OK, I've had 24 hours with the Surface at this point and I think Microsoft is on to something. For years I have lamented how bloated Windows had become, due in large part to their unwillingness to abandon support for legacy software. Building in support for software that goes back up to 20 years in some cases is bound to cause and operating system to bloat beyond all reason, and this makes for a sluggish resource hog.

With RT Microsoft has finally had an excuse to do what Apple did with the old Power-PC based software and start over. This has allowed Microsoft to release a light, nimble, and responsive OS for the modern, mobile culture and I never expected to be able to say any of that about the guys from Redmond.

The surface is proof that Microsoft has been paying attention, and their hardware partners have not. Light, portable, fully featured and well designed. Who would have thought Microsoft was this good at designing hardware? After decades of leaving hardware to others Surface is proof that Microsoft should have made this move a long time ago.

Stay tuned, we'll have reviews from the whole family ready to go by Monday.