Windows 8 Update: Microsoft's Surface RT has a higher profit margin than the iPad

Microsoft stands to make $30.85 more per Surface RT tablet with keyboard than Apple does with a similar 32G iPad without a keyboard, according to iSuppli teardown analyses.

A Microsoft Surface RT tablet with a Touch keyboard costs $284 to manufacture; it sells for $599, iSuppli says. Without the keyboard it retails for $499. The keyboard itself costs $16 6o $18 to manufacture.

A similar New iPad costs $332.85 to manufacture, comes with no keyboard and retails for $599, according to an iSuppli teardown.

FIRST LOOK: Windows 8 Surface RT 

Not including the cost of software that means the profit margin on a Surface RT is $297 vs $266.15 for a similar iPad that comes without a keyboard.

So Microsoft is charging the same premium price for Surface RT, throwing in a keyboard and is still making more per device than Apple. Toss into the mix applications and services that customers might want to buy into and Surface becomes an even more potent revenue generator.

Windows 8 + tequila

Here's a link to a video of a woman exploring Windows 8 for the first time, having prepped for the experiment by downing a few tequilas. She's refreshingly honest but uses a few cuss words, so be warned. "That's really cute but can I actually just write the f@&*ing email?" she says.

Claim: Windows 8 cracked

French security research firm Vupen says it has found a way to execute code remotely on Windows 8 machines by exploiting vulnerabilities in both the operating system and Internet Explorer 10.

Apparently this means Vupen has found a way to get outside the sandbox IE 10 operates in to exploit a flaw it's found in Windows 8 itself, according to a story on CSO Online.

Microsoft didn't comment, saying Vupen hadn't shared details of the exploit, which makes sense since Vupen's business model is to sell the exploits it discovers to government agencies, businesses and the like.

Here's the explanation CSO offered about how Vupen broke Windows 8 security: "The exploit-mitigation technologies Vupen claimed to bypass were HiASLR (high-entropy Address Space Layout Randomization), AntiROP (anti-Return Oriented Programming), DEP (data execution prevention) and the IE 10 Protected Mode sandbox."

Despite this possible exploitation of Windows 8, the new operating system has a host of security improvements over its predecessors that make it a better security bet, experts say.

Oprah love

For what it's worth, Oprah Winfrey says she likes Surface RT well enough to place it on her annual Favorite Things list. She says she likes the kickstand, the keyboard, the inclusion of Skype and the weight of the device.

(Tim Greene covers Microsoft for Network World and writes the Mostly Microsoft blog. Reach him at tgreene@nww.com and follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/Tim_Greene.)

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