Windows 8 and Surface event: live However, Matt does go on to say that the Surface tablet is "beautifully built," though "not a game-changer." 12.13 Along with Windows 8 comes Microsoft Surface, the tablet computer designed to show off just how well the new operating system works on a touch based device. One of the highlights of the Surface is the ultrathin keyboard that also doubles as a cover. However, as with Windows 8, reviews have been mixed. Here's Mathew Honan, writing for Wired: Microsoft's new tablet is an altogether curious device. It's something completely new and different. It is, in some ways, better than an iPad. In some ways, worse. It's brilliant, and yet it can be puzzling as well. Confoundingly so at times. It's a tablet of both compromises and confusion. It is a true hybrid - neither fully a desktop nor mobile device. That's reflected in all sorts of ways. It is Wi-Fi only, but won't run traditional Windows applications. It has a full-featured keyboard and runs Microsoft Office - but it's certainly meant to be touched and swiped and tapped. It's different. 12.00 Jason Jenkins, editor of CNET UK, says that Microsoft is taking a big risk with Windows 8: Microsoft is about to embark on its biggest gamble in recent times with a Jekyll and Hyde operating system. Windows 8 is a huge departure from the last few versions of the software, aimed at heading off the competition from tablets, especially Apple's iPad. The result is something that is part modern-day tablet, part old-fashioned corporate Windows, and I'm not sure it truly succeeds at either. Plenty of brave design choices have been made and there is a lot to like about the new software, but ultimately Microsoft risks alienating people who have used Windows for years, while not doing enough to bring in a new crowd. From Microsoft's point of view, this has to work. If it fails, its dominance of the computer industry is over. 11.50 Microsoft's teaser campaign for Windows 8 has already begun. Here it is, complete with exploding laptop: 11.35 If you're curious about what's in store with Windows 8, Matt Warman's review provides a good overview: For new users, Windows 8 will sometimes be infuriating - how do you close a programme? Why are there two versions of Internet Explorer, one for desktop, one for Windows 8 proper? Because Windows 8 proper is more powerful. Why is there no Facebook app, when Microsoft is a Facebook investor? Why is logging in to a wired network different from a wireless one? None of these are crises, but all of them indicate that Windows 8 remains the future - it will certainly not be the present until Intel chips power it to its full potential. And by then, the software will have been polished and the apps library filled. January can't come soon enough. 11.30 It's Microsoft's turn to unveil new products today. I've just returned from California, where Apple announced its new iPad mini, along with upgrades to most of its other products. Now the focus shifts to New York, where Microsoft will announce Windows 8 later today. Matt Warman is in New York for us and he'll be adding his thoughts once the event begins.