Microsoft's Surface 2 tablet powered by Windows RT has run out of stock on the company's online store, indicating that it may be discontinued.

The move follows Microsoft's announcement of Windows 10 as a free upgrade for Surface Pro tablets, but Surface 2 will not get the latest OS. The Windows RT-powered Surface 2 has never been a great success, but confirmation that it will never get the latest Windows 10 will surely make it even less appealing.

All models of the Surface 2 tablet have gone out of stock on Microsoft's online store on Thursday evening, Jan. 23, i.e. soon after the Windows 10 upgrade announcement. Along with the decision not to upgrade the Surface 2 to Windows 10, Microsoft may also discontinue the Windows RT-powered slate altogether, if the tablet's lack of availability is any indication.

As a reminder, the Surface 2 launched as the successor to the original Surface RT tablet, which was even less successful. The new iteration did improve on some things and is arguably better than its predecessor, but still failed to see a wide adoption.

The watered-down version of Windows, called Windows RT, was widely seen as the main reason behind the tablet's poor performance. Microsoft designed Windows RT to work on low-power ARM chips, while devices with more powerful processors ran the full-fledged version of Windows.

The Surface 2 is one of the last remaining tablets to run Windows RT, and it may soon face its demise as well.

We reached out to Microsoft and asked whether it will replenish stock of its 2013 Windows RT tablet and the only response we received was that the slate was still available at Best Buy, which further bolsters the theory that Microsoft is getting ready to discontinue the Surface 2. The representative further noted that Microsoft doesn't have anything else to share in this regards.

This indicates that the Surface 2 may continue to be available only while current supplies last at retailers such as Best Buy, but could soon become obsolete. Microsoft has already invested a significant amount of money on failed versions of Surface tablets, and might want to cut its losses.

The only thing that's officially confirmed right now, other than the fact that Microsoft no longer sells the tablet online, is that the Surface 2 will not get a taste of Windows 10. It is, however, expected to get some update, similarly to how Windows Phone 7 was updated to Windows Phone 7.8 to include it in the upgrade experience to some extent.