Ballmer spoke at the UK Tech Days on Tuesday and revealed that Microsoft will be introducing some touch optimizations for Windows 7 with partners in the coming year. “We’re not going to do a major revamp of Windows 7 for slate applications, that will come in the next version (Windows 8)” said Ballmer.
There is speculation that Ballmer’s tacitly admitting that the reason we’re not seeing Windows 7 slates from major OEMs is because Windows 7 is totally unsuitable for them.
Instead, even stalwart Microsoft allies like HP are jumping ship and buying up companies that make more suitable operating systems.
The tablet market — like touchscreen smartphones before it — seems like another one Microsoft is going to be several years too late entering.
Just saying…
I dont see this happening unless they optomise the UI for touch. What they might do is have 2 UI’s built in Windows 8, one for desktop and one for touch based tasks.