The requirement to own or pay for an additional, enterprise-quality Office 2013 license to use Office 2013 RT at work is "just more of the same," said Ullman.

"Microsoft is not going to compromise their volume licensing revenue," said Ullman, referring to the license linking demand. "They will protect that with whatever means are available."

The bulk of Microsoft's Office revenue comes not from retail sales of the suite, but from enterprise licensing agreements.

"If they undermined that [by giving away Office RT], they would start losing revenue rather than increasing it," Ullman added. In response, Microsoft has inserted new language into its commercial contracts that allows Software Assurance plans or Office 365 subscription programs to bring Office 2013 RT into the workplace as an enabled device.

Like Miller, Ullman said the additional license, or as Microsoft put it, "use rights," may catch some potential customers off guard.