The risk to Microsoft cannot be understated.

"They clearly slapped the OEMs upside the head," Enderle says. "There's a good chance a number of these OEMs are going to leave the PC business. They're not going to buy software from someone that they're competing with. HP and Dell can follow IBM and exit."

Internal strife is bad enough, but Surface is also taking on the hottest tech gadget in the world. By the time the first Surface hits stores, the iPad will have had a two-and-a-half year head start. The iPad clearly holds the high ground with an awesome app ecosystem and millions of adoring fans from the consumer and business ranks.

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Surface, though, does have a key advantage.