Windows 8, Microsoft’s next-generation platform, is expected to become commercially available this fall, and devices to run under it are already being developed. We’re referring here to tablet PCs, of course, since Windows 8 is the first Microsoft client to feature optimizations for this type of devices.
We already assumed that Microsoft and its partners were working on
tablet PCs to be launched when Windows 8 was made available, but no specific confirmation on this has emerged before.
On Wednesday, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said that Windows 8 tablet PCs were already in the pipeline,
PCMag reports. However, he did not offer specific details on when these devices might be launched.
Currently, the tablet PCs market is dominated by Android devices and Apple’s iPad, but Windows 8 is coming in strong, and Microsoft has high hopes for it.
Apparently, Intel too places its bets on Windows 8, while also working on packing its processors inside devices running under Google’s Android operating system.
The company expects the next gen Android devices, running under Ice Cream Sandwich, to perform better this year than in the past.
“And so, I think the better test is year two here, in terms of, is there anybody who can compete with the iPad. And the other part of that test of course is the Windows 8 tablets that are being queued up for production,” Otellini said.
Intel-powered
Windows 8 tablet PCs could arrive on shelves in the fourth quarter of the current year, soon after the platform is commercially launched in October.
In addition to the new Metro UI, these devices will also offer support for legacy applications, which means that users will be able to continue using apps they are already accustomed to, even after the new platform arrives.
What remains to be seen is how these devices will impact the PC market, as they will offer the same capabilities and features as today’s notebooks, netbooks and laptops.
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