Surface - unveiled during a surprisingly well-hyped (for Microsoft) press conference yesterday - isn't just another tablet.
Surface is a flagship Windows 8 and Windows RT device.
The question that arises, therefore, is just where this leaves the leagues of OEMs who have already pledged to support Microsoft's OS with tablets of their own the likes of HP, Dell, Lenovo and, in particular, Nokia.
If Surface is the ultimate Windows tablet, what can they hope to deliver?
Rock and a hard place
It's not hard to imagine Surface was the subject of much internal debate within Microsoft.
While its appearance on the scene risks alienating OEMs, the bigger fear was that without Microsoft taking the lead, other manufacturers would serve up substandard devices that failed to play to Windows 8's strengths.
That's something Microsoft previously had to contend with in the case of Windows Phone.
At launch, OEMs like Samsung, HTC and LG - even Dell - served up devices running Microsoft's OS, but under scrutiny, most turned out to be rather average versions of Android smartphones.
Things are different in the tablet space, with less frequent product refreshes making it more important that a signature Windows 8 launch device is available to encourage competition.
Equally, Microsoft has no doubt noted that despite its various Nexus phones and its purchase of Motorola, Google hasn't yet made a success of the tablet space, perhaps because there is no default example of what a quality Android tablet should be.
Surface streamlined
So as much as it might put Windows 8 manufacturers' noses out of joint, Microsoft can't afford to let a stack of generic - and cheap - tablets hit the shelves that dilute its platform's potency.
Surface is a vision of what Microsoft hopes manufacturers will deliver of their own accord: a piece of hardware with a sense of design, headline-grabbing innovations (its cover-come-keyboard and kickstand generating most chatter on Twitter), and a simple brand devoid a complicated number structure or additional handles.
Indeed, while Surface itself will be available in both Intel and ARM forms, it's notable there's no distinction made within the name itself.
Whatever chip is equipped and whether the tablet is running Windows 8 or Windows RT, it'll simply be known as Surface.
Follow that
I'll call it now. Such is the quality of what we've seen of Surface, it will be a league above whatever Windows 8 manufacturers have planned save, perhaps, Nokia.
But if queues form come day one and Surface makes a notable impression on iPad's market share still said to be as high as 90 percent according to one recent report then it's likely HP and co. will see the value in delivering their own quality propositions second time around.
Strangely then, if it's a success, Surface may be Microsoft's first and last Windows 8 tablet.
If it get consumers' pulses racing about the platform and demonstrates what Windows 8 can achieve, Microsoft may be happy to let others pick up the slack.
On the flip side, though, the appearance of Surface is enough to suggest we shouldn't expect too much innovation from the Windows 8 tablets from other manufacturers.
If they can't or won't compete, Microsoft might have a more significant hit on its hands.
It could even be one that it decides to turn into a strategic option, both in terms of selling its new operating system and in terms of an Apple play where signature hardware and software combine into seamless consumer attraction.
In that case, it won't only be Windows 8 OEMs who should be worried. Surface could also be the end of Google's ambitions for Android as a tablet OS.
