Ballmer Promises Windows 7 Slates
Finally... Windows 7 tablet will hit the market just in time for the holidays.
Microsoft head honcho Steve Ballmer confirmed Monday that Windows 7-based tablets will hit the market by the end of the year. He said that nearly a dozen hardware manufacturers are set to launch the devices including Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony (gasp!) and many more. The news was revealed during Ballmer's opening speech at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference taking place in Washington, D.C. this week.
"Over the course of the next several months you will see a range of Windows 7-based slates that I think you'll find quite impressive," he told the audience. "This is a terribly important area for us. We are hardcore about this."
He added that there will be a wide range of devices: some with keyboards, and some without. "They'll be dockable, there will be many form factors, many price points, many sizes," he said. "But they will all run Windows 7. They will run Windows 7 applications. They will run Office."
Outside the five manufacturers listed above, twenty-one additional manufacturers were listed to be working on Windows 7 tablets including Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Panasonic and Pegatron. Although Ballmer revealed an HP slate during the slideshow presentation (and at CES 2010 back in January), currently HP hasn't officially confirmed that the device will ship by the end of the year.
Without a doubt, Microsoft is making its big push in the mobile market in 2010. With Apple's iPad dominating the tablet market and an army of Android-based devices gearing up to fill the second-in-command position, Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do. Ballmer even admitted that the company missed a generation in the smartphone sector, falling behind Apple's iPhone, the Android platform, and RIM's Blackberry platform.
"This year one of the most important things that we will do in the smart device category is really push forward with Windows 7-based slates and Windows 7 phones," Ballmer said. Windows Phone 7 is also slated to hit the market in Q4 2010.
I don't get how these would apply for everyday use. Maybe in hospitals a modified, stripped down version could be useful, but as far as an everyday user? It's stuck in the middle ground between smartphone and laptop, and I'll take both of those over a tablet.
Edit: And Hopefully one with with 3/4G support and mobile service. Don't need a smart phone with one of these.
Even if I have to give away speed, responsiveness, and design, the thrill of installing what the hell I want on my device is compelling. Way to go Microsoft (omg i just sounded as a fanboy). I will never purchase a console-class device like an ipad.
I don't get how these would apply for everyday use. Maybe in hospitals a modified, stripped down version could be useful, but as far as an everyday user? It's stuck in the middle ground between smartphone and laptop, and I'll take both of those over a tablet.
True, but it's market forces that really drive the importance of such things...
Late to the game? Windows tablets have exists for at least the last 5 years or more. And if you'd ever used one, you'd know why they'd want to try to get this latest iteration right.
Here's hoping they release an optimized version of Win7 and not just one of the current desktop versions on these new tablets.
It won't be better than the Ipad, it's battery life will be half or less of the Ipad, they will weigh anywhere from 50 -150% more , and will be acceptable to many Viruses. There is very little a Microsft based tablet can offer that's not already available in the Ipad. I understand that they want to compete, but they fell a sleep at the wheel again and are over a year behind Apple so it's highly unlikely that they will ever be close to the Ipad in features and Price.
Why is that a problem? The whole point to a tablet is to use it in portrait not landscape mode. That means you are really looking at buying an 800x1280 screen.
Try this - set your computer to SVGA (800x600) resolution and start playing around with your programs. Most programs are horrible at 800 pixel width, and many require 1024 pixel width.
Adobe products are horrible at 800 pixels wide, many websites are no longer optimized for 800 pixel width (all those side bar ads... oh, and sometimes navigation menus), ArtRage and Corel Painter are designed for greater width, and even office products are not ideal in only 800 pixel width.
If you think I am nitpicking - it is very unnatural and unstable to hold a tablet in your arm in landscape mode. However, in portrait mode is is more like a pad of paper. Try it - get out a paper notebook, hold it in landscape mode, and start writing away.
The only thing that really works okay at 800 pixel width in portrait mode is Windows Journal. Not even OneNote (with all its possible side tabs) is ideal for only 800 pixels wide.
I guess what I am saying is the manufacturers are really missing the mark when they abandoned SVGA+ for WXGA. Sheesh - they could at least of made a tablet with a 14" WSXGA+ screen. Seriously, at $80 for either ArtRage3 or the academic version of Painter 11, laptop makers should bundle these with their tablets and a decent screen resolution and market it to artists: "How do you fit thousand of dollars of art supplies - acrylic and oil paints, conte, charcoals, pencils, pens, watercolors, chalk and oil pastels, ink and calligraphy pens, spray paint, and deco appliques along with canvas, cold pressed paper, handmade paper, rough charcoal papers, and much more - into a small backpack? Simple, buy our 15" WUXGA (1920x1200) artist tablet PC for a mere $2000! Not only will you save money on art supplies and save your back, but you'll never have to deal with nauseating fumes or messy cleanup again! Also great for students to take computer notes in chemistry, physics, or biology - don't use a laptop and a piece of paper, draw right on your screen... and make your professors happy by showing them you are taking notes rather than reading Facebook."
(BTW - the iPad is the netbook of the Tablet PC market... an underpowered machine that has its uses, but definitely not for a hard-core tablet user who doesn't want to spend $2000 on a 1600x1200 20 pound Cintiq 21UX.)