Microsoft is teaming up with nearly two dozen hardware makers to release Windows-based tablet computers, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said on July 12, devices like Apple's popular iPad. "This year one of the most important things that we will do in the smart device category is really push forward with Windows 7-based slates and Windows 7 phones," Ballmer said.
"Over the course of the next several months you will see a range of Windows 7-based slates that I think you'll find quite impressive," Ballmer said in the opening speech at the Microsoft World-wide Partner Conference here.
"This is a terribly important area for us," he said. "We are hardcore about this." "They'll come from the people you would expect - from Asus, from Dell, from Samsung, from Toshiba, from Sony - Windows 7-based slates," 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," he said. "But they will all run Windows 7. They will run Windows 7 applications. They will run Office."