Last Friday saw the MS Surface released by Microsoft. Running Windows 8 RT it's being marketed in the same marketplace as the Apple iPad. So we at Prolateral thought we would look at them both and, as today is Halloween, compare apples with apples - well you know what we mean.

The surface is Microsoft’s first tablet device and if you look at Apple’s iPad and Google’s Android tablets it's years late to the market. However could this be another BetaMax versus VHS, DVD versus Blueray battle. After all, the Xbox was released later than the PlayStation but it still shook up and spooked the games market.

So let’s see if the MS Surface has given Apple Corp some ghostly shivers to worry about...

Dimensions

Both the iPad and the Surface have the same thickness at just over 9mm, but the Surface is slightly heavier. This is most likely because the Surface comes with its own kickstand to prop the device up whereas you need to purchase an accessory for the iPad to do that.

The screen dimensions of both devices also differ. The Surface has a 10.6 inch display boasting a 16:9 aspect ratio for watching movies in widescreen. The iPad has a smaller 4:3 ratio screen at 9.7 inches but has a greater display resolution quality (2,048 x 1,536 pixels) than the Surface (1,366 x 768 pixels).