Who gives a damn about Gates Crap that always has huge problems of intrusion?
And all he ever does is copy with poor taste.
When they last met the question was posed, What do you admire in each other. Gates said Steve's taste. That was something of an insult because Steve's intellect was so much more, so of course Steve did not reply, implying nothing.
All Gates ever did is copy other people's work in theft mode.
Bill

Hate Microsoft much lately Bill.
On the remark to intrusion. There isn't a company yet that has not had a problem with intrusion. Look at Google, Apple, Yahoo, etc.

Island Architect, you give Gates too much credit. This 'Surface' (daft name) is derivative and pointless. It's a me-too product hurriedly concocted to answer the iPad. M$ took a $900m write down on the failure that is 'surface' - funded wholly by Office/Windows revenue earned with illegal and reprehensible business practices that shut out competition and kept the world in a technological dark age that is only now being challenged by Apple.

Ipad era is OVER... Microsoft has come to liberate us from Apple's closed ecosystem...
IMHO as a student the reason Ipad was the go to tablet was the paper like aspect ratio... I cant believe it took 5 years for the competiton to figure out widescreen tablets are toys best suited for tranquilizing youngsters with mobile media...
Way, way, way over due...

Boring, uninformed, and lightly (relative to the comments) biased 'comparison' that requires both devices to be taken out of context.
The iPad is a good product, but its advantages will pretty much evaporate every time you need to go get your laptop for a task you could just as easily have done straight on the Surface. One former Apple fan said it best on another site; there's just something great about, after years of switching back and forth between devices, being able to go 'well shit, I can just do it all from here'.

'Adriaan': It's funny how M$ fans don't see the writing on the wall. Sorry to break the news, but everyone knows the 'Surface' has already failed. Every tablet M$ sells loses them money. You are a student? Are you studying economics?!
Sorry pal but you've got it backwards. It is Apple that is liberating us from the M$ monopoly. The geek is winning against the school bully. Also, iOS is not closed. Anyone can write an app, and iOS devs have earned $7b (that's b for billion) so far by doing just that. Just ask the guys who made Angry Birds.
Again, M$ has lost almost a billion dollars on their failed attempt to answer the iPad. That is NOT what anyone could call a success.
No, the dark ages of M$ bloat are over. Get used to it. (FYI: The 128 GB Surface Pro only ships with 83 GB of free space. The 64 GB Surface ships with a measly 23 GB of usable storage.)

@Neil, Its funny how Apple Fans cant see this product is not aimed at the same market as the IPad so its not attempting to answer for the IPad, but as a laptop replacement product, It comes with a full OS, its not designed to be a large screen for running Apps and Games such as Angry Birds... If I want to play arcade games then sure the IPad is great, if I want to do serious work then the surface is much better.
Buy a tool to do a job... not a fashion trend, if I want Social Media and mini games Ill get a tablet, if I want Office, Real Games go Windows (surface, laptops, desktops) if I want photo video editing, Ill get a Mac.
"It is Apple that is liberating us from the M$ monopoly. The geek is winning against the school bully." - I see your IPad requires a apple charger, a apple pc cable, apple software, apple store, Itunes, apple accounts... seems you have fallen into slavery so one brand there, remind me again how this is liberation...

Well as an original iPad owner (iPad 1) I can't begin to tell you how p*ssed I am from getting screwed over by Apple. Within months after buying the iPad 2 years ago Apple was rolling out IOS upgrades whiched seemed like every couple of months. The problem with those updates is that they were geared more for the newer devices which have higher memory. This has pretty much rendered my original iPad useless when it comes to Facebook, iTunes, etc because the d*mn thing crashes left and right. It would have been. Ice for Apple to offer us original iPad customers the choice to roll back the updates to a more stable IOS but NO! Their answer is to force us to go out and purchase a new iPad. I'm not spending another $800 plus on another Apple product for fear they'll screw me over again.

Dear Microsoft (my liberator from the Totalitarian Regime known as IOS),
If you give me a Surface Pro 3 I will commit my weekends to standing in front of Apple Stores disuading would be victims from being taken by Apples machine...
Currently I am a member of the other sides market forces. Meaning I own an Ipad2 (weeping), with its hideously ostentatious black Apple logo broadcasting my supposed loyalties whenever I use it... (THEY WILL PAY FOR MAKING ME A TOOL OF THEIR PROPOGANDA MACHINE!)
Together, we will smash Apple...
One Surface Pro 3 sent to me promptly may change the tide in our favor... Who would deny the Pro 3's utility? Let those who oppose us continue into the Apple Store and be pounced upon by the minions of Macintosh, while we roam free, running full programs and rolling in the glorious grass that is the iconic default XP background image of yesteryears gone past...
*written on my Ipad

This whole article and the ONLY think that iPad wins at, is Price. The author's closing comment is about how it doesn't come with a keyboard however, neither does an iPad. The iPad, as well as the Surface Pro, come with virtual keyboards. I am typing this on my iPad 1 (bought the day it came out) with an Apple BT Keyboard...Guess what? Surface Pro 3 also allows bluetooth keyboards...Problem solved.
For people stuck on Apple's iPad 1 (since they left us behind), there is no competition. As soon as I can afford one, I will be replacing my iPad with a Surface Pro. I will be using my Apple BT Keyboard until I feel like buying a keyboard cover, if I ever do.
The only thing I will miss is the dizzying array of apps available in the app store.
The author did leave a few things out. First, unlike ALL other tablets that use a "Pen", the Surface uses palm recognition. This allows for natural writing and drawing by placing your palm on the surface of...the surface without screwing up the work. All other tablets require you to ONLY touch the surface of the tablet with the pen.
Memory? It is expandable - enough said. Between OneDrive and SD Cards you have more than enough room to store items.
Bottom line, if money isn't and issue, the Surface is clearly the better choice. Most of the Apps I use on my Ipad ARE MS Products (OneNote, OneDrive, and Office)
I like Apple and, for now, my iPhone is safe but Surface and iPad are not comparable. They're not geared toward the same user. Want a play thing that CAN do some serious work or do you want a serious mobile device that can also be a play thing?