One of the biggest selling points for the Windows RT version of Surface, and indeed for all of the tablets running on Windows RT, was that it came with a free version of Office 2013 Home and Student RT. Microsoft made it a big bullet point that the addition of Office on Windows RT tablets made them a bigger value than other tablets in the same price range.
Later this month, Microsoft is supposed to launch Surface Pro, the new version of Surface with an Intel processor running a full version of Windows 8 Pro. There are also rumors, still unconfirmed by Microsoft, that the Windows 8 and 7 versions of Office 2013 could launch at the end of January, around the same time the Surface is supposed to go on sale.
We have already read comments to our news stories and forums with our readers speculating that Microsoft might do us a solid and include some kind of free version of Office 2013 pre-loaded with the Surface Pro. So we decided to contact Microsoft and see if that would indeed happen, maybe/hoping, that they might have a change of heart.
Alas, our Microsoft contacts have confirmed to Neowin that there are no such plans for Office 2013 and that it will indeed be sold as a separate product for Surface Pro owners. According to their statement, " ... customers will be able to choose the Office that best suits their needs."