Some believe Microsoft is becoming coy about its slate programs. Other people merely feel the organization is becoming clueless. I think the Redmondians are planting decoys,
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007, hoping they;ll offer cover for missteps.Here;s my newest idea as to what;s heading on, concerning Microsoft and its remedy for slates (or lack thereof). Over the past couple of months, Microsoft execs have gone from declaring Apple;s iPad is absolutely nothing but a crippled Pc,
Microsoft Office 2007 Standard, to claiming that Microsoft and its partners have myriad iPad rivals able to launch any day now. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said there;d be Windows 7 slates out in time for holiday 2010. And at the current Computex conference, Microsoft execs crowed in regards to the a lot of Windows slates on account of start this fall.If any of those slates had been really accurate iPad competition,
Windows 7 Enterprise Key, Microsoft would be only fairly late towards the slate celebration. This isn;t the situation (creating me happier through the day that I made the decision to get an iPad to make use of as my on-the-go cellular machine, rather than awaiting my longed-for “WinPad.”)The “Windows slates” Microsoft showed at Computex aren;t running Windows seven; they;re running Windows Embedded Compact. That means they aren;t going to be able to run Windows seven apps and won;t sport the Windows seven user interface. As an alternative, each of these Embedded Compact slates will feature its own custom interface.Meanwhile,
Office 2010 Activation, the Windows 7 slates coming in time for this vacation season are heading to be business-focused products. (HP execs admitted this recently, noting their coming Slate 500 machine will be for enterprise users. If there are other Windows seven slates ready to start this fall, I;d expect they also will be business-focused devices. These models will be PCs without lids; tablets without the stylus. They won;t have the long battery life, touch-centric user interfaces or built-in app store capabilities that have manufactured the iPad a success.Microsoft;s real iPad competitors aren;t heading to debut until 2011 — I;d guess mid-2011 at best. Ballmer didn;t state this plainly at last week;s Microsoft Finanacial Analyst Meeting,
Microsoft Office Pro 2010, but he dropped some hefty hints. Ballmer touted Intel;s Oak Trail processors as becoming key to Microsoft;s iPad alaternatives. The problem is Oak Trail chips aren;t heading to be prepared until “early 2011.” Once Pc makers get them in hand, it will take them at a couple of quarters to build and test slates that use them.I;m curious regarding whether Microsoft will continue to try to steer its partners to make use of Windows seven as the operating system powering these slates. My guess, as I told TechFlash;s Todd Bishop last week, is Microsoft may relent and allow slate makers to make use of the touch-centric Windows Phone OS 7 on these devices. (Microsoft could still claim that these slates had been running “Windows,” since it is making sure to brand all of its operating systems as “Windows.”)Bottom line: “WinPads” are still about a year away, I;m predicting. Expect Microsoft execs to downplay the coming Windows Embedded Compact slates and start acknowledging that this year;s Windows 7 slates are business-centric devices. As opposed to risking another Kin debaucle (launching then pulling a misguided product at fantastic cost), Microsoft is rethinking its answer to the iPad. Better late than lame….
