The Surface tablet is a pretty good device, but this device and the fear of tablets and mobile phones led Microsoft to create the truly terrible Windows 8 operating system. The notion that a powerful desktop needed to be reduced to tiles you touched on a screen and dumbed down programs resulted in a pathetic user experience. Solid programs like Skype disappeared, and lame mobile versions with few features showed up instead.

The staggering stupidity of this company under Steve Ballmer has led to countless misteps in the PC and operating system market. Will the ineptitude continue with Windows 10, or will they get this one right like they did with Windows 7?