Microsoft has significantly dropped the prices of its Surface with Windows RT and Surface with Windows 8 Pro tablets, but there is a catch with the price drop.

Under normal circumstances, the Surface with Windows RT is available in 32GB and 64GB models for $499 and $599, respectively, while the Surface with Windows 8 Pro is priced at $899 for the 64GB model and $999 for the 128GB variant. The price for the 64GB Surface with Windows RT and the 128GB Surface with Windows 8 Pro, however, has dropped to $99.99 and $399.99, respectively.

The price drop is a limited time affair from June 3 to June 6. In addition, the ultimate catch with the discount is the offer is only available for attendees of theTechEd North America 2013 in New Orleans, according to Channel 9.

The discounted Surface tablets comes as the registration fee for the conference is $2,195, plus hotel and dining, as stated by Microsoft-News.

TechEd is touted as Microsoft's "premiere event for IT professionals and enterprise developers," offering hands-on learning and opportunities among the Redmond-based company's experts and peers.

The conference conveniently concludes as the Surface with Windows 8 Pro debuts a 256GB model in Japan on June 7.

As Latinos Post reported, the new 256GB model will be priced at $1,187 under the U.S. dollar, or 119,800 yen in Japan. The 128GB will arrive in Japan as well for 99,800 Japanese yen, or $989.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), Microsoft shipped 900,000 units of the Surface tablets. The unit figures equate to 1.8 percent of the first-quarter market share for 2013. The number of units shipped represents both Surface with Windows RT and Surface with Windows 8 Pro tablets, however, IDC noted most of the shipments were of the latter.

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