In a blog post yesterday, Microsoft confirmed the availability of the Surface Pro in Australia. The long-awaited Windows 8 tablet will be ready for purchase locally from Thursday 30 May, either from the Microsoft Store or from retailers Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi.

The Surface tablet may not be crushing the competition with the vigor that Microsoft undoubtedly hoped it would. However, as compared to its third-party Windows tablet brethren, Surface is absolutely killing it--though Windows tablets still have a long road to travel before they're considered anything close to a success.

Although Microsoft is staying mum about Windows 8 tablet sales, research firm Strategy Analytics has some slightly encouraging news.

Microsoft may, repeat may, be whipping up a smartwatch, but according to the company's Windows Phone honcho, a self-made Surface smartphone isn't in the cards quite yet.

If Microsoft ever releases the smartwatch that the Wall Street Journal reports is in development, the gadget won't just be entering a wearable computing market that has yet to be proven out. The watch would also extend a family of Surface hardware devices that no one is clamoring to buy.

March was another ho-hum month on the usage front for laptops and tablets running Windows 8 and RT, according to AdDuplex, a cross-platform network for Windows Phone and Windows 8 app developers.

Microsoft's Surface RT and Surface Pro haven't made much of a dent in the tablet market, according to unofficial sales estimates.

When the US inventory of the 128GB version of Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet dried up within hours after going on sale Saturday, there were plenty of disappointed shoppers.

Windows 8 hasn’t just arrived - it has arrived in full force, with an armada of ancillary products. Microsoft’s deployment of the new Windows platform across desktops, laptops, tablets, hybrids, and smartphones constitutes a major push to make Windows 8 your defining computing experience regardless of your hardware persuasion. Depending on your point of view, this can be a good thing or a very, very bad thing.