64GB Microsoft Surface Pro to ship with only 36 percent of storage available

64GB Microsoft Surface Pro to ship with only 36 percent of storage available

On Feb. 9, Microsoft will finally be releasing the Surface Pro to the masses eagerly awaiting the company's more robust entry into the tablet battle.

Unlike the Microsoft Surface RT, which uses Windows RT, the Surface Pro will include the full Windows 8 Pro operating system.

< p>That notion alone has been a key reason may supporters have chosen to wait for the more expensive, but more powerful, tablet.

However, those devoted faithful may soon be a bit disappointed for another reason altogether, as the Surface Pro isn't going to come with storage as spacious as advertised.

Space invader

According to Microsoft, the base model Surface Pro with 64GB of storage will actually only come with 23GB of free storage.

That means Windows 8 Pro and whatever other default programs and apps come loaded on the tablet will leave just 36 percent of the hard drive open for users.

The 128GB model fares just a bit better, with 85GB (64.8 percent) of the storage space left open for consumers to use.

Of course, this is par for the course, as the Surface RT also went through some similar memory troubles.

The 32GB Surface RT included just 16GB of storage when it arrived, and the 64GB version allowed users to work with 46GB of spa ce.

The Surface Pro is compatible with USB 3.0 and includes a microSDXC card slot for expandable memory, but that doesn't make the lack of on-board storage any easier to swallow.