The new Windows RT club will be mostly composed of Dell, Samsung and Lenovo, as confirmed this week by Microsoft, indicating that key PC players will roll out ARM-powered slates during the scheduled Oct 26 launch of the revamped Windows operating system.

The news came out in the aftermath of admissions by both Toshiba and Hewlett-Packard (HP) that they would likely skip on the RT flavour of the fresh Microsoft Windows packages, preferring instead to focus in the Intel-powered Windows 8.

Supply chain issues were cited by Toshiba as the main reason for its decision while HP has remained mum on the subject.

Analysts, however, have speculated that Microsoft's recently unveiled road maps, which include the market release of its first 'PC hardware product' - the Surface, have largely prompted its OEM partners to step back a bit.

PC makers' sentiments on Microsoft's business plans - that is rivalling its partners in the hardware arena - were somewhat summed up by Acer's remarks that were issued last week.

Acer is convinced that the Surface tablet, the RT version of which Microsoft plans to retail at $US199 as per media reports, will only disturb the Windows (and PC) ecosystem.

But on Thursday, giant Chinese PC maker Lenovo presented a strong resolve that Microsoft's entry into the fray of tablet computer supremacy should not be seen as a cataclysmic indicator for industry players.

Speaking in a news briefing, Lenovo chief executive Yang Yuanqing frankly declared: "We're not that worried about (Microsoft's) Surface."

While he admitted that what Microsoft did was not totally welcomed by the industry, Mr Yang said the development was taken by Lenovo as simply dealing with another competitor, which is far from pushing the rising PC giant into cowering.

"They are strong in software, but (we) don't believe they can provide the best hardware in the world. Lenovo can," the company CEO was reported by CNET as saying.

"We are very optimistic on the Windows 8 launch so we will fully leverage that to launch our new products," Mr Yang said, adding that the software giant remains the PC industry's strategic partner.

Lenovo's upbeat outlook for the new Windows platform is best exemplified on its decision to ride both on its dual waves and release Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets.

For the Intel-powered, the Asian PC maker has unveiled the ThinkPad Tablet 2, which will have a 10-inch screen and its overall functions to be fired up by an Intel Aton X86 chip.

"This is the tablet everyone is waiting for," Aussie tech news site CRNTech quoted Lenovo as saying during the tablet's launch last week.

It will sell between $600 and $700, Bloomberg reported, while the RT version will be priced below the $300 mark, which the PC maker termed as its way of adopting an aggressive price point for the mass-oriented product.

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