Buying Windows means thinking about more than whether you want Windows 8.1 or if you’d rather stick with Windows 7.

If you buy a business notebook, you expect it to come with a copy of Windows 8.1 Pro (or Windows 7 Professional if you choose to downgrade to that), because it has key business features like being able to join your work domain, use Remote Desktop to access your PC from elsewhere, and turn on BitLocker to encrypt the hard drive.

If you buy a cheap 8-inch tablet you shouldn’t expect those features because you’re getting a consumer device – 8-inch devices usually come with the Windows 8.1 with Bing or Windows 8.1 with Bing and Office 365 Personal for Small Tablets SKUs because that’s free to OEMs (after a $10 – around £6.50 or AU$13 – ‘configuration discount’).

A 10.1-inch tablet, with or without a keyboard, will also come with Windows 8.1 with Bing (and maybe Office 365) because that’s much cheaper for the OEM than the normal version of Windows 8.1 – it’s $15 (around £10 or AU$19) rather than about $40 (around £25 or AU$50).

SOURCE: techradar.com