Ballmer: ''Full Guns'' on iPad is ''Job One Urgency''

Intel instead of ARM, Windows 7 instead of Phone 7.... if it can get anywhere close to the iPad's battery life, I'd buy one. Heck even if it can't it'll do 10x more than the iPad I'd still buy one since I travel so much.

An intel/amd proc would have alot advantages if they could implement it. Paired with a mobile gpu, and throttle software to adjust speed/power demands, and you might have an Ipad killer.

......Here is hoping for some competition......

Go Go Moorestown!!

Pricing is by far the most important thing for me. If it's got 2+ Gb of RAM and the new Atom CPUs I'll probably pick one up. But to dominate the market it needs to be priced at around $400.

I have a Fujitsu T5010 Tablet with Vista Business, now installed Windows 7 Business. Microsoft really has to get in the game and the only way to do it is go big or stay home. It really has to smoke, lets face it if they build it (and it works well) they will buy it by the multi millions, not just 3 million.....

I don't think it be at $400 however if Microsft was smart after the specs were finalized do something like a pre-order a month leading up at $400 with a final retail price of $500. Hopefully Microsoft has learned the lesson of the iPad and it will not ever overheat.

"It's no great secret that Apple beat Microsoft (and basically everyone else) to the tablet market in the consumer space."

In what alternate universe did Apple beat Microsoft to Tablets?

"They'll be shipping as soon as they are ready," Ballmer said. "It is job one urgency. No one is sleeping at the switch."

Dude your Company(MS) has been a sleep on this for over a year. I don't care how urgent you place it now, you will never catch up to the Ipad. You should be fired for this alone.

It better not have a lame ass 1024x768 resolution.....this lame resolution goes all the way back to the quake days with 486 CPU's

it needs to be FULL 720p (1366x768) MINIMUM!

it also needs to handle 1080p video.

if it can do this i will buy one for sure.

1920x1080, 4GB RAM, 2GHz Intel dual core, some random nice Nvidia mobile GPU, and full blown windows 7 on a 13" IPS resistive touch panel please.

You know, a real tablet?

1920x1080, 4GB RAM, 2GHz Intel dual core, some random nice Nvidia mobile GPU, and full blown windows 7 on a 13" IPS resistive touch panel please.

You know, a real tablet?

Translates to about 4 HRS Battery Life without all the MS Viruses you will probably get.

Microsoft is going full guns to catch up. So what's the news here? I've been seeing that since they failed to ship Windows 95 in 1994 and hurried to make it look as much like OS/2 as they could.

What's the point of trying to beat the iPad, there's yet to be established that there's any kind of market for tablets in the first place.

They're essentially even less powerful netbooks with no keyboard, non-portable media players or oversized smartphones with no phone functionality.

All the big manufacturers might want to dazzle us with sales and cool features but until there's a mean killer app that only tablets handle well you're better off waiting for them to hit eBay en masse before taking the plunge on one.

The thing comes down to "What apps/games can it run?". Sure, it will run FLASH, but, hey, people buy Apple things because those come with the iTunes store so people can buy a bunch of games that costs .99... That's why Apple is winning this round.

I don't even own an apple device, but it's the truth..

Lets hope the Windows 7 tablet includes all of the features that the iPad lacked and more.

apple did not beat everyone to the consumer market on tablets, they just marketed thier device like no one else did, why bring a device to market when apple will do the market branding, research and then you see if people will buy it then release better designed

In the one where every major tablet before it has weighed 3+ pounds and was pretty much a cannibalized laptop.

As this statement has nothing to do with the story, ignore this as you choose, but have you ever noticed, that as the years pass...Ballmer looks more and more like Peter Boyle as Frankenstein's Monster in Young Frankenstein."Puttin on the RIIIITZZZ!!!"

I've been running MS based OS's since windows 3.1, you know how many viruses I've gotten in that 15+ years? Two, one from a stupid chain letter (learned my lesson there), and one from installing a bootleg copy of 'longhorn' the vista beta that a buddy gave to me. Both were easily removed with a simple virus scan/quarantine. IMO if you are suffering from a plethora of viruses you are 1; lax in security software, and 2; downloading pirated software.

Stay away from Warez and update you're virus scanner at least once a month.


i've bee

wacom intuos4 FOR THE WIN.. no need for an ipad..

You forgot one major cause of virus infections:

plain Utter Stupidity

From what I've seen with the Eee Pad from ASUS, this will certainly be very nice. It will use a Core 2 duo low voltage processor, have 2GB of memory, not sure about the GPU, but the display runs 1366x768. Oh, and it can be docked in landscape mode AND has a USB port for external accessories. Battery life is advertised to be about 8 hours as well.

Jopple beat $icrosoft to what?
/rolleyes

No, dude, it needs at least 1080p MINIMUM! And minimum 9 megapupsel camera with lens of 2mm radius!

Don't settle for less, dude! 7" screens were made to enjoy full HD! And 2mm lens are made to capture full HD videos!

Make sure it can play HD quality video, and also flash based video as well. Video playback is important. I don't want to have crappy video playback like I do on an older eeePC.

The real beauty of the iPad for most people is its instant on, simplistic approach to computing. Being able to do most of the things you want to do without the fuss of booting, blue screens, shut-downs, restarts, and all the other isms that goes with a fully functioning computer, including OSX. If Balmer misses the real reason why people are gravitating to this new sector, then he will miss the boat again. Sure there is a "Techie" market out there who wants a tablet to run Crisis, but I think the majority of buyers are novice to medium users who are frustrated with the ins and outs of a full OS.

And since when did they start making devices? Isn't M$ a software company? I bet if they didn't make the Zune, but made the marketplace and software, then they would have been better off... How about just perfect the software and let the other guys figure out the hardware, isn't that the winning formula for M$?

1080p or 720p or 1080i is for TV's the P stands for progressive scanning and the i for interlaced, Screens used in monitors or laptops are just plain 1920x1080. And totally, that is what the screen resolution must be but bigger, 12" minimum!

Linux based operating systems are going to eventually take over every platform, because Apple is all flash and no substance, and because Microsoft does nothing but sit around all day and try to figure out what Apple is doing.

Quickly now, COPY, COPY, COPY!! You know what? This will fail.

To run Win7 it's not going to be lighter, cheaper or have better battery life than the basic netbook, Atom is not enough really, can't certainly go lower anyway. So you'll basically be getting a netbook without a keyboard (and 50g of weight) and end up costing plenty more than a netbook with a keyboard (touchscreen costs extra).

If there is a magic bullet, it's Chrome OS, Meego, or some other light linux variant.

How so? The iPad doesn't run a real OS and it overheats. Always entertaining to read Apple Funboy's comments.

Chrome?..lmao..please. Also...you'll never see Linux on it either. The only reason it would be heavier is for a bigger battery so it can use a real processor and run a real OS.