After months of anticipation, Microsoft has finally put its first ever tablet venture, Surface, and new Windows 8 operating system up for pre-order. While it's too early to tell for sure just how successful the offerings will be, the first 24 hours have certainly been encouraging for Microsoft. The company's website has seen a flurry of pre-orders for its new products, with the $499 model of the Surface already pushed back to "within 3 weeks."

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The other two, more expensive, models of the Surface are still available for delivery by Oct. 26, when Surface officially goes on sale.

While there's no confirmed information on just how many tablets Microsoft had ready for sale, it's difficult to tell what the backorder really means. Although, several sources, such as research firm IDC, reported the company had anywhere from 3 to 5 million Surface tablets ready to sell on launch day through pop-up and permanent stores.

An interesting aside to all of this: users are apparently choosing the "tablet-only" package at $499; customers have to pay another $100 for the Touch Cover combination cover/keyboard, which Microsoft has been promoting almost as much as the tablet itself.

Analysts are split on whether or not Surface's $499 price-tag is aggressive enough to seriously compete with Apple. Apple is widely expected to debut its new "iPad Mini" on Oct. 23, days before the Surface goes on sale.

According to MobileGeeks, prices for the iPad Mini will start at 249 euros ($322) for a Wi-Fi-only 8GB iPad Mini. That certainly hands Microsoft a victory in the storage department, but if the price point is accurate, Microsoft may have a problem on its hands.

Analysts react to Surface pricing

"It's an aggressive price, especially compared to the prices of the RT devices from their OEM partners," said Tom Mainelli of IDC. "[But] I'm not sure it's aggressive enough, when you consider that one of the big draws of Surface is that slick keyboard and it's going to cost an extra $100 or more."

"This is aggressive and right where it needs to be priced," echoed Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research who tracks mobile devices, including the Surface and Apple's iPad, had a less sunny view of Surface's pricing.

"I can't figure this product out at all," said Gottheil. "I don't know what kind of impact Microsoft thinks it will have, but its only hope was to very aggressively priced."

At $499 and up, the Surface RT didn't meet his definition of "aggressive." That would have required significantly smaller numbers of $350 or so.

"It just doesn't make a lot of sense. You can get a very good portable PC at these prices," said Gottheil. "Where it stands, it's hopeless."

Apple sells the iPad at $499 for a 16GB model, $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB, all minus covers or keyboards. It also still offers a 16GB iPad 2, a 2011 model, for $399.

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"I was hoping for $399," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Gartner. "They believe the Office suite is enough to justify that premium [of $499 and up], but they're late to the party. From the consumer standpoint, Office is not what will make you get a Surface RT."

"[The Surface RT] is not a PC," said Milanesi, "or a PC replacement. So from consumers' perspectives, they will look at it and say, 'This is a tablet. What I know about tablets is that I know about the iPad.' So it may come down to a 'religious' perspective, with those considering the Surface RT people who would never buy an Apple product."

Which is a small market, she emphasized. "This is a very high-end position for someone coming late to the tablet party," Milanesi said. "The hardware is really good, but from a price perspective, they would have had a much bigger impact at $399."

Microsoft Surface tablet features

The RT sports an HD screen, which various sources have reported is anywhere between 1280 x 800 and 1366x768, while the PRO has a 10.6-inch Clear type Full HD (1920 x 1080) screen with 16:9 widescreen.

That means they are among the biggest tablets in the market. If you are not satisfied with the typical 10.1-inch tablet, you can go for the Surface tablet. Along with the touch keyboards with the device, you can turn the machine to a small notebook.

The Surface tablet comes with five Touch Covers. Different from typical keyboards, the Surface keypads provide a smoother typing experience thanks to their touch-based surface.

The Surface tablets mount both front and rear cameras. The front camera, named life cam by Microsoft, makes the tablet ideal for video chatting through Skype or other services. Using the rear camera, you can capture images and video clips.

Microsoft puts forward better memory options with the Surface tablets. The device comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB options. The 128GB is available only with Surface Pro. Further, you can expand the memory using external memory sticks thanks to microSD card slot. That is, you can store enough data including music, software items and video in external clips.

The 3mm Touch Cover can be connected to your Surface tablet with a single magnetic click, so, now you can type text and send messages quite easily.

The Surface's tablet housing features a revolutionary kickstand. Along with fully functioning keyboard and track-pad, the integrated kickstand helps you place the gadget in both portrait or landscape modes.

According to Bloomberg, Surface will only be able to go online using a short-range Wi-Fi connection. This is a stark contrast to Apple's iPad 3, which has a 3G option, and a faster LTE connection.