We discussed late last year that Microsoft was looking at Windows 8 for the possible future of its tablet devices, but Microsoft’s OS team is in no hurry to rush anything out as several internal sources at Microsoft (who want to remain anonymous) said that the company won’t be release a true tablet operating system until 2012’s back-to-school season.
This has left some analysts a little flummoxed, with analyst Michael Gatenberg noting that if 2011 is the year of the tablet wars then Microsoft will be awfully late suiting up for the battle. By this time Microsoft would be up against not just the 2nd generation iPad but most likely iPad 3, and we still have HP and RIM models to come out this year too.
Public testing of a new version of Windows is expected near the end of this year. It will most likely be an updated version of Windows 7 OS with more features that are tailored-made to the tablet platform, including making sure the screen size is right and that the battery life will be acceptable. Once this is done Microsoft will be hoping they have a platform that is able to compete better with Apple and Google.
Read more at Bloomberg Businessweek
