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Consider where things stand: You’ve got a new computer OS, Windows 8, which comes quite literally with two user interfaces, the slick new one that’s touchscreen optimized (and that Microsoft no longer wants you to call Metro) and the old one that resembles the familiar Windows 7 desktop. It will run old your old Windows software as well as new programs that take advantage of the slick new look and touchscreen. Next, the Surface runs Windows 8 RT, which has the Metro UI, and occasionally exposes something that looks like the old Windows 7. It is essentially incompatible with Windows 8, running no programs that run on the standard version nor any that run on Windows 7.