Windows 8 tablets rumoured to be in the pipeline

Posted on February 20th, 2011 John Burns Microsoft are rumoured to be developing Windows 8 for tablets, ready for a release later this year.

While Microsoft’s Windows 7 hasn’t exactly set the tablet market alight, there are clutch of devices currently available which run the OS, including offerings from Dell, HP and LG. However, Microsoft now plan to start afresh and relaunch Windows as the definitive tablet operating system.

Microsoft are understood to have an army of around 1,000 engineers busying themselves developing windows 8 for use with touch screen devices. To help with the transition, Microsoft have turned away from Intel and AMD processors in favour of power-saving ARM chips.

Morgan Stanley analyst, Adam Holt has suggested that a move towards Windows 8 indicates that Microsoft are taking 2011’s battle for tablet dominance very seriously indeed, and that Microsoft are not as out of touch as we may think in terms of tablet devices;

“Microsoft are closer to competitive than some realize,” Holt said. “Where iPads are being deployed corporate are often leveraging virtual desktops to provision Windows and Windows apps. Microsoft generally get $100 per device in this scenario.”

So Microsoft have been riding on the coat-tails of the tablet ‘movement’ for some time now, maybe 2011 is the year that they come out of the shadows and take the market by storm. If the rumours are to be believed – and Microsoft are on track with their new OS – then Windows 8 devices should be available by the end of the year.

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