Microsoft's Surface presentation yesterday was the first Microsoft product rollout that's generated any degree of excitement since Windows 95. By now you know there will be two versions: one running Windows RT, the other running Windows 8 Pro. They both have 10.6-inch displays running 16:9 aspect ratio (as opposed to iPad's 9.7-inch display at 4:3). They're both thin and light and -- we're assured -- fast and fluid. People who've touched the machines say they're physically gorgeous, although as best as I can tell, nobody's used the onscreen keyboard or the Windows 8 Pro model's pen.
The Windows RT version has a MicroSD slot, USB 2.x port, and MicroHDMI video-out. The Windows 8 Pro version has a MicroSDXC slot, USB 3.0 port, and Mini DisplayPort video-out. According to Microsoft's Video Gallery, the Windows RT version ships with Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview. I have no idea what "Preview" means. Windows RT runs on an Nvidia ARM chip, but we don't know which one. The Windows 8 Pro version will run on an Intel "Ivy Bridge" i5 processor -- but there's no word about the i5's speed.
We haven't a clue what kind of displays will come with these machines. Microsoft identifies the Windows RT version as having a "ClearType HD" display, while the Windows 8 Pro version will have a "ClearType Full HD" display. No, this isn't the same thing as ClearType, the subpixel rendering technology, which is notably absent on the Metro side of Windows 8. Presumably, the Windows RT display must run at least 1,366 by 768 pixels to accommodate Metro Snap. The "Full HD" moniker on the Windows 8 Pro version would seem to indicate the display is at least 1,920 by 1,080 pixels -- part of the presentation very briefly mentioned 1080p -- but we really don't know for sure. As for a screen as gorgeous as the Retina display ...
We don't know who's manufacturing the tablets, although we do know that Surface is good enough to scare LG out of the tablet business. They both use 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi antennas of an unknown brand. We also don't know if one or both will have 3G or 4G capabilities. We don't even know how much RAM will come with the tablets.
