Spinning around with available storage space on Surface RT

When we buy a computer, tablet or mobile we know that the advertised storage capacity never ends up being what was promised. Bypassing the well-known problem of changing drives, system files and applications pre-installed by the manufacturer tend to scratch megabytes of available storage, so we have to settle for a little less free space than we initially paid for. But, How acceptable is the factory footprint?

Microsoft has had to deal in recent days on this issue with Surface RT.The tablet is sold with two available storage options, 32 and 64 GB of flash memory. This is used for everything: operating system, recovery files and, of course, the applications and files that we add. As a result, 32 and 64 GB are left with 16 and 45 GB of true free space for the user. With these numbers we already have the controversy mounted.

When 32 is 16 and thank you

Microsoft was quick to try to explain the situation by creating a small FAQ about Surface tablet storage on its website. In it they explain using the following table where all those occupied GB go.

Let's take the 32GB model and see what happens to your storage. Actually, and due to the aforementioned change of drives, we are talking about 29 GB that is divided into four separate partitions.Three of them are partitions for system recovery and almost 5 GB of disk space is reserved. That leaves 24 GB free in a third working partition where we start with Windows RT and the rest of the pre-installed software, which, in total, occupy almost 8 GB. Ultimately, when the Surface is first turned on, the user finds just over 16GB of usable free space

But the problems don't end there, because between software updates and some language packs, another GB and a half quickly flies by. And to top it off, the Windows Store seems to have a habit of keeping older versions of apps, which speeds up storage consumption and reduces the actual free space the user can enjoy.

misleading?

Many users do not seem to have been satisfied with the explanation provided by Microsoft, to the point that one of them, a California lawyer, has decided to sue the companyby subject.Frustrated to see how the free space on his Surface was used up just by installing a few applications and transferring some of his multimedia files to the tablet, he has decided to take the Redmond company to court, alleging deception.

In Microsoft they respond that consumers understand that the operating system and pre-installed applications occupy part of the available disk space on the tablet and that they have been informed of this by their part. If more space is needed, users can opt for the different expansion options that Surface allows: through the cloud with SkyDrive, through microSD cards, microSDHC or microSDXC, or via USB with a memory or external hard drive.

Whether or not we are convinced by these arguments and knowing that, as I have already said, this is not a problem unique to Microsoft, you pay for a certain amount of storage and only you can use half, as with the 32GB version of the Surface, it might be borderline acceptable.You have to know what you're buying before shelling out the money, but perhaps the option to keep separate partitions and offer the product with the actual free space available would be better practice for companies. If not, how much factory floor space must users tolerate?

Via | Ars Technique | SlashGear More information | Surface disk space FAQ