One of the most storied competitions in the technology industry comes from Apple vs Microsoft. For the past 35 years, they went back and forth by offering consumers their own twist on similar technologies. The latest chapter in this story comes from Microsoft’s new Surface Book, which aims to compete directly with Apple’s MacBook Pro.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Apple vs Microsoft, check out this informative video by LSPO highlighting a visual history of each company’s operating systems by comparing them side by side, dating all the back to 1978!

On September 28th, 2015, Microsoft debuted its Surface Book. This is a significant development in the Apple vs Microsoft story because, in the recent decade, Apple has dominated the hardware side of things with its smartphones, tablets, and laptops, while Microsoft’s software has been its advantage. In recent years, Microsoft has attempted to dethrone Apple with its Surface tablets and Windows Phone offerings, but it didn’t have the impact that then-CEO Steve Ballmer was hoping for.

With Microsoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella at the helm, there has already been a major change of strategy by officially allowing Microsoft software to be available on Apple’s hardware--an unthinkable move in the days of Gates vs Jobs. Today, as seen with products like the Surface Book, Microsoft is clearly upping its hardware game. Nadella describes this direction as, “I think reconceptualizing Microsoft as a devices and services company is absolutely what our vision is about.”

Microsoft is pitching the Surface Book as “a laptop that can replace your tablet,” which is a complete 180 from how it previously marketed its Surface tablets as “a tablet that can replace your laptop.” But does the Surface Book have what it takes to take on the MacBook Pro? Watch this video and decide for yourself:

Here’s a rundown of the Surface Book’s specs:

• 13.5-inch screen with a resolution of 3000 by 2000 pixels
• Intel Core i5 or i7 processor
• 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM
• 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB available hard drives

These are some impressive specs that should satisfy the needs of any high-end user, and if we can learn anything from history, it’s that we won’t have to wait too long for Apple to answer back with a new piece of impressive hardware of their own. One thing we know for sure is that when two tech giants compete, more great products hit the market and the consumer comes out on top!

Are you loyal to Apple, or Microsoft, or another computing company? What are your thoughts about Microsoft’s new Surface Book? Let us know in the comments.