Microsoft Surface to be available for purchase October 26th at midnight

Microsoft appears ready to launch its Windows 8 Microsoft Surface tablet. An invitation sent to the press says, "You’re invited to celebrate Windows 8″ on October 25th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.," which can be translated to read, "come see our Microsoft Surface tablets". A Microsoft spokesman says that the tablets will be launched midnight, October 26th from Microsoft's web site and at Microsoft stores. Since Microsoft's retail locations don't exactly blanket the globe, your best bet will be to purchase the tablet online.

The Microsoft Surface tablet

At the event, Microsoft will presumably discuss pricing, a subject that has not been discussed except by CEO Steve Ballmer who previously gave a pretty wide range of $300-$800 as the "sweet spot" for tablet pricing. Back in August, a rumor was floated that had Microsoft selling the Windows RT version of the Microsoft Surface tablet for $199. If true, it would certainly throw a new competitor into the low-priced tablet game that is led by the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, both priced at $199. But with its 10.6 inch display, the Surface would provide a much larger screen than the 7 inch panels on the other low-priced units.

In case you've had a Rip Van Winkle moment covering the whole summer, Microsoft is issuing two versions of the tablet. The Microsoft Surface (RT) is powered by a ARM related NVIDIA Tegra 3+ and is designed to compete with the Apple iPad and Android powered tablets. The Microsoft Surface (8 Pro) model is designed to be a mobile version  of a Windows 8 PC.