Dell exec warned Microsoft over ‘confusing’ RT branding

An executive at Dell warned Microsoft that their planned ‘RT' branding for the tablet operating system would confuse consumers, especially as it doesn't run traditional Windows applications.

Jefferey Clarke, vice chairman at Dell and the president of its PC business said at the Dell World conference last week that he warned Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer against using RT branding and that it would have a negative impact on the products. CNET reported.

Ballmer disagreed with Clarke and argued that the Windows branding was too important not to be used in Microsoft's product.

Clarke may have been right because Microsoft have reportedly needed to revise their return policies for the Surface tablet running Windows RT as people are returning them after finding out that their programs will not run on the ARM hardware inside.

Windows RT uses touch optimised versions of Microsoft Office applications including Excel, Word, PowerPoint and OneNote.

So far Microsoft have only said that the Surface tablet has had a ‘modest' start. The company have attempted to fix this by working with retail stores last week to expand visibility and hopefully sales.

If people want to run traditional X86 software then they need to wait on the Surface Pro tablet which is due for release in 2013. The price point however may alienate a huge portion of the audience, starting at $899.

Kitguru says: A messy start for Microsoft, no question about it.

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