Microsoft Surface Windows 8 tablet first look

On Thursday Microsoft sent out invitations to selected news organizations with invitations to their Monday, June 18, 2012 major announcement held in Los Angeles at 3:30pm Pacific time to preview their tablet.

Above is the first look at Microsoft Windows 8 tablet called Surface as they enter the tablet market which is currently dominated by Apple. As the tablet sales is expected to continue to grow, as reported by research firm IDC, with expected shipment of 142 million units in 2013, it only makes sense for Microsoft to enter the market and try to get a get slice of the action as more consumers and businesses move to use it more ubiquitously.

With their new operating system dubbed Windows 8 and built specifically with the touch-screen in mind, Microsoft has fired a compelling salvo at Apple that can only heat up the tablet war further.

As Microsoft is the undisputed leader in desktop space, the Surface tablet does look promising as we know that Microsoft, the company, will be around for a long time and people are already familiar with how their system works. Unlike other companies that have tried to dethrone Apple, with Samsung being the distant close rival, Microsoft seems to have taken a see and wait approach and learned from the mistakes of others.

Although exact pricing and dates were not mentioned, we can expect to see the Windows RT version out sometimes this fall and Windows 8 Pro to be out three months after.

The Surface tablet comes in two flavors, one is called the Windows Surface RT powered by ARM Holding chips, that powers about 95% of the smartphones in use and the second is called Windows Surface Pro powered by Intel’s chip called Ivy Bridge.