The Surface Pro doesn't come with one of the special keyboard covers, so you'll want to spend another ~$100 to get one. There's a super-thin "touch" keyboard that feels like you're typing on felt and a thicker "type" cover that has real keys.
Here's what the Surface Pro looks like docked with the touch cover. There's a kickstand in the back so you can prop the device up, sort of like a normal laptop.
The Surface Pro runs Windows 8, the top-of-the-line operating system from Microsoft. It has a new Start screen with tiles for your apps and bookmarked websites. These tiles can display information like calendar appointments and new emails.
Windows 8 lets you run two apps in split screen, which is very handy for multitasking. The iPad can't do that.
Here's a look of the Surface Pro with the type cover. It's a bit thicker, but it's also easier to type on.
The Windows 8 app store is missing a lot of essential apps like Facebook and Twitter. But you'll still find other great apps.
Dropbox recently made a Windows 8 app. It's really nice.
Since there's no Facebook or Twitter, you can link those accounts to the People app in Windows 8. It's not as good as the real thing though.
The Surface Pro comes with a stylus for writing and doodling on the screen. However, you probably won't find much use for it.
There aren't too many Windows 8 apps that make use of the stylus. Here's Microsoft Office's One Note, a note-taking app.
Windows 8 has a "desktop mode" that looks just like the regular Windows 7 desktop you're probably used to. You can also run older Windows apps in this environment.
The Surface Pro has a Micro SD card slot so you can add storage to the machine.
There's also a full-sized USB port for thumb drives and other accessories.
The top-of-the-line Surface Pro has 128 GB of storage. The entry-level model has 64 GB. However, you only get about 84 GB and 23 GB of free storage in each model, respectively. Windows 8 is a very large operating system.
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