Following more than a year of speculation, the Microsoft Surface RT finally hit the shelves on Oct. 26. Now, Microsoft has a reputation for manufacturing products that go horribly wrong the first time. Do I even have to mention the epic disaster Windows Vista was?

Extremely thin and light, the Surface RT, priced at $499, is incredibly mobile and packs immense power under its hood. Given that Windows 8 (Win 8) is significantly lighter than Windows 7 (Win 7), the Surface boots up in less than 30 seconds, beating the iPad’s boot time.

Does this mean that Win 7 is obsolete overnight? No. Win 8 has been designed for touch surfaces. Win 7 will still continue to dominate the desktop market. Win 8 is gesture heavy with simple gestures for switching and closing applications, accessing the Charms bar, rearranging tiles, and for several other in-application operations.

The Start screen takes some time getting used to, and in case you are too stubborn for that, there is a hack to restore the old start menu on the Internet. I would not advise doing that, though.

The Start menu has been redesigned to imitate the advertisements in the metro railway stations. By the way, that’s where the term “Metro User Interface” comes from. 

The traditional desktop is available, although Win 8 takes the user right to the Start screen. The installed applications are displayed as live tiles that refresh in real time, bringing you relevant information and increasing its aesthetic and ergonomic appeal.

A lot of thought has gone into every detail, from the URL bar being placed on the bottom, making it easy to type in website URLs, to the twin application view allowing simpler multitasking, a concept improved upon since Win 7.

Will the Surface finally bridge the gap between tablets and desktops? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. While Win 8 RT offers basic office functionality with the MS Office 2013 Preview, the Win 8 Pro offers complete desktop functionality allowing users to run Win 7 software on their Win 8 tablets.

The tentative release date for the Microsoft Surface Pro is late January 2013. You can test the Microsoft Surface RT for yourself at the Rhatigan Student Center in front of the bookstore for the remainder of the week.