Microsoft Surface Pro Almost Done Production, Will Debut Soon

The Microsoft Surface Pro with full Windows 8 support is rolling off the production line and will soon be made available for sale.

Panos Panay, the general manager of Microsoft’s Surface hardware, tweeted on Wednesday that the tablet will be “arriving in the coming weeks.”

Microsoft is hoping that the Surface Pro will offer a sleek product that can undercut competitor pricing and flexibility compared to Ultrabook devices.

Microsoft debuted the Surface Pro at the same take as the Surface RT. However, since June 2012, the device has been in production with no sales time announcements.

The tech giant is in desperate need of a solid tablet competitor. The Surface RT has only managed to rack up 1 million sales since October, largely because of its lacking app support and failure to offer backwards compatibility with Windows software.

While the Windows 8 based tablet is expected to offer tough competition for the ultrabook market, it won’t be cheap. The Surface Pro will start at $899 for a 64GB version and $999 for the 128GB model. The device will be powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, offer an 1080p-capable ClearType display, and be powered by Windows 8 Pro. Users can expect a five-hour battery life on both versions of the device.

In the meantime, Microsoft is receiving plenty of competition in the form of Apple iPads and Google Android based tablets, specifically in terms of the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, Barnes & Noble Nook HD, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and Google Nexus line of devices.

Will you be picking up a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet?