TMCnews Featured Article

All work and no play may make Jack a dull boy, but all play and no work also is no good for the majority of tablet buyers.This is good news for Windows RT and the king of productivity tools, Microsoft (News - Alert) Office 365.

A recent Morgan Stanley Research study found that 61 percent of potential tablet PC purchasers consider Office the single most important software feature when considering a tablet purchase.

The results bode well for Microsoft Surface with Windows RT, which comes with a preview release of Office Home & Student 2013 RT preinstalled at no additional cost, according to the Office News blog.

“Traditionally, tablets have been great for reading, listening to music, watching movies, or keeping the kids entertained, but they haven't met everyone's needs for staying organized and getting things done,” the blog stated. “All that changed with last week's announcement of Microsoft Surface with Windows RT.”

Microsoft Surface with Windows RT naturally is positioned best for those who want to use Office on a tablet since both are developed by Microsoft.

The recently released study bears this out, suggesting that MS could shift from a challenged tablet position to being best in the tablet market once Windows 8 with Office rolls out.

The findings stated, “Our survey suggests 25 percent of users expect to buy Windows 8 tablet, and Office is a key feature, especially for those considering their first tablet purchase.”

Office Home & Student 2013 RT includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, optimized for touch, long battery life and the tablet form factor.

“The new Office and Windows RT devices seamlessly blend form and function, portability and productivity, and play and work in a single device,” enthused the blog.

Those who buy a Windows RT device will get the preview version of Office Home & Student 2013 RT, but they can get the final release a few days after their first use if they have a Wi-Fi connection, the blog notes. They also can manually download the final release manually by using Windows Update.

Even with Office being a key attraction for tablet buyers, Morgan Stanley still advises MS to stay competitive by competing on price.

“Pricing is the key variable that will determine the success of Microsoft and its partners,” wrote Morgan Stanley Research in the report.

It suspects MS will take the hint.

“We believe Microsoft will bundle Office with Windows 8 at a discount to bring OEMs on board and drive user adoption. Our analysis suggests Microsoft could charge $82-114 for Windows and Office before OEMs would lose money on tablets,” it noted.