With the recent release of Microsoft Windows Tablet, you may be consider purchasing this tablet, …BUT before you delve into this class of tablet, let’s do a little bit of surfacing, shall we?
The new Microsoft Surface Tablet is being offered in two configurations/specs. The current released version contains Windows RT, which runs on an ARM Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, which is the standard processor found in many Android tablets. This is important because it means that you will not be able to install any legacy windows applications into this Windows RT tablet. You must visit Microsoft Store in order to download exclusive apps which will tailor to this particular operating system. The starting price for the Windows RT tablet is $499.
The other version of Surface tablet, and soon to be released, will have Windows 8 Pro operating system. This will have the familiar Intel Processor (Ivy Bride, Core i5), allowing the device to run previous windows application as far back as Windows XP. This version will also allow installation of RT applications as well as third party software. My prediction is that the Windows 8 Pro version will have a much higher price tag than that of its RT cousin. I would guess the price will be around $999 w/ 4GB RAM (RT version has 2GB RAM). The keyboard option will mostly like be an extra $99. Think super “portable laptop with touchscreen”.
For more information, visit Microsoft’s Surface Tablet website.
Chrissy Le
Technology Marketing Specialist
" Tech Talk" 