Steve Ballmer announced two brand new Microsoft Surface tablets at an event in Los Angeles today. The first tablet, Microsoft Surface for Windows RT, runs the Windows 8 RT operating system and based on the ARM based CPU. The second tablet is Microsoft Surface for Windows Pro, which runs Windows 8 Pro OS and based on the Intel based CPU. Below is a brief comparison of the two Microsoft Surface tablets.
Display
As you can see above, both the tablets come with 10.6″ ClearType display, but the difference being Windows 8 Pro Surface carrying a full-HD screen as compared to the HD screen of Windows RT Surface.
Form Factor
The major difference is in the thickness of the two tablets. As expected, the ARM based Windows RT Surface boasts a much thinner body of just 9.3mm as against 13.5mm in a Windows Pro Surface. The thickness translates into weight as well. Windows 8 Pro Surface weighs 903 grams, while the Windows RT Surface weighs a mere 676 grams.
Ports
Both the tablets carries an impressive set of ports for personal and professional use. They come with a microSD card slot, micro HD video port and 2×2 MIMO antennae. While the ARM based Windows RT Surface comes with a USB 2.0 port, the Windows Pro Surface will get you a super fast USB 3.0 port.
Storage
Windows RT Surface will come in 16GB & 32GB versions, while the Windows 8 Pro Surface will come in a much larger 64GB & 128GB versions.
Pricing
Microsoft played coy by saying that they will provide the details before the launch happens and only said that both the tablets will be ‘competitively priced’. Going by that statement, we can assume the ARM based Surface to be priced around $500 – $750, while the Intel based Surface should be priced over $1000. In addition to these, Intel’s version will feature a digitizer pen with palm block. And not to forget the difference in the operating system versions itself. Windows 8 Pro lets you do much more than the Windows RT. More on that later. Update: Some details on the software front.
Software
Surface RT will run Windows 8 RT, which will come with certain limitations. Windows RT will not include core Windows 8 apps like Windows Media Player and can only run software written using the Windows Runtime (Metro style apps). On positive side, ARM based processor on Surface RT ensures that core processes are always running and hence important software like Windows Defender can protect the tablet all the time and can constantly get updated in the background.
