Microsoft is doing so much more than contributing to the Metadata Working Group when it comes down to digital photography. In fact, together with Lenovo, the Redmond giant is striving to bring to center stage a machine built with professional photographers in mind. The ThinkPad W700 laptop is the only item featured on the Photo Laptop website, advertised as a mobile studio for photographers. And the fact is that with the horsepower, features and capabilities it packs, the ThinkPad W700 is sufficiently appealing for photographers to think twice about not going for a Windows Vista-based machine.

“Photographers have very specific needs and these laptops are the first ever designed to meet those needs. Think of them as the photographer’s mobile studio -- with built in digitizers, color calibrators and much more. Given the popularity of digital photography, it’s a concept whose time has come and both companies are to be commended. These products represent the best of the best our industry has to offer photographers,” revealed Kostas Mallios, general manager, Microsoft’s Rich Media Group.

At the time of writing this article, even though Mallios refers to multiple Windows machines, only Lenovo's ThinkPad W700 is featured on the website. However, this situation is bound to change. “Microsoft partnered with Lenovo and Sony on the photo laptops and we’ve developed a website as a resource to photographers who want to learn more. Of course, we’re very pleased that with the introduction of these new products Windows users now have more options,” Mallios added.

Coming preloaded with either Windows Vista Business or Ultimate, the ThinkPad W700 also sports an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 8GB of RAM, and even a ThinkPad UltraNav multipointing system, as well as a built in calibrator. On the website, the tour of the ThinkPad W700 is given by professional photographer Phil Borges.