Microsoft Surface tablet running Intel chip to go on sale Feb. 9

Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, said its Surface tablet computer running the new Windows 8 Pro software will be available Feb. 9, the first versions of the machine powered by Intel Corp. chips.

Surface Windows 8 Pro, which runs on an Intel Core i5 processor, will go on sale in the U.S. and Canada starting at $899, the company said today in a statement. It will be available with 64 or 128 gigabytes of memory.

An earlier iteration of Surface that contains a chip with ARM Holdings Plc technology went on sale in October for $499 to $699. Microsoft hasn’t disclosed how many units it has sold of that version, called Surface Windows RT. That machine will go on sale in 14 additional markets worldwide in the coming weeks, Microsoft said today.

Shares of Microsoft fell less than 1 percent to $27.15 at 12:27 p.m. in New York. The Redmond, Washington-based software maker is scheduled to report fiscal second-quarter earnings on Jan. 24.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56bloomberg.net