There may be business opportunities with the Surface Pro but I cannot see business adopting the RT version and you cite Office 365 which can be used on a large range of non MS devices including the Apple Mac.
They are already doing this in portions of the retail industry and the airline industry. It's only a matter of time before it creeps into manufacturing as well (if it hasn't already). Office 365 can be used on non-MS devices, true. But they can bundle Office 365 and Surface contracts to incentivize businesses to choose their tablets over competitors.
There is no way I would wish to swap my current work set up (Dell laptop and dual monitors) for the Surface. No way could I do any useful work on a Surface out in the wild as the screen is far too small.
I wouldn't want to swap my setup (MBP and a HD monitor) either. A tablet simply cannot do what I need on a daily basis. However, you and I are not the market. What we prefer or think we could make use of is irrelevant; what matters is where the technology can be effectively deployed. In this respect, tablets have lots of room to grow, as evidenced by increasing adoption of mobile computing hardware by major companies
outside of the boardroom. Nordstrom and Delta Airlines come immediately to mind.
Unless there are some pretty substantial advances on the tablet computing front I cannot see that the current generation of gaming consoles will be the last.
The end of the console era isn't going to be caused by tablets. It's going to be the costs associated with developing games making it cost and risk prohibitive for developers to make games across multiple platforms in the future. The switch by console manufacturers to less bespoke hardware will buy them some time, but the push by gamers for more complex games (better physics, better AI, better immersion, better graphics, more complex game universes, etc.) has been driving the cost of production higher and expected return lower. What's more, gamers have been increasingly dissatisfied with what's being published and are consequently becoming the equivalent of coupon clippers.
Traditional consoles will not be able to survive in this environment. In 7-10 years, developers and their publishers will be in the position of having to pick and choose winners (whose console they develop titles for) due to the increased cost of multi-platform development. This means less unit sales (due to smaller libraries) and more money being shelled out by console makers for contract deals with devs/publishers. Consequently, PC will become the default choice for developers who want to make a decent profit on their software.
I suspect the main reason for MS wanting to sell the Xbox is that it is successful and they should get a decent price for it.
This is why I would agree with a decision to sell it off now. In all likelihood, they are going to be able to command a much higher price now than they will in the future.
There is a downside in the longterm if they abandon the Xbox in that the demographics for the Xbox users tend to be younger persons. Many of them will be involved in future buying decisions. They would be less likely to buy MS products as a result.
The selling of Xbox is not going to turn future consumers away from MS products. You might be able to find a busload or two of die-hard Xbox fans who have developed an emotional relationship with Microsoft's brand logo, but rational individuals aren't going to choose an Office subscription or a Windows tablet/PC on the basis of the company's ownership of Xbox.