Microsoft hit with lawsuit over Surface storage capacity

Microsoft are on the receiving end of a lawsuit over the advertised 32GB storage space in the Surface tablet – as the device only ships with 16GB ‘free'.

The software giant are being sued over misleading advertising regarding the amount of storage space in the 32GB Surface tablet. The lawsuit was started by California lawyer Andrew Sokolowski who claims that he bought the device due to the 32GB of storage, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The device only has 16GB of free space as Microsoft install the operating system, Word and Excel and Windows recovery tools. The 64GB model only has 46GB free.

The lawsuit is slightly unusual in that Microsoft have never hidden the fact that the device only has 16GB of ‘free' space and explains exactly what is using the storage space. They also advise customers how to get more space using SkyDrive Cloud storage, MicroSD storage or a USB flash drive.

Microsoft told CNET “We believe this lawsuit is without merit. Customers understand the operating system and pre-installed applications reside on the device's internal storage thereby reducing the total free space.”

This is not a unique situation, as tablets always ship with ‘less' space than the rated amount. Even the Apple iPad has less – the 32GB version for instance ships with only 28GB free, and the 16GB unit has 14.3 gb free. Apple do use a separate storage location for their pre-installed applications so the reduction isn't as bad as the Microsoft Surface.

Sokolowski is hoping to get a class action status for his lawsuit.

Kitguru says: Seems like a bizarre lawsuit to us.

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