Windows open to the world of tablets

When the Microsoft Surface was first launched, a friend (and long-time iPad user) said it would be the next big thing. Curious, I had asked why? "An iPad or Android device is a wonderful gadget to consume media. When it comes to productivity, there's no beating Windows," he had said.
It made sense. After all, the Surface could be had with a keyboard cover and could, thus, also double up as a laptop. But the device never made it to India. Tired of waiting for it to arrive, my friend bought a Bluetooth keyboard cover for his iPad and a subscription to Microsoft Office 365. He still complains, but his Apple device does double duty for him as a laptop. Sometimes.
While not as commonplace as Android tablets or their upmarket siblings from Apple, Windows tablets do make a lot of sense if you want a device that doubles up as a laptop (okay, maybe with a keyboard cover). Also, as most of these devices run Windows 8.1, all familiar applications (such as Microsoft Office) run seamlessly on these tablets. We didn't try out any serious gaming on any of the Windows tablets we got our hands dirty with, but that had more to do with the device's limited storage capacity than anything else.
Another plus point with Windows tablets is you could replicate your desktop settings across devices, though this could turn out to be a pain, in case your portable device has a small screen.