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Microsoft just took the wraps off the all new Microsoft Surface. Even though the name is familiar this is an entirely new product. Simply put, the Surface is a Windows 8 tablet. But it seems so much more. In fact, perhaps I’m still a little drunk on Microsoft Kool-Aid, but the Surface seems like the next generation of mobile computing. While Surface might not kill the iPad, it might revive Microsoft.

To be clear, the Surface is Microsoft’s hardware. This is a not a Dell or HP tablet running Microsoft’s software. Microsoft clearly designed this tablet to best showcase Windows 8. The tablet itself seems fantastic. Compared to the iPad, it’s a bit utilitarian with hard lines, full size I/O ports, and heat vents. But it also seems like a serious tablet rather than a plaything.

The hardware doesn’t matter, though. Remember? The spec is dead. Microsoft wisely talked up the Surface’s capabilities and design today more than listing the computing specs. It’s a PC, they said on stage today over and over again. Sure, this is a tablet, but it’s also a PC — an acronym synonymous with work, power, and boring desktop software. Microsoft clearly built this tablet, or rather, PC, to give Windows 8 a fighting chance. Or, to put it another way, Microsoft built this product because Microsoft doesn’t trust its hardware partners.

Now it bears mention that quite a few details on the Surface are hard to pin down. There will be two main versions of the device, the Microsoft Surface for Windows RT, and the Microsoft Surface tablet for Windows 8 Pro. Microsoft has made it clear that it has contracted the manufacturing of the device as a whole, but it is not giving much color on the granular level: Who has built the processors that make up the Surface, the other components that make it up and so on. Pricing has not been revealed at all — Microsoft is only saying both the RT consumer version and the higher powered Pro versions will be at price points that are “competitive” to their peers. The RT should be out in time for the holidays (at the same time that Windows 8 should roll out) and the Pro version of the tablet will come out three months later.

Below are images from our hands-on with the device. Click on each one to enlarge it.

First we got a look at the kickstand that’s built in to the Surface, which is a clear differentiator from the iPad, for which users have to buy separate accessories. The kickstand was made to click in and out on the tablet with ease and style, and a satisfying “snap” sound — the company says it spent lots of time developing the three hinges that make it work, modeling them after the doors on a luxury car.

The iPad’s strength comes from the sheer number of 3rd party apps available through the App Store. Apple lured a crazy number of developers to its platform through the promise of profit-sharing and a fair distribution environment. Microsoft isn’t reinventing app development with the Surface. The tablet runs Windows after all. It is the most dominant computing platform on Earth. At this early stage it seems like a smart move for a developer to jump on the Metro bandwagon. Even if the Surface crashes and burns, there will be dozens of other Windows 8 tablets from the normal players.

To me the Surface doesn’t seem like a serious iPad contender but rather a reference design or even a halo device. When released later this year ARM models will likely start around $400-$600 and x86 models will hit closer to $1,000. Even though it will likely never outsell the iPad, the Surface sets a clear standard for HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and Asus. It shows the rest of the industry the proper way to make a Windows 8 tablet. As a halo device, it’s essentially designed to draw attention to Microsoft and Windows 8 like the Corvette does for Chevy.

Microsoft hasn’t been hip since Windows XP. Windows 7 barely makes up for Windows Vista. The fate of Windows Mobile rests on a struggling Finnish company. The Zune was never loved. Bing is a clone. No one uses Hotmail. I still don’t exactly know the benefit of Windows Live. The company’s lone shinning star is a 7-year old game system. Microsoft has been just surviving over the last decade. As much as Windows itself needs a killer device like the Surface, Microsoft the company needs a desperate shot of credibility.

Like most people, I do not have a dog in this fight. I’m not an ignorant fanboy, blindly cheering on a random company. I don’t care what company wins the mobile or desktop wars as long as the consumer ultimately wins. The last few years Apple has produced the industry leading devices. And now, once again with the Surface, Microsoft has a champion worthy of praise.