microsoft itself.

Microsoft also admits that the $999 128GB version of the Surface Pro suffers from this issue. When first firing up this edition of the Surface Pro, users will find just 83GB of storage space available for their files.

Microsoft's storage space numbers are actually on the high end. Softpedia recently claimed that the 64GB version of the Surface Pro leaves just 19GB of storage space available to consumers. (Source: softpedia.com)

Windows 8: Not Exactly "Petite"

All in all, that means Microsoft's own software consumes as much as 45GB of disk space on the Surface Pro.

The problem, according to CNET, is that "Windows 8 is not a petite operating system."

The site insists that Microsoft's newest operating system will operate much smoother on laptop and desktop computers boasting disk drive storage capacities of between 256GB and 1TB. (Source: cnet.com)

Microsoft Suggests Users Try Using External Storage Devices

Microsoft says that, should users find storage on the Surface Pro to present a problem, they can always attach an external hard drive.

"Surface Pro has a USB 3.0 port for connectivity with almost limitless storage options, including external hard drives and USB flash drives," the company noted in a recent statement.

"Surface also comes preloaded with SkyDrive, allowing you to store up to 7GB of content in the cloud for free."

In addition, Microsoft says the Surface Pro ships with a microSDXC card slot that allows users to store an extra 64GB worth of content.

Finally, the company says Surface Pro users can free up space "by creating a backup bootable USB and deleting the recovery partition." (Source: cnet.com)