Microsoft is no stranger to playfully---and not so playfully---poking the competition. But it seems like the firm is escalating things with a series of ads pitting its Surface products against Apple's MacBook family. This is smart timing, I think. But the window is closing.

The ads are obvious enough, and anyone who is familiar with the different approaches that Microsoft and Apple both take could easily list the areas in which a Surface is superior: A detachable keyboard that turns the device into a tablet, pen and multi-touch support, a high resolution screen (not available on MacBook Air only), and performance (most of Apple's devices are a few processor generations behind). Or as Microsoft's marketing notes, "Surface does more. Just like you."