SMEs banned from using the version of Microsoft Office that ships with the consumer Surface tablet

SMEs that use the version of Microsoft Office that ships by default with the consumer version of the Microsoft Surface will be in breach of their terms of service with Microsoft, according to reports.

Microsoft’s consumer Surface tablet, based on its forthcoming Windows RT platform, will ship with a version of Microsoft Office named Office Home & Student 2013 RT.

However, according to ZDNet, Microsoft’s terms of service agreement expressly forbids Office Home & Student 2013 RT being used for “commercial, non-profit, or revenue-generating activities”.

Wes Miller, research VP at Directions on Microsoft, told ZDNet “[you’ll] need to subscribe to Office 365 or have a PC running Office 2013 to ‘biz unlock’ Office H&S on Windows RT.”

The consumer Surface tablet is available for pre-order in Australia and, unlike the professional version of the Surface tablet, will not be compatible with desktop Windows applications.