The Surface Mini that reportedly was set to launch but then yanked at the last second in May is alive. No, you still can’t buy one: Microsoft never released it. NeoWin’s Brad Sams, however, said he recently got to use the Surface Mini although he wasn’t allowed to post any pictures. Sams thinks Microsoft “killed the wrong product” in the Surface Mini and keeping the Surface 2 alive.

That’s nice praise for a device that never launched. Why did Sams like the Surface Mini? Partially due to the size, portability, digital ink support and case [company]Microsoft[/company] was slated to include with the tablet. As he said:

This device is the pen and paper killer. The size is fantastic, although the bezel does seem large for the size of the display, but the case creates a compact, easy to carry and highly functional tablet. The bezel size is large enough to have…