Kind of like I'm doing now.

So here's my take on the mythical Courier tablet/booklet/uber-e-book PC: Microsoft is often good at the whizzy prototypes. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty of engineering these things into a usable device, however, things tend to fall apart. Forcing you to say "OK" five times just to log onto a Wi-Fi connection isn't any more fun if you use your fingers or a stylus to do it, to pick just one out of a million examples.

So if the Courier ever comes to pass (an Oprah-sized "if"), it won't be worth a damn if it's saddled with the same old Microsoft Experience, which is to say, Windows. If it comes out looking closer to or the new (which is now sitting on my desk and at first glance looks pretty darned slick), then maybe it has a shot.

But here's an idea: Let's wait until the thing actually shows up before we decide whether we love or hate it. I know, I know. That's so 2007. I guess I'm just old school.

.