Microsoft has finally shared availavility details for its upcoming Surface Pro. Initially expected sometime in late January, the company has now confirmed via press release that the full-blown Windows 8 variant of the tablet will go on sale February 9 in the US and Canada, starting at $899 for the 64GB model and $999 for the 128GB version. As was the case with the $499 Surface RT, the keyboard is not included in that price.

The Touch and Type covers are sold separately for $120 and $130, respectively, in a range of colors.

Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet uses a Core i5 or Core i7 processor, and unlike its less expensive RT sibling it will support existing desktop applications in addition to the new Windows 8-style ones. It also comes with a pressure-sensitive stylus with palm-rejection technology that magnetically clips to the charging port, and a Full HD (1920 x 1080) display instead of the 1366 x 768 variety on the ARM-based model.

Other key differences include a larger battery to make up for the power hungrier specs, double the amount of RAM at 4GB, USB 3.0, a miniDisplayPort and a thicker and heavier profile than the Surface RT.

Besides the Surface Pro announcement, Microsoft also said it plans to double the number of a countries where the Surface RT is sold by making it available in 13 more markets: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.