During the recent quarter, Microsoft shipped 900,000 Surface tablets, according to IDC data. This isn't particularly impressive, but it is better than what most other Windows 8 OEMs are achieving right now. 

According to the IDC, most of the numbers are made up of Surface Pro devices, which should be proof enough that consumers prefer Windows 8 Pro over Windows RT. Currently, Microsoft is in the top five vendors for tablets,  with 1.8 percent market share; that is a million miles behind Apple with its 40 percent market share, and Samsung, with only 18 percent, sits in second place. 

While Microsoft Surface tablets are doing relatively well, things are not looking up for the overall PC market. The combined Windows 8 Pro/RT tablets shipped by Microsoft and OEMs for the first quarter of 2013, close out at 1.8 million units, which means only Microsoft is benefiting here, since 900,000 of that number is all Surface tablets. 

Recent data from Net Market Research shows Windows 8 climbing up the ladder with 3.82 percent market share behind Windows Vista. Windows 7 and Windows XP still hold the lion share of the PC operating system market share with no change in sight for what might be a long time if Microsoft doesn't buckle down and tend to the problems of Windows 8. 

Windows 8 and Window RT tablet combined shipments make up 3.7 percent market share of the tablet business, Android has 56.5 percent while Apple's iOS sits in second place with 39.6 percent share. 

According to The Verge, recent estimations put Windows-based tablets at 7.5 percent market share; however, that is yet to be confirmed by anyone at this point in time. 

Microsoft is planning to make a serious push toward smaller-display, Windows-based tablets, so time will tell if this move helps the company's prospects.