Windows Slate is a Top Priority for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

'We're coming full guns', warned Steve Ballmer at Microsoft's annual financial analysts' meeting, as the firm gears up to launch into the touchscreen tablet market with the help of its various partners. As yet the tablet sector is still very exclusive, but most analysts agree that it's full of potential.

Leaving Apple to dominate the touchscreen tablet market without even batting an eyelid would have been unthinkable for Microsoft! With iPad sales reaching almost 3.3 million in just three months, it's clear that this new market sector is full of potential. Steve Ballmer himself openly acknowledged the iPad's success, declaring 'they [Apple] sold certainly more than I'd like them to sell,' not without a touch of bitterness. Now, in response to Apple's domination, Ballmer has rallied his troops.

With Dell, Sony, Toshiba Acer and Samsung potentially in line to jump on board Microsoft's project, it looks like it's time for action over in Redmond. Indeed, all five manufacturers are rumoured to be already in the process of developing tablets running on the Windows 7 operating system.

Diversification

From tablets to Windows Phone 7, this autumn will mark the beginning of a make-or-break era for the IT giant. The firm will have to prepare for battle in the highly competitive smartphone market, a sector in which Microsoft hasn't really excelled over the last few years. Some of the firm's original partners, such as Samsung, have even switched to Google's Android OS rather than invest time and effort building handsets based on the laborious Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, not particularly well designed for touchscreen interfaces.

So when can we expect to see these new tablets, or 'slates', as Ballmer prefers to call them? The CEO's matter-of-fact response is that 'they'll be shipping as soon as they are ready.' Thanks Steve.


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