Insiders from Microsoft have revealed that the software giant will not release a competitor to the tablet operating systems which are actively being dished out by its rivals such as Google and Apple. According to them, there are no immediate plans to launch any such product from Microsoft at least until the back-to-school season in 2012. These sources, who wished to remain anonymous, also said that the company will begin an extensive “Windows 7 style” testing of a new Windows version in collaboration with its customers and partners at the end of this year.
The signals coming out from Microsoft say that the company is currently working to come up with a newer version of the Windows 7 operating system which will be refined for being better suited to touch screens and the form factors, screen size and battery life of typical tablet computers to finally enter the already buzzing market for such devices which has been brought to life by the Apple iPad. Microsoft is already playing catch up; it has been more than a year since the iPad was launched, and the longer it takes for it to enter the market, the more difficult it will be to break the established monopoly of Apple and to a part Google as well.
According to a research analyst from New Jersey, Michael Gartenberg, 2011 is supposed to be the year of the tablet wars and Microsoft is going to be very late arriving at the scene. He added that a debut for a Microsoft tablet in 2012 will put it up against the third version of the Apple iPad and second and third generation devices based on the Google Android. Others like HP and Research in Motion will also have released the next versions of their respective tablets by then.
Chris Hernandez
This screams Windows Phone 7 all over again, late to the game and bound to fail.