IT says something about just how hectic the gadget world has been this month when a new version of Windows arrives with barely a raised eyebrow. Microsoft must have been hoping for better from its most important software launch since Windows 95.

Could it be that Windows has become old hat? Are buyers no longer interested in software associated with a dusty old computers sitting, unloved, beneath a desk? Is there any room for Windows in an iPad world?

Windows 8 has been designed to work best on a tablet device – and Microsoft is manufacturing its first device – but the company will have to spend big to get the message across that Windows 8 is relevant.

That’s why it has an estimated advertising war chest of £900m to spend in the run up to Christmas.

But Microsoft will not be the only tech company splashing the cash this holiday season. In an unprecedented development, all the big players – Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon – have new devices in stores competing for our cash this Christmas.

Analysts reckons they will unleash a blizzard of publicity over the next few weeks not usually seen outside of presidential elections.

So which device is worth your money and what do they offer? Read on to find out… APPLE THE mini iPad has been predicted ever since Apple’s founding father, Steve Jobs, died.

Jobs was notoriously scornful of tablet devices with seven-inch screens but his reticence was not shared by Samsung or Amazon. Both launched smaller tablets, which used Google’s Android operating system, at cheaper price points and their popularity meant a smaller iPad was inevitable.

Apple had to juggle the need to protect its markets from pesky Android-powered ankle biters with a desire not to mess with the real cash cow – the full-size iPad.

It has done this by releasing an iPad Mini with a noticeably inferior specification to the larger tablet.

The screen has a resolution of 1024x768, which is lower than a Nexus 7 or a Kindle Fire HD, and sticks with the 4:3 ratio which means movies have to play with black bars top and bottom.

Like its big brother (which has also been upgraded to the iPad 4), the iPad Mini does not have an expansion slot for memory upgrades – so make sure you buy the most you can. It is also expensive. For £269 you could buy an Android tablet with a ten-inch screen.

On the upside, the sheer number of apps available is breath-taking (more than half a million and growing every day) and the user experience is sublime. Apple’s “walled garden”

approach to software means an iPad crash is very rare.

Price: £269 (16GB, Wi-Fi) Apps: 500,000+ Chance of success: 10/10 GOOGLE THE Nexus 7 is a monster of a tablet. Its specifications comfortably exceed any other tablet on the market and yet it costs from only £169.

The widescreen display makes it perfect for watching movies, but the quality of the screen itself has attracted criticism for odd colouration, particularly at an angle.

Build quality is excellent, matching tablets twice the price, but, as with the iPad Mini, there is no card slot for a cheap memory boost.

The Google Play store has 600,000 apps but not all of them are compatible with the Nexus and some of them are very poor.

Price: £169 (16GB) Apps: 600,000+ Chances of success: 9/10 AMAZON KINDLE FIRE HD THE original Kindle Fire provided the impetus for Apple to develop an iPad Mini. This is a comprehensive update.

The Fire HD runs a heavily-modified version of the Google Android operating system biased towards purchases from the Amazon App Store, which has fewer titles than the Google Play Store.

Amazon does, however, give away a free app every day and some are very useful.

The Amazon skin slows the device down and anyone familiar with a plain Android phone will be disappointed to find they cannot access the home screen.

The Fire is great for watching movies and photos plus, of course, reading Kindle books.

Price: £159 (16GB) Apps: 50,000+ Chances of success: 8/10 MICROSOFT SURFACE THE new kid on the block, Microsoft unveiled its tablet on Wednesday. Dubbed the Surface, it is a full-sized tablet running a special version of the new Windows 8 operating system.

Despite Bill Gates’ claim that Windows 8 is an absolutely critical product that takes Microsoft Windows into the world of touch and gives people the best tablet experience, the first reviews have not been positive.

Reviewers were scathing about the device’s cameras, pointed to the grainy screen and laughed at the poor selection of apps. Worse, some apps appeared to crash the machine and big titles like Angry Birds are not available yet.

The Surface does have an innovative built-in keyboard which makes it more useful if you want to do some work, but the price (£399) and paucity of software could see many potential buyers sit the first generation out.

There’s an old joke that it takes Microsoft three attempts before it gets something right and Surface is the company’s first tablet. But, unless it moves quickly, the market will have been sewn up between Apple and Android well before the Surface 3 arrives.

Price: £399 (16GB) Apps: 4,000+ Chances of success: 5/10 Of course, there are other tablet devices available.

A couple of highlights are the Samsung Galaxy Tab (which comes in various flavours) and the Asus Transformer (another device with a detachable keyboard).

There are also dozens of cheap tablets from no-name manufacturers selling for about £100.

A tablet for less than £100 sounds tempting, but smart buyers will steer clear when a powerhouse like the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD are available for not much more.