Microsoft’s Answer To The iPad Is Windows 8. Leaked Documents Show How
As a consumer I believe that companies should share with customers what their plans for the future are so that I can make an informed decision but that doesn’t happen unless some guy leaks a huge bunch of internal documents for us to feed on.
Microsoft’s answer to the Microsoft unceremoniously killed the Courier tablet, then came the HP-Palm deal and then came out the Windows Compact Embedded 7 something something. With all this mess, I wasn’t so sure if Microsoft did have an answer to the iPad.
The leaked documents show that Microsoft plans to counter the iPad with a strategy similar to Windows Phone 7’s. Microsoft doesn’t plan to do their own tablet hardware instead plan on having features in Windows for the slate form factor. The documents refer to this segment as the lap PC.
Like the iPad, Microsoft sees the Lap PC to be more of a media consumption device. Microsoft lists the following uses:
- Web and Media consumption
- Casual gaming
- high-def video
- Reading and sorting email
- Burst communications – social networking and IM
Microsoft plans to address the following use-scenarios and features:
- Facial detection to recognize the user and take him to his personal desktop
- Touch, location awareness, wireless connectivity, e-reading (all of which can be done on Windows 7, so I’ll assume Windows 8 to have some Ink-Seine love.)
- Support of auto-screen orientation and orientation lock button, like the iPad. Yeah, I see the Mactards shouting.
- Social networking is a focus within Microsoft and it will be a part of Windows 8. Microsoft plans to allow users to “easily grab” information and share it.
Again, there’s more where that came from. Hold on.