Surface Pro 2 as tablet installation for Office 365?

[onlysublime]

I was wondering if anyone knew how to install the Surface Pro 2 as a tablet installation for Office 365. I currently have Office 365 installed on 5 PC machines already. I read that you can choose to count the SP2 as a tablet install so it doesn't count against your PC installs but I haven't figured out how.

 

[12Danny123]

I'm pretty sure if your 5 install runs out you can't install anymore. But since you have already have full installs. I find it likely that you have runner out of installations

 

[onlysublime]

well, here's the rule on the 5 installs: Office on 5 PCs or Macs plus five iPads or Windows tablets

and here's the recent information on Surface Pro 2 as a tablet (Office 365 users: Surface Pros now qualify as PCs or tablets | ZDNet):

Microsoft officials had said previously that Surface devices, because of their detachable keyboards, counted as tablets, not PCs. While Microsoft officials often refer to Surface Pros as "tablets that can replace your laptop," they also position them as competitors to MacBooks, not iPads.

When Microsoft unveiled Office 365 Personal in March, Office execs said that "Any Windows device that is touch enabled and has a detachable keyboard qualifies as a tablet." That meant Surface Pros and Surface Pro 2s were defined for licensing purposes as tablets.

But more than a few Surface buyers are using their Surface Pro or Surface Pro 2 devices as their primary PCs. Some considering Office 365 wanted the option to count their Surface Pro as their PC and Office on iPad as their "tablet."

The good news: Microsoft is now allowing users to do this. When I asked Microsoft officials about their categorization of Surface Pros for subscriptions, a spokesperson sent me the following statement:

?We understand that the convergence of device categories can make it difficult to define some devices, and as a result, we have built in some flexibility for subscription customers. For example, an Office 365 Personal subscriber can define their Surface Pro as either a PC or a tablet.?

 

[maflynn]

I would say since its running windows and is considered a laptop replacement its going to count against the computer quota and not the tablet count - just my uneducated opinion

 

[Nimdock]

Yes, it has been confirmed by Microsoft that you can count your Surface install as either a tablet or a PC, it's the customer's choice.

However I could not tell you where you would set that since I don't have Office 365. (Still using Office 2010).

Hopefully someone that has done this will come along to help you.

This is what one user in Neowin had to say (I don't find it particularly enlightening but maybe it will help somewhat, otherwise you may have to contact Microsoft):

So I think I figured it out. So I had the Surface Pro 2 installed as one of my 5 installations. Office 2013 was running correctly on it. I removed the Surface Pro 2 from my 5 installations and replaced its spot with another PC. So none of the 5 installations reflected the SP2. I then went to the SP2 and played with Office. There's no message saying that Office was no longer activated. So I guess now it's counting as a tablet? However, the SP2 is not listed under the mobile devices (where Windows Phone, iPad, iOS, Android are located) either.

 

[onlysublime]

actually, that post came from me...

what ends up happening is that after a couple days, it will pop up that your subscription has expired. I made the post right away which was a mistake. I should've played with it for a couple days before posting. I just thought I had an "aha!" moment so I posted prematurely. so no, the SP2 is not recognized as a tablet yet.

I was talking to a Microsoft customer service rep and he says that the system is being implemented but hasn't gone public yet. As of right now, the system is only recognizing the Surface Pro devices as PCs and not as tablets. But they're trying to accommodate me by giving me a workaround. So I totally appreciate Microsoft for trying to solve my case.

 

[Nimdock]

Hahaha, wow!