Microsoft recently published more details of its Surface tablets, which will be available in Windows RT (for ARM) and Windows 8 Pro (for Intel). On the surface (pun intended), it looks as though Windows RT will be aimed towards home users while Windows 8 Pro will be geared towards a corporate/business audience - which comes as no real surprise.

The Windows RT Surface tablet weighs only 676g and measures 9.3mm thick. It features a 10.6in ClearType capacitive screen with a 1,366 x 768 resolution that bests most mainstream Android tablets and the Apple iPad 2 as well. It is powered by an Nvidia Tegra processor (possibly the quad-core Tegra 3 clocked above 1.4GHz), and comes with either 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage. There's a 31.5Whr battery, a microSD card slot, USB 2.0 (rather than mini/micro-USB), a micro-HDMI port and 2x2 MIMO antenna. Windows Office Home and Student 2013 RT, completes the offering.

As for the Windows 8 Pro Surface, it's powered by an Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge processor, almost certainly the low-voltage Core i5-3427U or the Core i5-3317U, both of which have a TDP of 17W, a tray price of $225 and a clock speed of up to 1.7GHz.

At 903g and 13.5mm thick, it is roughly 30 per cent heavier and thicker than the RT model, and although it also features a 10.6in ClearType screen, the dot-pitch is finer thanks to the higher full HD, 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. Onboard storage options include 64GB or 128GB, while other specs are boosted to USB 3.0, a microSDXC card slot, a 42Whr battery, mini DisplayPort.

It looks very likely, therefore, that Surface Pro will cost more than Surface. But it's also worth noting that the Windows 8 Surface Pro is likely to compete with the Windows RT Surface on the basis that the latter will be bundled with Office 2013 applications.