Microsoft's initial stock of Surface RT devices has sold out in the United States. The 32GB base model, at $499, sold out earlier in the week, but all stock has now been depleted with a wait time of within three weeks rather than a guaranteed October 26th delivery.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer may not have seemed serious about selling the company's Surface tablets, describing them as "just a design point" that the company "may sell a few million" of over the next 12 months, but it looks like the software giant is serious about Surface. The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft has placed orders to manufacture between 3 and 5 million Surface tablets in the fourth quarter.

Mass production of the devices reportedly began earlier this month, and the company appears to be preparing to take pre-orders for Surface soon. Microsoft's first Surface ad aired on US TV earlier this week, alongside similar ads for Windows 8. Suppliers who spoke to The Wall Street Journal claim that the 3 to 5 million figure is similar to the orders placed for the Kindle Fire tablets and Nexus 7 by Amazon and Google respectively.

Conclusion
In terms of its hardware and operating system, the Microsoft Surface with Windows RT is a very good product. It's very light, and powerful enough to run a version of Windows, so it's very attractive to Windows early adopters as well as business users who have plans to migrate to Windows 8. It's powerful enough to be a daily carry device for work, always with you on your commute across the state or across the country. It shares some programs and its main interface with Windows 8, which is a boon, provided you get used to using the new Windows UI. Users who haven't yet tried Windows 8 will have to get used to the new way of doing things, but since Microsoft has mandated that all new PCs come with either Windows 8 or Windows RT, you'll have to start using the new UI on new Windows PCs and tablets eventually.

So should you buy a Microsoft Surface instead of an iPad or Android tablet? If you use Microsoft Office for work or school, then it's a no-brainer: Get a Microsoft Surface (or one of the other upcoming Windows RT tablets). Even though Pages and QuickOffice are pretty good programs, you really can't beat a real copy of Office when your work is on the line. If you use Office programs constantly, the Surface is the tablet and laptop replacement your inner road warrior has been searching for. Discounting Office, the Windows Store's limited selection holds us back from giving the Surface an unequivocal recommendation, since the iTunes Store and the various Android stores have significantly more vast collections of apps. There's no doubt that the most popular apps will be ported over to Windows 8 and Windows RT, but when that will happen is still up in the air. If there's an app you can't possibly live without, then you should check if it's on the Windows Store before plunking down your money for the Surface. It's because of the limited selection in the Windows Store that we can't give the Microsoft Surface the tablet Editor's Choice over the Apple iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 . But we see the potential. If you're a tech pioneer or someone who appreciates well executed design, then you probably have already put the Microsoft Surface on order. In that case, enjoy.