Surface is Microsofts attempt to appear relevant verses Apple and Google. They need to show that they are still a mover and a shaker in the industry, even more so given the damp squib that Windows Phone 7 has been so far.

A smarter move would have been to keep Windows 8 and Windows Metro separate. Have Windows 8 be the continuation of the desktop/laptop line, a cash cow they can continue to milk until it falls over dead a ways down the road. Metro would the new hotness that brings the developers back to the yard. A new environment for them to build off without the weeds of the last 20 years strangling them.Free of the constraints of Windows, Metro would stand an excellent chance to succeed against Apple, Android et al.

While bundling Metro together with Windows might give it a foundation to build off but its more likely going to be the stone that sinks it.