Microsoft Windows 7 Tablets To Be Released This Year

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer giving the keynote at the Worldwide Partner Conference told everyone in the audience to expect Windows 7 slate computers before the end of the year. These devices Ballmer said will be designed with both consumers and enterprise users in mind. The software maker is said to be working with a number of manufacturers to bring the tablets to the market. "They will come from the people you would expect. From Asus, from Dell, from Samsung, from Toshiba, from Sony," Ballmer said. He did noticeably fail to mention Hewlett-Packard in the list of vendors and previously HP was seen as one of Microsoft's key partners in the category of tablet-style computers until it bought out Palm for $1.2 million earlier this year. Many observers think HP now plans on introduce a slate based on Palm's webOS. Another of Balmer's presentation slides, however included HP in the list of vendors developing Microsoft-based slates. Other vendors listed on the graphic included Lenovo, Fujitsu, Onkyo, MotionComputer, Pegatron, Hanvon, and MSI.

Without saying the name of their major competitor, Ballmer said Microsoft expects to take a significant piece of the slate market by delivering a wide variety of devices that fit in both home and business environments, all of which will be compatible with Microsoft's suite of management and security tools. "We want to give you a consumer-oriented device, but a device that fits and is manageable with today's enterprise IT solutions," Ballmer said. "They'll come with keyboards, they'll come without keyboards, they'll be dockable, there'll be many form factors, many price points, many sizes. But they will run Windows 7," he added.

With more than three million iPads sold in the device's first 80 days in the market, Microsoft will need to move quickly to get some of the momentum in one of technology's hottest new markets. What do you think of the thought of a Microsoft tablet? Would you be willing to buy one? Share your thoughts below!