Microsoft is not taking any half-measures in the highly competitive tablet-PC market. The computing giant has now announced that its Surface Pro tablet will be released on February 9, 2013 for USD 899.99. Microsoft has been enjoying a renewed presence in the operating system world with its Windows 8 platform which was launched in October 2012. The new Surface Pro tablet will also run Windows 8.
The new tablet PC is the successor to the Surface RT tablet which was released with the launch of Windows 8. The processor being used for the USD 499 RT tablet was based on the ARM architecture and did not allow for the use of many Windows programs, which did not go down well with a few customers.
There are two covers that users can get to work with the new Surface Pro tablet. The Type Cover will cost USD 130 and has physical keys on it, while the touch-sensor-based Touch Cover will cost USD 120. Microsoft’s latest offering is priced higher that its previous version due to the fact that it houses an Intel Core i5 processor. It also comes with Windows Pro, which will allow users to run legacy and newer Windows programs as well.
Best Buy, Staples and Microsoft’s own online store will be selling the new Surface Pro from February 2013.