Sales of the Surface were poor, with Microsoft cutting its price worldwide and taking a US$990 million loss in July 2013 as a result.

[4] The device was announced at a press-only event in Los Angeles and was the first PC which Microsoft had designed and manufactured in-house.

Surface runs Windows RT, which is preloaded with Windows Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Sports, News, Travel, Finance, Camera, Weather, Reader, SkyDrive, Store, Photos, Skype (no longer supported), Maps, Games, Messaging, Bing, Desktop, and Xbox Music and Xbox Video Windows Store applications, and supports Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT, which includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote within the Desktop application.

The Touch and Type Covers double as keyboards and magnetically attach to the Surface's "accessory spine".

CNET praised the design of Surface, noting that it " Looked practical without being cold, and just feels like a high-quality device that Microsoft cut few corners to make."

Surface's display was praised for its larger size and widescreen aspect ratio over the iPad line but panned for having "muted" color reproduction.

In conclusion, it was felt that "paired with a keyboard cover, the Surface is an excellent Office productivity tool (the best in tablet form) and if your entertainment needs don't go far beyond movies, TV shows, music, and the occasional simple game, you're covered there as well", but that assuming Windows Store would eventually improve its application selection, "both it and the Surface's wonky performance keep a useful productivity device from reaching true tablet greatness.

[12][13][14][15][16] Microsoft's price cut did result in a slight increase of market share for the device; by late-August 2013, usage data from the advertising network AdDuplex (which provides advertising services within Windows Store apps) revealed that Surface's share had increased from 6.2 to 9.8%.