While excitement is at a fever pitch for Microsoft's widely expected release of its new Surface tablet on Oct. 26 at Midnight, you won't find tech company Acer praising the device. The Taipei-based company is apparently dreading the Surface's release, and is convinced it will kill the PC market.

Acer isn't the only company miffed at Microsoft over its Surface tablets. Microsoft's new devices are creating a growing rift between the company and PC partners, said Acer CEO JT Wang in a recent interview.

"They are doing something to kill the whole ecosystem," Wang said. "They have all this cash. They could kill everybody."

According to SiliconBeat, "Microsoft had some $63 billion in cash and cash equivalents, as of June 30."

Unsurprisingly, the Surface will compete with Acer's Iconia tablet.

Microsoft has long had a partnership with PC makers like Acer, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell, companies who all used its Windows operating system as the starting point to build their products. It was a beneficial deal for everyone involved. The close relationship allowed Microsoft's software to become the dominant software for PCs the world over and have lowered computer prices as well.

It's no secret smartphones and tablets have overtaken many other electronics devices as the coveted market.

As a survey from Pew Research Center found, nearly a quarter of U.S. adults, 22 percent, now own a tablet device, double the number from 2011. And nearly a quarter of those who don't have a tablet, 23 percent, plan to get one in the next six months.

Microsoft has clearly seen much of the competition pass it by. In July, Microsoft reported its first quarterly income loss. Now the company is eager to play catch up so it can get a piece of the action, and remain relevant. Microsoft has made a few forays into hardware - most notably with the Xbox 360 and Kinect - and now seems intent on rebranding itself as more than just a software company.

"Maybe they think they need to do something aggressive to compete with Apple and not rely on brands like Acer," Wang said. "It is a dilemma."

There are now three competing computer ecosystems - Apple's Macintosh and iOS, Android, and Microsoft's Windows, Wang said.

"This is a new paradigm," he said. "It is unique in 30 years of PC history."

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the company's future is in hardware like its Surface tablets, telling the Seattle Times that within five to 10 years Microsoft will be a "devices-and-services" enterprise. "First of all, I'd say: pre-eminent technology company," said Ballmer of Microsoft's future. "I think that in a back-looking view, people would say we were a software company. That's kind of how we were born."

Microsoft plans to roll out is Surface tablets in style. 3 million Surface tablets are reportedly ready to sell on launch day through temporary "pop-up" and permanent stores, as a new report from research firm IDC indicates.

Microsoft announced plans on its website to release its devices through permanent and temporary "pop-up" stores in 32 cities across the U.S. and Canada on Oct. 26.

Microsoft Surface "pop-up" stores

U.S.

Atlanta (Perimeter Mall); Aventura, Fla. (Aventura Mall); Beachwood, Ohio (Beachwood Place); Bethesda, Md. (Montgomery Mall); Braintree, Mass. (South Shore Plaza); Charlotte, NC (Southpark Mall); Columbia, Md. (Mall in Columbia); Denver (Cherry Creek Shopping Center); Durham, NC (Streets at Southpoint); Frisco, Texas (Stonebriar Centre Mall); Garden, City, NY (Roosevelt Field Mall); Glendale, Calif. (Glendale Galleria); Indianapolis (Fashion Mall at Keystone); Las Vegas (Fashion Show Mall); Miami (Dadeland Mall); Nashville (Mall at Green Hills); Natick, Mass. (Natick Collection); New York City (Time Warner Center -- The Shops at Columbus Circle); Oklahoma City (Penn Square Mall); Paramus, NJ (Westfield Garden State Plaza); Pittsburgh (Ross Park Mall); Portland, Ore. (Washington Square); San Antonio (North Star Mall); San Francisco (San Francisco Centre); St. Louis (Saint Louis Galleria); Tulsa, Okla. (Woodland Hills Mall); West Hartford, Conn. (Westfarms Mall); Woodlands, Texas (Woodlands Mall)

Canada

Burnaby, British Columbia (Metropolis at Metrotown); Edmonton, Alberta (West Edmonton Mall); Toronto (Eaton Centre); Vancouver, BC (Oakridge Centre)

Microsoft's website promises more locations will be revealed in the future.

Microsoft has not commented on the pop-ups, or included confirmation that they would sell the Surface RT.

Microsoft Surface tablet features

The RT sports an HD screen, which various sources have reported is anywhere between 1280 x 800 and 1366x768, while the PRO has a 10.6-inch Clear type Full HD (1920 x 1080) screen with 16:9 widescreen.

That means they are among the biggest tablets in the market. If you are not satisfied with the typical 10.1-inch tablet, you can go for the Surface tablet. Along with the touch keyboards with the device, you can turn the machine to a small notebook.

The Surface tablet comes with five Touch Covers. Different from typical keyboards, the Surface keypads provide a brilliant typing experience thanks to their touch-based surface.

The Surface tablets mount both front and rear cameras. The front camera, named life cam by Microsoft, makes the tablet perfect for video chatting through Skype or other services. Using the rear camera, you can capture images and video clips.

Microsoft puts forward better memory options with the Surface tablets. The device comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB options. The 128GB is available only with Surface Pro. Further, you can expand the memory using external memory sticks thanks to microSD card slot. That is, you can store enough data including music, software items and video in external clips.

The 3mm Touch Cover can be connected to your Surface tablet with a single magnetic click, so, now you can type text and send messages quite easily.

The Surface's tablet housing features a revolutionary kickstand. Along with fully functioning keyboard and track-pad, the integrated kickstand helps you place the gadget in both portrait or landscape modes.

According to Bloomberg, Surface will only be able to go online using a short-range Wi-Fi connection. This is a stark contrast to Apple's iPad 3, which has a 3G option, and a faster LTE connection.

The Surface is rumored to cost between anywhere between $300-$500, according to various reports.

Though Microsoft has yet to announce the official pricing for its Surface tablet, the cost of the RT version will reportedly be between $400-$500,excluding the smart cover/keyboard, and the Pro, out next year, should be priced between $799-$899, also excluding the smart cover/keyboard, according to, according to Sameer Singh, an analyst at with Finvista Advisors, a mergers and acquisitions consulting group.

This broad price range is in line with the price point suggested by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently.

"If you look at the bulk of the PC market, it would run between, say, probably $300 to about $700 or $800," Ballmer said to The Seattle Times. "That's the sweet spot."