Last month Microsoft unveiled Surface, a new tablet that was rumored to launch at E3 earlier in June. Nonetheless the company didn’t lose the element of surprise – Surface is the software vendor’s first entry into the hardware market.

One of the main concerns brought up is that the device may not justify the investment – not just because it might not be able to rival Apple’s iPad, but also because it can have a negative impact on Microsoft’s relations with its partners. But Hewlett-Packard and Dell were both quick to dismiss these speculations, stating that they won’t be abandoning Windows anytime soon.

Dell’s spokesperson was very specific and stated that there are still very much committed to their upcoming Widows 8 tablet collection, but HP didn’t specify as much. And it seems that was for a good reason.

The ”full range of Windows 8 machines” it has in store was apparently downsized this week according to unnamed sources who reported that HP won’t be installing Windows RT – the ARM-optimized version of Win8 – on its newest tablets.  Here’s a rather interesting take on what Microsoft is trying to achieve with its big hardware venture:

“The software giant has placed itself in a curious position with hardware makers that will essentially become competition when Surface is released later this year,” writes AppleInsider.  “Microsoft will have a definite pricing advantage as it won’t have to pay the $90 OS licensing fee applied to OEMs planning to use either Windows RT or Windows 8 Pro.”

The consumer hardware space has had a few very interesting developments lately. Dell, which happens to be Microsoft’s second largest manufacturing partner, is collaborating with Canonical on the development of an open-source laptop for developers.