Windows 8 tablets release date, specs and prices

Microsoft's been pushing tablet computers for the best part of a decade, so you can imagine how happy the iPad's success makes them.
But Microsoft doesn't give up easily, and Windows 8 tablets are with us, both in the form of full-blown Windows 8 Intel-powered devices like Sony's Tap 20 and Windows RT ARM-based tablets such as Microsoft's own Surface RT.

• Windows 8 vs Windows RT: what's the difference?

Before you dismiss Windows 8 tablets as a flash in the pan, Windows 8 tablets aren't one kind of device; we're seeing a huge variety of devices, ranging from simple iPad-style slates to fully convertible laptops including those where keyboards slide out from beneath the screen as well as those with styluses and detachable keyboards.

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The ARM-based Windows RT has received mixed reviews so far and has had moderate success in terms of sales, with only Surface RT making any impact. Many other Windows RT devices have yet to appear. All of which is music to the ears of Intel, which powers most of the Windows 8 devices on the market.