Surface may be the most important product Microsoft's launched in a decade. And it's $500. Sort of.
This is Microsoft's Surface tablet. Remember it?
It's basically Microsoft's mighty morphin' iPad. It runs a version of Windows 8 designed for tablets. It's got a really neat cover (more on that in a second). And it has a kickstand built into it. It's pretty cool.
It's $500. Like an iPad.
But as Microsoft is very keen to tell you, for $500, you get twice the storage of the $500 iPad model (32GB instead of 16GB), a bigger screen (10.6 inches instead of 9.7) and a real USB port (U S B vs. NOTHING AT ALL, THAT'S WHAT). That's pretty good pricing for the tablet itself, and obviously makes it a direct competitor to the iPad. You can pre-order one at surface.com in like an hour (12pm ET), or buy it in person at the Microsoft Store, which is the only place on earth you can buy one, starting October 26.
