Microsoft iPad Mini, an 8-inch tablet

No the headline is not a typo—and we are not saying that Microsoft has an iPad Mini. The two are tech giants have not merger, nor did they want to collaborate on common grounds, at least not yet.

According to an article on Arstechnica, a few days ago Microsoft was set to release an 8-incher Surface Pro variant for those seeking smaller portable options for a Windows Tablet. Sadly, they did not. It was shelved at the last minute. The tablet was expected to feature a Qualcomm chipset and slotted within the Microsoft Surface Pro 2 lineup. Unfortunately, there is no small surface tablet for now.

However, if you are looking for a portable 8-incher tablet and comfortable with Microsoft apps, the Apple iPad Mini is what you should be looking at.

For a while now, Microsoft has been developing and slowly releasing applications for the iOS platform. These include the Office for iPad featuring OneNote, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Remote Desktop, Lync, Keynote, OWA, Xbox SmartGlass and a few others, which can be downloaded onto the iPad to relocate the Microsoft ecosystem.

So if you have Microsoft apps running on an iPad Mini, what does it make it? A Microsoft iPad Mini.