Microsoft Surface Pro 2
Microsoft is holding an event in New York on May 20th where the company is widely expected to launch a “Surface mini” tablet running Windows RT software. But it looks like the company could be planning to launch a new Windows 8 tablet as well.
Sources have told CNET that we’d see a new model with an Intel processor at the event, and now the folks at The Verge have found a Microsoft Support page that refers to a Surface Pro 3.
That support page mentions a fix for the Surface Pro 3 camera’s video recording capabilities and mentions Windows 8.1, which is a pretty good indication that like earlier Surface Pro tablets, the new model will have an x86 processor rather than an ARM-based chip.
Windows 8.1 is designed to run on Intel and AMD processors while Windows RT runs on devices with ARM chips. The two operating systems look a lot alike, and both can run apps downloaded from the Windows Store. But Windows RT doesn’t support most third-party apps from other sources. That means you can’t run classic Windows apps like Photoshop, LibreOffice, Firefox, or Thunderbird on a Windows RT device.
The original Surface Pro and the Surface Pro 2 tablets have both featured Intel Core i5 processors, 10.6 inch, full HD displays, 4GB of RAM, at least 64GB of storage, support for digital pen input, and optional keyboard covers. It’s not clear what new features the Surface Pro 3 will bring to the tablet.
The upcoming Surface Mini, on the other hand, is expected to feature a low-power ARM processor, Windows RT software, a smaller body, and most likely a lower price tag.
source:Lliliputing│via:cnet
