Microsoft Expediting Windows 8 Tablet Launch to January 2012

[btarunr]

Tablet PCs came and went, but "tablets" as a category began with the Apple iPad. Merely weeks after its launch, the rattled PC OEM industry announced plans for their tablets, some being ARM-based and driven by Google's touch-phone optimized Android OS, and some using x86 processors and Windows 7. Unfortunately, Windows 7 based tablets aren't cutting it in the market, and the problem is with the user-interface (UI) itself. While Windows 7 has a touchscreen/pen software framework, its UI is more PC-like. Menu items, buttons with applications, are not very optimized for a comfortable touch-only input device.

Hence, Microsoft seems to be expediting the release of Windows 8 for Tablets, and the software giant plans to do that as early as by CES 2012. Only the tablet version of Windows 8 will be released then, not the PC version.

On the cards are a user interface that's completely optimized for tablet devices, that can make do with limited hardware resources, while still being highly functional and productive. What's more, Windows 8 Tablet will support ARM architecture, as well as x86. So even as Intel frantically works out an x86-based chip with a tiny footprint, Windows 8 Tablet can use any of the fastest ARM chips in the market.

Market analysts still think Microsoft is lagging way behind in the tablet software race, to Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Even CES 2012 will be too late, opines one analyst. “If 2011 is the year of the tablet wars, Microsoft will be awfully late suiting up for that battle,” said Michael Gartenberg, a New Jersey-based analyst for research firm Gartner Inc. “It’s not a good position to be in.”

Source: Businessweek

[mtosev]

I expect that Windows 8 for PCs will be released soon after Win 8 for tablets gets released.

[v12dock]

I called it!

[timta2]

Unfortunately, Windows 7 based tablets aren't cutting it in the market, and the problem is with the user-interface (UI) itself. While Windows 7 has a touchscreen/pen software framework, its UI is more PC-like. Menu items, buttons with applications, are not very optimized for a comfortable touch-only input device.

I'm glad somebody over there in Redmond is finally getting it. I've been saying this for years. I remember someone showing me a tablet in the early 2000's running Windows XP (maybe 98?) and how amazed they were with it. I couldn't help but laugh when he told me why it was better than a laptop, because he could use it without it being on a desk or other flat surface.

[OneCool]

Who wants a touch screen anyway.

I like my screens to be clean not smeared and smudged and scratched by my pizza greased nicotine covered fingers



LONG LIVE TOUCHLESS SCREENS!!!

[Frick]

Originally Posted by timta2

I'm glad somebody over there in Redmond is finally getting it. I've been saying this for years. I remember someone showing me a tablet in the early 2000's running Windows XP (maybe 98?) and how amazed they were with it. I couldn't help but laugh when he told me why it was better than a laptop, because he could use it without it being on a desk or other flat surface.

I don't know why, but I actually have zero problem with that. Actually I'm more than ok with it because so far tablet OS'es are phone OS'es. And that makes me sad.

I agree that they have to do it for the sales sake, but for me it doesn't matter really.

Originally Posted by OneCool

Who wants a touch screen anyway.

I like my screens to be clean not smeared and smudged and scratched by my pizza greased nicotine covered fingers



LONG LIVE TOUCHLESS SCREENS!!!

For some reason even bad touchscreens still makes my belly jingle a bit. It feels so scifi to use them.

[erixx]

My Win7 Archos tablet is great fun and usefull, but yes, fingers are not the best pointing device here.

[Hayder_Master]

i think windows 7 will be hold much longer than we expect just like windows XP in old times

[Mussels]

i'd just like a phone/tablet that runs windows apps. x86 phone sounds awesome.


clearly they'd need to be designed for a low res screen, but the freedom to slap any old app on would be fantastic (read: utorrent at work on my phone XD)

[Yellow&Nerdy?]

A tablet should be closer to a PC than a mobile phone IMO, so this is good news. Even App Store or Android Market can't compete with the amount of programs available for a x86 device. I'm afraid though that Windows 8 for PC is going to be another unstable OS with gimmicky features like "face recognition", just like Vista was.

[MikeX]

I feel that this will move the entire ARM agriculture to the next level. Since nvidia will also provide new Tegras hardware to run on windows 8.
If this hype is going to be better than the Ipadphoneapplethingsmac, this would be a game changer.

We should replace entire x86 with ARM entirely (atom is bad). Nvidia Tegra more powerful than atom, certainly smaller and easy on phones. Really ARM should replace x86 completely. We can still have OpenES, OpenCL support on the Tegra. I don't think we need any other CPU instruction sets???

Leave the 64bits to high end CPUs.
You want your windows 8 ARM to run on almost everything right?