14 DAY TRIAL // As if the world of tablets wasn't pretty stuffy as we speak, it seems that things will only get more complicated on the future, especially as one more operating system (Microsoft's Windows 8) joins the fray and takes on the iOS, Android, webOS and even Windows 7, the platforms currently competing on this particular segment.
And it really seems that Microsoft's quite serious about its plans to take on the tablet market, since, according to a report by Slashgear, the company has set around 1,000 engineers to work on ARM-based Windows performance, which is quite an impressive team, to say the least.
Moreover, various analysts (who've probably had the chance to get some inside info on the Microsoft Windows 8 development stage) claim that the operating systems might actually be a lot closer to reality and “performance” than many people might be willing to believe (a late 2011 launch is apparently not that far-fetched), not to mention the fact that, once the first products running it will be out, the iPad and Android tablets will have a very tough time competing on the enterprise level.
And that's because the Windows 8 platform running on ARM tablets will provide a very good level of integration with existing business desktops and notebooks, the wide variety of which runs on the Windows 7, Vista, and to a smaller degree, XP operating systems.
Naturally, it remains to be seen whether all of these speculations will ultimately prove to be true, but without a doubt, the arrival of such a strong player on the market (let's face it, a tablet centric, ARM-friendly Windows 8 with Microsoft's marketing machine behind it is sure to become a major contender) will certainly shakes things up quite a bit, forcing the other competitors to accelerate their research and development efforts in order to keep their edge.